Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
Augustin Hadelich (violin) (Warner)
(scroll down for English review)
或者《第一奏鳴曲》的第一個和弦，就包含了這套巴哈小提琴無伴奏我最喜歡的一點。赫德里希既不是照所謂標準的小提琴技法般，把這個四音和弦底兩個音、頂兩個音般平均拉出，也不會如原音小提琴家把四個音完全打散，「滾」出來，他是像撫弄般「掃」、「摸」或「抹」這個和弦出來。
赫德里希全套錄音貫徹拉出很柔順的琴音，其實「拉」這個字，說其他小提琴家才適合，我之前所說的「撫」、「摸」、「抹」才適合，雖然不是說其他小提琴家的琴音都同樣枯橾，只不過赫德里希這種程度我覺得很特殊。
個別樂章來說，我覺得慢板他拉得最好，尤其是有較多不同音符長度、亦即是巴哈倣似把裝飾音全寫了出來的那些樂章，例如《第一奏鳴曲》及《第二奏鳴曲》的第一樂章（軌1及13），他不會被音符長度束縛，所以有很自由的歌唱感，《第一組曲》的德國舞曲（軌17）我也歸為此類。
另一方面赫德里希的急速樂章也有精準俐落的演奏，《第一組曲》的四個變奏樂章（軌6、8、10、12）、《第一奏鳴曲》的急板（軌4）、《第二組曲》的吉格舞曲（軌20）等等，快慢都兼顧得這麼好，很是難得。
不過我覺得赫德里希在追求溫柔音色及精準演奏之餘，太過局限了音量、音色、弓法的變化，既令我覺得頗為呆板，更重要是缺乏阻力及張力，沒有一個需要努力爭取才能達到的終點，也令我無法一口氣聽完，尤其是一個樂章中，我往往頭半未過就不想聽下去。
Perhaps the first chord of the First Sonata already contained what I loved most with this new set of solo Bach. Hadelich neither played it with the “2+2” way of “standard” violin chord playing, nor did he “rolled” it out like HIP violinists, arpeggiating the four notes evenly. Instead he used his bow like a brush and swiped this chord with much patience.
Throughout this recording Hadelich had these tender bow strokes, notes were no longer played simply as down- and up-bows but they were quite often inflected and caressed. Of course many violinists pay utmost attention to their tones but I find Hadelich’s thoroughness to be extraordinary.
Also I enjoyed the slow movements most, especially those with various note-values, such as the opening movements of the First Sonata (track 1) and the Second Sonata (track 13). These movements were written this way because Bach was apparently “writing out” all the ornaments. Hadelich refused to be dogmatic towards the note lengths and therefore achieved a rare sense of freedom and cantabile. The Allemanda of the Second Partita (track 17) could also be regarded in the same category.
Yet Hadelich’s precision in the quick movements was also outstanding, examples are the Doubles of the First Partita (tracks 6, 8, 10, 12), the Presto of the First Sonata (track 4) and the Gigue of the Second Partita (track 20).
Much as I appreciated Hadelich’s effort in tenderness and precision, to me he was too constrained in terms of loudness, tone colour and bowings. Other than tediousness I missed the lack of resistance and tension. It was as though there was nothing to strive for. I could only listen to one sonata or partita at a time, and most often during a movement I already lost interest even before the first da capo.