Mozart: Mitridate
Michael Spyres (tenor – Mitridate), Julie Fuchs (soprano – Aspasia), Sabine Devielhe (soprano – Ismene), Elsa Dreisig (soprano – Sifare), Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian (countertenor – Farnace)
Marc Minkowski / Les Musiciens du Louvre (Erato)
(scroll down for English review)
莫扎特14歲時在米蘭寫的歌劇《米特利達特》又有一個新錄音，此劇近十年不時在歐洲上演，飾演主角米特利達特的男高音多為Michael Spyres，他四年前在Erato推出了一個DVD現場錄影，這個新錄音則是錄音室錄製。雖說他是這碟的主角，但其他歌手中，Elsa Dreisig及Sabine Devieilhe都有在Erato推出詠嘆調專輯，後者更為這品牌力捧。
《米特利達特》的劇本不是為莫扎特而寫，他用這個劇本之前數年已有其他作曲家用過，但這是意大利歌劇中常見。故事發生在古羅馬時期，米特利達特是龐托國國國王，和羅馬打仗時打輸了。但他佯死，就發現籠裏雞作反，他兩個兒子好像都看上了他們的未來繼母，米特利達特回家後，一邊解決糾纏不清的感情事，一邊計劃反攻羅馬。
莫扎特年紀輕輕已是優秀的歌劇作曲家，是老生常談，為甚麼我們又很少聽他的早期歌劇呢？我的答案是，成為傳世之作的，就是他超出時代水平、甚或反叛常規的，而像《米特利達特》的這些，就是符合當時的格式及喜好。錄音都還好，但今時今日要上演這些早期作品，往往先要思考刪掉幾多，尤其是宣敘調，如何以最少的宣敘調下說清楚故事。同劇有不少錄音是三小時或以上的，這個錄音只是150分鐘，不只刪了不少宣敘調，詠嘆調也至少刪了兩首。
若你拍心口說：「當然要聽全本啦！」你多數未試過現場或在家聽一齣完整的此類巴洛克或早期古典派歌劇。只聽詠嘆調可不可以？可以是可以，你聽第一首會覺得不錯、第二首都不錯、第三首你就會自問：好像差不多？第四首又是這個樣……所以我寧願照聽宣敘調，前提是要我懂那個語文或者有歌詞對譯。宣敘調本身也是歌唱，而且宣敘調／詠嘆調這樣轉來轉去才有點花款，況且這樣才有劇情可跟。
同一道理，現在我聽粵劇絕對不想聽折子戲，盡可能聽全劇，只聽主題曲對我來說更為乏味。其實歌劇和粵曲一個相似點，一聽難忘的主題曲或詠嘆調，真的是鳳毛麟角，絕大多數也是寫來讓歌手表演唱功，聽者也是為聽歌手、多過作品本身而已，從完整的戲劇中抽離出來，我覺得反而更難投入。
回到這個錄音，我覺得選角已經仁至義盡，原劇有甚多寫給閹人歌手的角色，更會分成女高音及女低音，這個錄音除了很細緻地分別以假聲男高音及女高音代替，也盡量找不同聲底及類型的女高音。於是詠嘆調寫得差不多，仍有一些分別。至於Spyres確是賣點，他一方面表現自己能低能高的特質，另一方面也會自己加一些極高音及極低音，如果只想聽他的詠嘆調，可以聽15、21、27、39、47，其中一首原曲就有八個高音C，在另一首他自己加了一個高音D。
This oft-recorded early Mozart opera has been put on various European opera houses in the past decade, often featuring Michael Spyres in the title role. This new studio recording conducted by Marc Minkowski again had Spyres, who already had a DVD of a live performance released on the same label.
As many recordings of Mitridate exceeded the three-hour mark, this 150-minute recording was obviously abridged, which isn’t a bad thing to present an early Mozart opera. Recitatives were kept at a minimum to allow the plot play out, and I think two arias were cut. But how wrong it would be to just listen to the arias, because the dazzling fireworks would already sound the same at around the third, if not the second aria.
Unavoidable that was, the sense of repetition was substantially reduced by the careful selection of singers. This recording not only featured Erato’s other star soloists, but also the cast was deliberately picked so that no two sopranos sound the same. In the original performances many roles were taken by castrati, there was even the distinction between soprano and alto castrato. And only one countertenor was used in this recording, enough to vary the vocal landscape.
But the star was Spyres, as always. The reason why he so excelled in this role was his broad vocal range: the modern Mozartian tenor could do the top notes but would probably be stumped in the low notes. As in custom Spyres further interpolated low and high notes in his arias. You might like to catch those on tracks 15, 21, 27, 39 and 47. In one of them he interpolated a high D, and in another one there was already eight high Cs as written by Mozart.