A Viennese Afternoon – 18th Century Viennese Bass Music
Sperger, Dittersdorf, Hoffmeister
Isaline Leloup (Viennese violone)
Patrick Oliva, Martha Moore (violin), Jean-Philippe Gandit (viola), Ronan Kernoa (cello) (Da Vinci Classics)
(scroll down for English review)
這張碟的主角是一種叫violone的弦樂器，有時會在原音樂團見到，它比低音大提琴小一點，但扮演的角色類近。又有兩種譯名，低音提琴及低音維奧爾基琴。其實這裏用的是這種樂器另一種型號Viennese violone，我姑且譯做維也納低音提琴。
它和現時用的低音大提琴相比，最易聽得到是聲音沒那麼沉，另外看得到的就是用五條弦，而它們是用三度調音，和低音大提琴的四度調音不同（小、中、大提琴用五度），三度調音容許演奏者更容易拉和弦。我做過比喻，這款樂器聽來就好像是大提琴及低音大提琴之間。
這類演奏的三首樂曲大約寫於1800年前後，一首是維也納低音提琴名家Johann Matthias Sperger《第18低音提琴協奏曲》（軌一至三）、Dittersdorf《中提琴及低音提琴二重奏》（軌四至八），以及Hoffmeister《第二弦樂四重奏》。
Sperger的協奏曲（軌一至三）由此曲的演奏者改編成弦樂五重奏，低音提琴再加上弦樂四重奏。假如用現代低音大提琴演奏，我想一定會太過笨重，就像用大提琴演奏低音古提琴（viola da gamba）曲目那般。不過我聽時卻想起大提琴，因為我們聽到的古典派大提琴協奏曲，好像只有海頓的兩首，彷彿大提琴在這時期缺席。一方面我相信維也納低音提琴會比當時的大提琴有更大的表現能力，另外我都覺得大提琴家不妨借來拉，就不用拉海頓那麼悶。
Dittersdorf的二重奏（軌四至八）的主角其實是中提琴，雖然低音提琴也不算輕鬆。弦樂家族小提琴及大提琴是主角，中提琴及低音大提琴注定做陪襯，此曲把它們成為兩位主角，而且也是兼備優雅及靈巧技術的作品，旋律的精緻不下一首莫扎特四重奏。
Hoffmeister這首弦樂四重奏（軌九至十二）的編制不是我們聽慣那種，是小、中、大及低音提琴，更出奇的是用低音提琴做主角。不過又沒有我想像般突出，除了是第三樂章（行板）就像是協奏曲那樣，其餘時候就比較像和第一小提琴分享領導角色。
This album featured the violone, a smaller version of the double bass. To be precise Isaline Leloup was championing the Viennese violone, a fretted instrument with five strings and tuned in thirds rather than in fourths in modern double basses. And these works by Sperger, Dittersdorf and Hoffmeister were written around 1800, so I approached them as contemporaries of Mozart.
Sperger’s 18th Violone Concerto (tracks 1-3) was here presented in a transcription for string quintet, with the violone added to the string quartet. If this was played by the modern double bass I suppose the sound would be too heavy, just as playing gamba pieces on a cello. Then I thought, what if cellists borrowed this work? The classical cello concerto repertoire would be expanded beyond the two Haydn concertos. But the point is, the Viennese violone probably has higher expressive power than the cello of that era.
Dittersdorf’s Duo for Viola and Violone (tracks 4-8) actually featured the viola, but the violone part was hardly easy. As we usually focus on the violin and the cello, the collaboration of the ignored members of the strings family was truly revealing. This piece was graceful and nimble, with the two instruments exchanging melodies as smooth as a Mozart string quartet.
Hoffmeister’s Second Quartet in D Major (tracks 9-12) was scored for violin, viola, cello and violone, and with the violone being the most prominent part. That said, the violone wasn’t really the reigning instrument except in the third movement (Andante). In most parts of the work the violone seemed to be sharing the throne with the first violin.