Smetana: The Moldau, Overtures and Dances
Christoph von Dohnányi / Cleveland Orchestra (Decca)
(scroll down for English review)
史麥塔納不只《我的祖國》，這張少有的全史麥塔納唱片，雖有《摩道爾河》，其實集中於其歌劇的序曲及舞曲，我看比不是首首皆精的《我的祖國》更能表現史麥塔納的精彩一面。
一共有四首歌劇序曲，除了《被出賣的新娘》，其餘三首都很少在捷克以外演奏。把四首一起去聽，我發覺很少人會像史麥塔納回歸序曲的基本功能：給觀眾一個概括印象，之後要看甚麼戲。
《被出賣的新娘》序曲（軌六）的躁動喧鬧，頗有莫扎特《費加洛的婚禮》序曲的影子，也示範到此劇會是一齣鬧劇。其餘三部歌劇我都不認識，我猜錯了劇情請勿見怪：軌二的《利布莎》序曲的英雄氣派爆燈，此曲我覺得頗為精彩，值得更多演奏，我尤其喜歡快慢部份水乳交融。軌五《吻》有童話性質，不過軌三的《兩個寡婦》我就猜不出來。
還收錄了《被出賣的新娘》三首舞曲，幾十年前還有一些指揮會奏，現在已很難聽到，但都是傑出作品，比大部分德伏扎克《斯拉夫舞曲》都更有趣，你甚至會以為軌九的《丑角之舞》就是德伏扎克……軌七《波爾卡舞曲》還保留了歌劇版的合唱，很有農村風味，否則後半就太過重覆了。有這麼多遺珠，軌一的《摩道爾河》奏得一般也不要緊了。
Smetana isn’t just Má Vlast, but a full Smetana instrumental disc is hard to come by. Other than the customary The Moldau, Dohnányi focussed on the overtures and dances of Smetana’s operas. Although the six symphonic poems of Má Vlast make a complete programme but they have dull moments. These orchestral excerpts actually represent Smetana’s best.
Apart from The Bartered Bride, the other three overtures are rarely played outside Czech territories. Taken as a whole, these four overtures are excellent examples in setting up the mood for what the opera audience are about to see.
The Bartered Bride overture (track 6) is boisterous and perhaps imitative of The Marriage of Figaro. So it’d be a farce. I don’t know anything about the other three operas so forgive me if I made the wrong guesses. Libuse (track 2) is very heroic and deserves to be played more often. The majestic and lyrical sections blend very well. The Kiss (track 5) is fairy tale-like but I can’t figure what The Two Widows (track 3) would be about.
Three dances of The Bartered Bride complete the programme. Some conductors used to play them but you don’t hear them these days. But they’re all gems and I prefer them to most Slavonic Dances of Dvorak. I’d bet that most people identify The Dance of the Comedians (track 9) as Dvorak. I didn’t expect the Polka (track 7) would retain the choral section. That makes the dance less repetitive and so much fun to listen to. With such exciting music it no longer matters if The Moldau on this recording (track 1) is just so-so.