John Adams: My Father Knew Charles Ives, Harmonielehre
Giancarlo Guerrero / Nashville Symphony (Naxos)
(scroll down for English review)
2021年第一張約翰亞當斯專輯，主曲目（不過封面的字體很小）是《和聲教案》，開碟的《我父親識得艾佛斯》我之前未聽過，雖然已是2003年的作品。阿當斯起此題目純屬玩嘢，他父親不識得艾佛斯，但這個三樂章作品確是充滿艾佛斯的影子，可謂阿當斯用自己一路以來的管弦技巧，模擬艾佛斯的風格。
第一樂章啟首的小號獨奏，無疑是艾佛斯最常被演奏的《未答之問題》，之後樂章發展為艾佛斯的「亂入」風格，四方八面的旋律從不同時間走近及離開，但毋須像艾佛斯要用到多重速度或多重節奏。第二樂章名為「湖」，更容易聽出是描寫湖景及動物，我看來是夜晚的湖景，因為寫得很像艾佛斯《黑夜中的中央公園》。第三樂章則較少艾佛斯風格，它名為「山」，用盡管弦樂的色彩去刻劃大自然的宏偉，但寫得沒《和聲教案》複雜，效果卻有過之無不及。
《和聲教案》錄音很多，這個錄音我出奇地滿意，第一樂章指揮將低音的節奏定得很穩，無論前後段的快速段落，或中間的抒情段落，樂隊都奏得乾淨利落，不會令人覺得會脫離節奏。這個錄音錄得不錯，需要從重重音響刺出來的個別聲部既清楚，高潮也不會就住就住，第二樂章的不協和爆發我覺得很夠力。第三樂章繼續有像第一樂章的穩固節奏或脈搏，不過我覺得最後還是留了力，但有可能是大家都累了。
The first John Adams disc for 2021 is an orchestral album on Naxos. Harmonielehre is the main piece but the opener, My Father Knew Charles Ives, is new to me, despite it’s from 2003. Adams’ father didn’t really know Ives but in this work Adams attempted and succeeded in using his own signature technique to emulate Ives.
The solo trumpet that begins the 1st movement can easily be recognized as in The Unanswered Question. Then the music thickens in volume and texture, eventually reaching an Ives cacophony, in which sound and tunes blast from all directions. What’s more remarkable is that Adams achieved the effect without resorting to Ives’ poly-tempo or poly-metrical technique.
The slow 2nd movement is entitled The Lake, I’d place it in the night time because it’s quite alike to Central Park After Dark. The final 3rd movement, The Mountain, is more Adams than Ives. Adams evokes natural splendour by his magnificent use of the orchestra. It’s not as complex as Harmonielehre but I think the effect is similar.
Harmonielehre is well-represented in the Adams discography but I welcome this new addition. In the 1st movement Guerrero set a very clear pulse in the bass, allowing the orchestra to play very steady in both the fast and slow sections. This recording is well-engineered, individual parts that need to cut through the orchestral mass can be easily spotted, and the climaxes are quite daring. I’m happy with the dissonant climaxes in the 2nd movement, they do hurt. The 3rd movement also sailed quite well with a steady pulse but I think the ending was under-charged, perhaps everybody were tired after playing a plethora of notes for 40 minutes.