Sarasate: Spanish Dances, etc.
Ruggiero Ricci (violin), Brooks Smith (piano) (DG Eloquence)
(scroll down for English review)
Eloquence為里奇出了兩套盒裝，一套是Decca錄音全集（20CD），另一套是American Decca錄音全集（9CD）。長話短說，兩間公司獨立運作，後者的錄音輾轉去到MCA、環球，然後隨着環球併吞寶麗金，Decca錄音及American Decca都回歸同一大家庭。
我對American Decca那一套較大興趣，其實里奇最出名的The Glory of Cremona就是這一批錄音。這時不但是里奇技術的巔峰，也有頂尖的錄音水準，Decca那套多數是單聲道錄音，即使立體聲那些也不算是把里奇錄得最好。
這張薩拉沙蒂專輯在1961年灌錄，正因為它集齊八首《西班牙舞曲》最令我雀躍。現在聽來聽去、拉來拉去都是《流浪者之歌》及《卡門幻想曲》，一百年前的小提琴家會拉多一些薩拉沙蒂小品，現在幾不復見。這八首舞曲，我起初還以為只是最出名的兩三首值得聽，但里奇一併演奏才最合適。
千萬不要覺得這種音樂庸俗，這套作品既有風情，也把小提琴炫技和樂曲配合得天衣無縫，令人相信就是這麼熱情的音樂就要配這麼火熱的炫技。里奇的不只是快而準，更重要是他的小提琴就像同時飾演多個角色，可如小號般爆炸，但也可如女聲般嫵媚，我覺得薩拉沙蒂，可能比帕格里尼更表現到里奇的真正實力：不只是炫技，而是炫技所帶出的表達力。現在的小提琴家無疑比半世紀前有更好的技術，但往往就是欠缺了這種表達力。
Eloquence brought out two very valuable Ruggiero Ricci box sets last year. One is a 20CD set of Decca recordings, the other is a 9CD set of American Decca recordings. To cut a long story short these are two companies independent from each other, but over the years of mergers and acquisitions these recordings eventually were pooled under the Universal catalogue.
It’s actually the American Decca set that caught my attention because it captured Ricci in his prime and in good stereo sound, one of which is the iconic The Glory of Cremona LP.
This Sarasate album was recorded in 1961 and it’s a great chance to listen to all eight Spanish Dances. It’s a pity that violinists prefer to work Zigeunerweisen or the Carmen Fantasy to death, only throwing in an odd piece or two. I thought only a couple of these dances are attractive but Ricci proved otherwise.
Please don’t consider such music superficial, it’s full of flavour and Sarasate clothed it in breathtaking virtuosity, a perfect match of style and content. Ricci’s virtuosity wasn’t just precision: he was ready to assume different personae. He could be blasting like a trumpet player but he could also sing voluptuously. To me, Sarasate brought out a more thorough violinist in Ricci than his acclaimed Paganini. Ricci’s expressive virtuosity is something sorely missed in today’s violinists.