Lyapunov: 12 Transcendental Studies
Florian Noack (piano) (La Prima Volta)
(scroll down for English review)
利亞普諾夫（1859-1924）是炫技鋼琴音樂愛好者才較熟悉的名字，這套《12首超絕技巧練習曲》既題獻給李斯特，也延續了李斯特本身的《12首超絕技巧練習曲》，用他那套沒有用的調，完成了24個大調及小調。
不時都見到人錄利亞普諾夫這套作品，但之前還未認真聽過，Florian Noack這張既是新推出，而且見到他以前錄過兩張利亞普諾夫的專輯，所以投下信心一票。聽完後，用部分選段跟Konstantin Scherbakov同曲的第二次錄音比較，Scherbakov是我頗欣賞的炫技類鋼琴家，名聲遠遜於他的Noack和他差不多。
此套練習曲被一般樂迷忽略，我覺得甚為可惜，它大部分時間沒有李斯特那套的氣魄，相信是主因，不過我覺得利亞普諾夫多少有由淺入深的企圖，前半只是熱身，後半才是戲肉。雖說前半未夠困難，但已不是普通業餘鋼琴演奏者的水平，比起柴可夫斯基許多鋼琴小品，它們能夠用較高的難度去鋪陳標題音樂式的主題，例如軌五的夏夜、軌六的暴風雨。
除了李斯特，蕭邦練習曲也是利亞普諾夫的參考對象，尤其是第二輯（作品25），軌九是利亞普洛夫版本的《豎琴練習曲》，在繁忙的倣豎琴伴奏上面，彈出飄逸的旋律。軌十的雷斯金卡是急速的樂曲，可與李斯特那套的《馬采巴》媲美，最後軌12的《紀念李斯特的悲歌》則是用李斯特的匈牙利狂想曲形式和變奏曲式混合向李斯特致敬。
Lyapunov’s 12 Transcendental Studies aren’t just a tribute to Liszt, they also completed the cycle of keys that Liszt planned but didn’t manage to write. This is actually Florian Noack’s third Lyapunov album and a brief comparison with Konstantin Scherbakov’s second recording of the set shows Noack handled the virtuosity rather well.
Eclipsed by the Liszt set and overlooked by common music lovers, Lyapunov’s avoidance of uncalled for grandeur might have been a defect to some. But the cycle does seem to progress from small to large, building up to the larger pieces in the end. Highlights in the first half include Summer Night (track 5) and Storm (track 6), I see them as Tchaikovsky-ish character pieces clothed in more sophisticated pianism.
Chopin was evoked in the Aeolian Harp etude (track 9), and Lezghinka (track 10) could be compared with Liszt’s Mazeppa. The crowning piece Elegy in Memory of Liszt is a mixture of the Hungarian Rhapsody and variations form.