Wagner: Parsifal
Peter Hofmann (Parsifal), Dunja Verzović (Kundry), Kurt Moll (Gurnemanz), José van Dam (Amfortas), Siegmund Nimsgern (Klingsor)
Herbert von Karajan / Berlin Philharmonic (DG)
(scroll down for English review)
最近DG將卡拉揚和柏林愛樂的《帕西法》經典錄音重出，過往賣四張正價，現在只需160港元，但我仍是在串流平台重溫這個錄音。想起來，從上次聽這個錄音到現在重聽之間，我從未現場看過《帕西法》，變成看過十幾次，也在拜萊特看過兩個製作。
也令我反思這個錄音的意義，這是DG早期的數碼錄音，卡拉揚可能是帶領古典錄音工業從模擬走向數碼、從黑膠轉為CD的最重要一位音樂家，40年的樂迷（包括沒有機會在歌劇院看到的）可能未聽過如此乾淨的華格納，數碼加上錄音室（不是流行音樂那種錄音室，而是代表「非現場」演奏）可謂雙重潔淨。
我是因為現場的體驗，開始懷疑這個經典錄音。幾近無限制的錄音時間，雖能達致無瑕疵的歌唱，但也把歌劇院才能逼出來的功力削減了。例如第二幕孔德莉和帕西法的二重唱，Dunja Verzović及Peter Hofmann雖無疲態，但也沒有熱力。本來是上佳的卡士中，我覺得最可惜是José van Dam的Amfortas，這個錄音令他的聲音很細小，也無血肉。
管弦樂在第三幕是奏出很光輝的聲音，但我感覺樂隊好像身處虛空。不過也不是沒有特色，我覺得卡拉揚用柏林愛樂所奏出的，應該不是所謂的德國聲，聲音的澄明讓我感覺像德布西的世界，假如你一套《帕西法》錄音都沒有，這套也是值得買，我不喜歡，不代表經典錄音是沒有道理的。
DG has just reissued Karajan’s iconic recording of Parsifal as a budget-priced item. I took this chance to revisit it although I was listening to it on iTunes. When I last listened to this recording I had yet to see Parsifal in the opera house, and how I have more than 10 performances under my belt, including two Bayreuth productions.
This is an early digital recording that revealed this technology as a leap forward. Karajan played a pivotal role, at least in the classical field, in pushing the record industry into adopting digital and the CD and bidding farewell to the LP and analogue. This recording came into the market exactly 40 years ago as LP, and I suppose music lovers back then had never encountered such a clean recording of a Wagner opera, both in terms of the recorded sound and the performance.
I’d have embraced this recording without experiencing those live performances. Unlimited studio session time might have erased all errors and rough edges, but it also drained the singers of the necessary adrenaline or pressure of a six-hour live performance (intervals included). For instance, in the Act 2 Parsifal-Kundry duet, Peter Hofmann and Dunja Verzović had no fatigue, but they had no fire either. In such a fantastic cast the Amfortas of José van Dam was most disappointing, on this recording he sounded too diminutive and painless.
The Berlin Philharmonic sounded so glorious in Act 3 but I felt the sound to be in a void. Yet Karajan achieved a never-before-heard orchestral sound that sounded more Debussy than Wagner. Nevertheless this is landmark recording and worth keeping if you don’t have a complete Parsifal. I’ve just outgrown it.