1. Mozart: Serenades
Reinhard Goebel / Berliner Barock Solisten (Hänssler)
2: Mozart: Violin Concerto No.6, Gran Partita (orch. Franz Gleissner)
Mirijam Contzen (violin)
Reinhard Goebel / Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg (Sony)
(scroll down for English review)
戈貝爾上月在兩個品牌各推出了莫扎特專輯，第一張是和柏林巴洛克獨奏家樂團的小夜曲集，集齊莫扎特最著名的弦樂團樂曲：K239小夜曲（軌一至三）、《慢板與賦格》（軌五至六）及K525小夜曲（軌七至11）。首先這隊樂團有很多柏林愛樂的成員在其中，此外他們的倣古奏法對我來說有點奇怪，雖然用很少揉弦，但琴弦、音高似乎都是現代式，所以我一時未能習慣這麼尖的聲音。
但這個演奏還是有其優點，準繩、清爽、響亮，像稍微多人的室樂多過像弦樂組。K525小夜曲我平時很少聽，這演奏有兩個特點。首先此曲我們聽慣是四樂章，但其實第一（快板）及第二（行板）樂章之間本來還有一首小步舞曲，但已散佚，這裏用了一首莫扎特學生的習作，之後莫扎特改正並加長的小步舞曲去代替。另外第二樂章用了我們平時快一倍的速度演奏，翻查樂譜，果然是2/2節奏，我真是孤漏寡聞，平時聽慣的奏法我都頗肯定是錯的了。
第二張則是和薩爾茲堡莫扎特學院樂團灌錄，碟名為「莫扎特新曲」，它有兩首作品，第一首是《第六小提琴協奏曲》（軌一至三）。甚麼？莫扎特不是只得五首小提琴協奏曲的嗎？其實是Köchel搞錯了，它不是莫扎特所作，雖然風格接近，和《第七小提琴協奏曲》一樣，近半世紀都很少人拉了。聽了這個演奏，覺得不聽也沒有損失，聽一次是可以的。
第二首就是《大組曲》（軌四至十）的管弦樂版，它不是甚麼新編曲，是由Franz Gleissner所編，於1800年出版，樂譜一直都在，只是乏人問津，這個錄音是首度錄音。加了弦樂以及長笛，整體的聲音變得更為「正常」，有這樣感覺，相信我也是帶着「弦樂本位主義」，對純管樂會不舒服嗎？不過我仍然覺得添加了弦樂，的確令整個聲音變得更為結實，慢板沒那麼鬆，快板又有更強動感。編曲者又不是全部地方都加弦樂，例如軌九的主題變奏，有些變奏加、有些變奏不加，聽來就有多點變化。有得亦有失，原版單簧管及巴塞管就較難聽到了。
Reinhard Goebel just had two Mozart albums out on two different labels. The first one is Mozart’s best-known string ensemble pieces played by the Berliner Barock Solisten. This band has numerable players from the Berlin Philharmonic but I didn’t like their tone initially. Because it’s no or very little vibrato played on modern instrumental setup, pitch and bowing. But the playing had its pluses, such as precision and brightness.
I rarely listen to the K525 serenade but two aspects of this performance fascinated me. Firstly Goebel inserted a minuet, an exercise by a Mozart pupil but corrected and expanded by the master, in between the Allegro and Andante movements, in an attempt to replace the now-lost first minuet of the work. Secondly the tempo of the Andante was twice faster than we’re used to. I checked the score and it was alla breve, so we’ve been wrong all along.
The second album was titled “New Mozart”, featuring the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra. What’s meant by “new”? The first piece is the Sixth Violin Concerto (tracks 1-3), previously attributed (wrongly) to Mozart. I suppose violinists already knew it’s a very lame work compared to the Third, Fourth, Fifth concertos, but the confirmation that it wasn’t by Mozart finally lifted it from public ears over the last 50 years. This work isn’t worth discovering, just a casual listen will do.
The remainder is an orchestral version of the Gran Partita. It was orchestrated by Franz Gleissner and published in 1800. The score has always been there but simply overlooked, and this is its premiere recording. The addition of strings and a flute made the orchestral palette sound more “normal”. I must admit I subscribe to the normalcy of string-based sound over the occasional winds-only setting. But I believe the overall sound really became more solid. The fast movements have a higher rhythmic drive and the slow movements now sound less hollow. Gleissner didn’t add strings indiscriminately, especially in the variation movement where some variations were left without strings to achieve more variety. But it’s not all gains, as the combined sound of the clarinets and basset horns of the original is now less prominent.