Stravinsky: The Firebird, Petrushka, Rite of Spring
François-Xavier Roth / Les Siècles (Harmonia Mundi)
(scroll down for English review)
在史特拉汶斯基逝世50周年的今年，Harmonia Mundi把Roth指揮的史特拉汶斯基三大芭蕾的舊錄音再版。這套錄音的特色是Roth和世紀樂團以當年的樂器，亦即是原音演奏，Roth更考證過當時用的樂譜，理出一些和聽慣不同的細節。這些錄音原本在小品牌出版，隨着Roth加入Harmonia Mundi品牌，順理成章就在那兒再版，更重要是Roth這些史特拉汶斯基錄音，在Roth這十年間成為國際知名指揮，扮演很重要的角色。
現在去聽，我不能說是驚天動地的錄音，但我可能是已經帶着Roth是重要指揮的心態去聽，所以有點見怪不怪，不過對於十年前的樂迷或評論者來說，一個未成名指揮能交出這種演奏，實在是平地一聲雷。我能夠接受這是一輯集齊三大史特拉汶斯基芭蕾舞曲的好錄音，但不覺得這是重新定義演奏方法的詮釋。
兩張碟之中，我覺得碟二，即是《火鳥》的一張較為特別，Roth將此曲（軌33開始）奏得很刺激，樂隊的機動性強，我相信就是和樂器有關，令整個樂隊聽來沒有現在的那麼笨重，但個別樂器，或者樂器群組的色彩，我覺得不見得比現代樂團來得燦爛。同樣在碟二，在《火鳥》之前有一套不是史特拉汶斯基的作品，而是選用幾個作曲家作品的芭蕾舞曲《東方人》（軌25至32），是悅耳而不怎高深的音樂。
In this Stravinsky anniversary Harmonia Mundi reissued François-Xavier Roth’s old recordings of the three early Stravinsky ballets. These were first issued on a small label, Roth and his Les Siècles players used instruments of the era, making these HIP recordings. Furthermore, Roth dug out discrepancies of the scores used then so these would surprise those who were familiar with the scores.
These recordings had much to do with Roth’s meteoric rise to the front ranks of conductors. But with such thought in mind, I lost the sense of discovery while going through these recordings. What sounded surprising for an unknown conductor was taken for granted for a seasoned maestro. Nevertheless, this is a set of expertly played performances of the most famous Stravinsky ballets. Still, I don’t consider them groundbreaking.
Of the two CDs, I found the one with The Firebird (track 33 onwards) to be more special. Roth’s approach was very exciting, the orchestra highly mobile. Surely this had to do with the choice of period instruments. But their colours didn’t necessarily sound more dazzling than our instruments. The inclusion of Les Orientales (tracks 25-32), a Fokine ballet with small pieces by several composers, was welcomed. Though not by Stravinsky, these were pleasing music without too much depth or technical wizardry.