Ravel: Valse nobles et sentimentales, Sonatine, Jeux d’eau
Liszt: Les jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este, Hungarian Rhapsody No.13, Reminiscence of Lucia di Lammermoor
Fauré: Theme and Variations, Respighi: Notturno
Imogen Cooper (piano) (Chandos)
(scroll down for English review)
高柏這張新碟名為「逝水年華」，雖然和普魯斯特沒有直接關係，但拉威爾是他的同代人，況且高柏說這碟的選曲很配普魯斯特筆下的年代。不過最主要的出發點，就是這些樂曲是她少年時所學，拉威爾代表了她1960年代在巴黎那幾年，李斯特則是她跑去維也納跟布倫德爾（Alfred Brendel）深造的日子。兩位作曲家則在各自有關噴泉的樂曲（軌12及13）交會。
年輕鋼琴家的獨奏會經常會見到拉威爾《夜之加斯巴》及李斯特《B小調奏鳴曲》，雖然他們需要它們去比賽，但我寧願他們認識高柏彈的拉威爾及李斯特。高柏選彈的三首拉威爾，雖不算冷門，但較少在音樂會遇到，可能就是因為它們不夠難、不夠搶耳。但高柏正正發揮了簡單其實殊不簡單，沒幾多炫技的煙幕，也就甚麼都暴露人前。
《高貴與感傷圓舞曲》（軌一至八）我特別欣賞高柏對和弦色彩的重視，或者你會以為有些和弦特別刺耳，但其實這是作曲家意圖，只是很多人不理會，只求彈得快或大聲。此外高柏在高音旋律彈得十分細膩，幼細很多人彈到，但細膩有味道就是頂尖人馬才做到。《小奏鳴曲》（軌九至11）及《噴泉》（軌13）她把伴奏化成整體聲音肌理一部分。
至於李斯特，乍看她可能不夠俐落或雷霆萬轟，但她追求細緻，在做到相當炫技要求之餘能彈出溫柔，甚為少見。軌27的《嵐嶺痴盟的回憶》是改編自唐尼采弟歌劇中的那首著名六重唱，高柏彈出自彈自唱的感覺但絕不手忙腳亂。軌15至26的佛瑞《主題和變奏》（軌15至26）是他的冷門作品，如果佛瑞鋼琴作品都未夠冷門的話，不過我覺得它不算很特別，對變奏曲的寫法有點像布拉姆斯。最後的雷斯碧基《夜曲》（軌28）我就第一次聽，如果《嵐嶺痴盟的回憶》還未算是安歌，這首就一定是，全碟84分鐘就像一場豐富的獨奏會節目。
Titled “Le temps perdu”, this new album from Imogen Cooper is less Proust than Cooper’s own remembrance of things past, in particular her teenage years in Paris and her tutelage under Alfred Brendel in Vienna. Paris is represented by Ravel, and Vienna/Brendel by Liszt. The two composers intersect in their respective pieces on fountains (tracks 12-13).
Nowadays we have to suffer a huge dose of Ravel and Liszt from young pianists, as they have to master Gaspard de la Nuit and the B minor Sonata for competitions. But Cooper’s programme has none of those. The three Ravel pieces are standard repertoire but we don’t often see them on recitals, perhaps they aren’t dazzling enough. But simplicity is never simple because without too much distraction any shortcoming would be evident.
What I love most in her Valses nobles et sentimentales (tracks 1-8) is her attention to chord voicing. You might find a number of chords to be ugly and dissonant but that’s what Ravel intended, it’s just that many pianists overlook it. Cooper also played the top melodies with such tenderness that it melted my heart. She also turned the accompaniment of the Sonatine (tracks 9-11) and Le jet d’eau a part of the texture.
Cooper’s Liszt was less thunderous and agile than we’re often treated from today’s pianists but she gave us something that is sorely missed: finesse. The complex web of melody and accompaniment in Reminiscence of Lucia di Lammermoor (track 27) was brought out with composure. Fauré’s Theme and Variations (track 15-26) was written very much like Brahms’ variations for piano but to me this work isn’t the best Fauré. If the Liszt’s transcription wasn’t this recital’s encore, then Respighi’s Notturno (track 28) surely served this function, as the final item of this wonderful recital.