(scroll fown for English review)
《哥德堡變奏曲》實在太多新錄音，還未計累積如山的舊錄音，我打算以後隨機地選一些來聽，再簡評一下，今次談兩個，一新一舊。
Hannes Minnaar（鋼琴，Challenge Classics）
詠嘆調的發音甜美，裝飾音（已寫在樂譜的）彈得夠肯定而不機械。第一變奏便嘗試在重覆時加上裝飾音，不過之後絕少這樣做，我寧願他索性不加。大約頭十個變奏，我還是欣賞他做到連奏，亦會留意不同音長的分別，不過在第十變奏後，愈來愈二分法，明朗的就彈得清脆，太過「偽古鍵琴」，沒有理由的用太多頓奏；稍為灰暗的就壓低音量，用較鈍的發音。第25變奏後有回開頭較平實均勻的彈法。
Mahan Esfahani（古鍵琴，DG）
我覺得Esfahani在這個錄音最有趣的變化，是只用下鍵盤／只用上鍵盤／串連兩鍵盤之間的音色變異，相信也跟他選用的樂器有關，而他選這部1710 Johann Heinrich Harrass的2013年複製品，又與《哥德堡變奏曲》有些變奏需要分開上下鍵盤演奏有關。
這部琴的最大特色，是只用下鍵盤的聲音已經夠飽滿，毋須連結上下鍵盤就差不多有一般古鍵琴連結了上下鍵盤的效果，但到Esfahani選擇要串連時，聲音便會十分浮誇，就如現代（例如Karl Richter愛用的Neupert）古鍵琴那般，例如在第4、7、10、16、22、29變奏（即是軌5、8、11、17、23、29）就是串連了，是有意營造特別效果。
這個錄音對我最大的啟示，卻非甚麼時候應該用哪個鍵盤，而是巴哈指定甚麼變奏用單鍵盤（無指定串連或不串連）、甚麼變奏用雙鍵盤（即是右手彈上面、左手彈下面），非但不是後者可以避免撞手指這麼簡單，而是只用下鍵盤彈兩三個聲部時，和聲效果跟分開兩個鍵盤彈有很大的分別，假如用鋼琴家的思維是難以想像。所以我認為鋼琴家彈《哥德堡變奏曲》時，應該去更好的彈出兩者的聲音分別，而不只是思考撞手指的問題。
There are so many new recordings of Goldberg Variations that I decided to tackle them head on, but without the audacity to cover everything in detail, so here’s the first review of two Goldberg Variations recordings, one recent, the other one not so recent.
Hannes Minnaar (piano, Challenge Classics)
(YouTube link at the reply section)
Aria: very sweet tone, ornaments played with a sure hand but never mechanical. Minnaar tried to embellish the repeats right from Variation 1 but he hardly did that subsequently, I’d rather he not do it in the first place. The first ten variations or so Minnaar had a pleasant legato and he paid attention to the different note values. But then his approach got binary. It’s either sunny: very crispy, pseudo-harpsichord or gloomy, very low volume and a blunt tone. The last variations were played with some of the nicer qualities in the beginning.
Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord, DG)
Esfahani’s biggest tool of variety came from the use of registers. No doubt this wouldn’t be possible without the instrument used here, a 2013 replica of a 1710 Harrass harpsichord. More precisely, Esfahani probably chose this instrument for the Goldberg Variations, with the sections to be played on two manuals separately.
This harpsichord had the rather unique quality of a very robust 16’ register. When played on its own, it sounded very close to an instrument played with coupled registers. When Esfahani chose to couple the registers, the resulting sound was so loud and buzzy, like a revivalist harpsichord such as Neupert. Variations 4, 7, 10, 16, 22, 29 were played with coupled registers and I appreciated the overwhelming effect.
But the revelation is that a two- or three-part variation played with only the 8’ register sounded so different from a two-part variation spread across two manuals. The former had a larger significance in terms of harmony, while the latter simply was imitative. I guess pianists should stop assuming Bach made the distinction of “one manual” or “two manuals” simply for the sake of finger dexterity, and the different effects should be replicated on the piano as well.