Field: 16 Nocturnes
Florent Albrecht (piano) (Hortus)
(scroll down for English review)
「蕭邦的夜曲是以愛爾蘭作曲家菲爾德的夜曲為模範」，是音樂賞析課的常識，不過我們很少會去聽菲爾德的夜曲，儘管錄音唾手可得，我自己也要慚愧地說，未全套聽過，雖然只是個半小時左右的總長度。這張錄音因為CD長度所限，無法收錄全集，省略了兩首夜曲，說會放在串流，不過我找過各大平台都是沒有，但16首都差不多了。
最大的發現是使用了一部1826年的意大利拿不勒斯鋼琴，這可不是蕭邦彈的那些法國琴，亦不是在一些貝多芬或舒伯特原音錄音會用的「古鋼琴」。小冊子提及這部琴使用了維也納式的擊弦系統，和法國式不同，腳踏的運作也有一些分別。不理這些，此琴保養及修復得很好，高中低音沒有幾多弱點，至少在這錄音內音色圓渾，亦有細緻的弱音。
至少作品本身，這次聽我發覺假如不知道是菲爾德所作，我應該會以為是一個模倣蕭邦的作曲家寫的……可見菲爾德果然奠定了這種曲式的格式、味道、鋼琴技法，但要去到蕭邦手上再去蕪存菁，變成後代人都難以超越的表達形式。不過這套作品我覺得很難專心去聽，因為旋律比較平凡，伴奏也頗為千篇一律，但始終有那種柔情在，加上此錄音使用的鋼琴出色，還是可以被動一點聽，只是得着有限。
This supposedly complete set of Field’s Nocturnes has two pieces removed, because of CD play time constraints but 16 pieces are more than enough to show how Field envisioned this format.
The extra perks of this recording is the use of an 1826 historical piano from Naples. Note that this is neither the Pleyel nor Erard used in Chopin’s Paris, nor the Viennese fortepianos used in many Beethoven or Schubert HIP recordings. I’m surprised this antique piano still sounded so impeccable in virtually all registers, and I wonder what if Mr. Albrecht, who owns this piano, uses it on Chopin.
Everybody knows Chopin modeled his nocturnes on Field but we don’t really get to hear Field’s originals comprehensively. Sorry to say, hearing these nocturnes give me the impression that they were written by imitators of Chopin… But that’s proof that Field played so pivotal a role in establishing the style, but Chopin further perfected it and eliminated what’s superfluous. This is hardly music deserved of attentive listening because the melodies are just so-so and the accompaniment is quite generic. Still one can savour the atmosphere and the wonderful sound of this 1826 piano.