Chopin: 24 Preludes
Tristano, Ligeti, Rota, Chilly Gonzales, Takemitsu, Pärt
Alice Sara Ott (piano) (DG)
(scroll down for English review)
奧特這張新碟，編排和DG旗下另一位鋼琴家Hélène Grimaud近月一張新碟很相似。Grimaud用莫扎特配搭當代俄羅斯作曲家Valentin Silvestrov（曲風偏向簡約），而奧特則將蕭邦《24首前奏曲》分開六部份，前後及中間穿插共七首現代作品，蕭邦佔全碟三分二篇幅。那七首雖然曲風或技法稍有不同，但都很配合近年流行的那種當代簡約風。
我首先覺得那些現代曲要不太過膚淺（例如碟頭及尾、分別由Francesco Tristano以巴哈《平均律》第一首前奏曲、及奧特用莫扎特《安魂曲》作二次創作的作品），要不放在蕭邦當中就太過呆滯，較適宜抽出來欣賞，例如利格替、武滿徹及帕特那三首。
至於蕭邦，我覺得這個演奏就不是一個入行十幾年，並在頂尖唱片品牌出道的鋼琴家應該交出來，技術上不算高超，意境又不算新鮮，伴奏彈得又大聲又機械，旋律的發音不夠精雕細琢。即使《雨點前奏曲》她那麼大的音量反比，很少會在唱片中聽到，但真的不是愈大聲就愈深刻的，她在全套《前奏曲》，刻意營造一個從低至高的軌跡。
奧特能在DG留到12年實在是異數，我覺得奧特當初是以「技術及內涵上出乎意料地成熟」的少年鋼琴家成名，現在就只不過是賣概念、彈獨奏會時關燈之類，對我來說並不是藝術上的成長。
Alice Sara Ott’s latest DG album works on similar lines with “The Messenger” album of Hélène Grimaud, who paired Mozart with Valentin Silvestrov. Ott split the 24 Chopin preludes into six chunks and mixed in seven modern, often minimalist pieces between them.
To me these modern pieces were either too superficial or out of place. The bookends are Tristano and Ott’s respective musings on Bach and Mozart, they sounded nice, but that’s it. Ligeti, Takemitsu and Pärt’s pieces should have been appreciated on their own, at least not interrupting Chopin.
As for the Chopin, I don’t think this performance is befitting for a mature artist. The accompaniment was both loud and mechanical, while the melodies weren’t play with enough attention to the tone. Her Raindrop Prelude had a huge dynamic range but loud simply wasn’t better. It’s a wonder for Ott to stay on the DG roster for 12 years, but looking back, Ott arrived on the scene as a young pianist who was both technically and artistically seasoned for her age. But now she had to rely on images, fads and concepts to stand out.