From the Early 20th Vol.2
Piano Works by Webern, Berg, Mompou, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Sibelius, Ravel, Bill Evans
Andrew Rangell (piano) (Steinway & Sons)
(scroll down for English review)
Andrew Rangell的20世紀早期鋼琴作品選集來到第二輯，但這次的選曲我覺得比第一輯有趣。首先說是20世紀早期，Rangell的選曲從前衛、後浪漫，或者非浪漫非前衛都有，是20世紀頭半音樂頗為全面的縮影。另外這碟的共通點是「奏鳴曲」，但當然不會是傳統的：叫「奏鳴曲」的，包括貝爾格（軌四），史克利亞賓第九首（軌九），沒有奏鳴曲一般的三樂章、四樂章結構。
唱片後半又有三首小奏鳴曲，都是一般樂迷都接觸到的大名作曲家：普羅歌菲夫（軌10）、西貝流士（軌11至13）及拉威爾（軌14至16）。其實這些「小奏鳴曲」又不是和「奏鳴曲」有幾多分別，只是他們都有一種簡單、小規模的企圖，不過寫到出來又可以挺複雜，因人而異。此外還有兩套很小型的變奏曲，卻被Rangell視作另類奏鳴曲：魏本（軌一至三）及蒙波（軌五至八）。
如果會被魏本及貝爾格嚇倒，那就直接跳到蒙波，不過聽完他就會去到史克利亞賓「黑彌撒」《第九鋼琴奏鳴曲》（軌九）。我還是不要代入其他聽者的角度，就說我的觀感。首先選曲對我來說是一流的，知名鋼琴家雖然會彈某些作品，但像Rangell這樣概覽的，我一時想不出。不過在彈奏上，知名鋼琴家就會彈得出分別，我覺得Rangell在貝爾格、史克利亞賓、拉威爾這些在和聲及層次較複雜的作品上，就欠缺足夠技術去彈出不同層次及色彩。容易一些的曲目，就只是彈得夠簡單，我感覺不到又甚麼獨特地方。
Andrew Rangell’s second collection of early 20th century piano music is a diverse sample of styles. There’s the Second Viennese School, Russians such as Scriabin and Prokofiev and the more accessible styles of Sibelius and Ravel. But the common thread of “sonata” runs through it.
The Webern Variations (tracks 1-3) and the Mompou Variations (tracks 5-8) were treated here as mini-sonatas, and there’s the extra point of comparison between the pointillism of Webern and the austerity of Mompou. Berg’s op.1 sonata (track 4) is mirrored by Scriabin’s Black Mass Sonata (track 9). The second half of the album has three sonatinas by Prokofiev (track 10), Sibelius (tracks 11-13) and Ravel (tracks 14-16). The term sonatina might not be rigorously defined here but they all start out with some sort of naiveté, yet might end up being more complex than one presumes.
I really admire the programming but remain cold towards the playing. I think Rangell simply couldn’t grasp the lines and dots of Webern. The complex texture of Berg, Scriabin and Ravel sounded monotonous in Rangell’s hands. The simplicity of Mompou, Sibelius and Prokofiev came forward only as uncomplicated music and I think Rangell was unable to reveal their charm.