Beethoven: Symphonies No.1-9
Jordi Savall / Le Concert des Nations (Alia Vox)
(scroll down for English review)
薩巴爾的貝多芬交響曲全集在疫情下終於完成，所以我現在才從一早推出了的第一集（一至五）聽起。起初還覺得定音鼓及管樂很搶，正好不會讓弦樂凌駕一切，不過去到《英雄》就已經覺得弦樂太弱。雖說這是古樂團的原音演奏，我很多時卻覺得就真的是一隊奏巴洛克音樂的古樂團，坐了時光機到一百年後去奏貝多芬般。
我猜是薩巴爾想弦樂用較放鬆的運弓，不要像現代弦樂般把每個音都拉得飽滿。我覺得真的是現代樂團，假如用快的速度去奏貝多芬，這樣拉是正確的，否則聲音會太厚太密，但古樂團做到薩巴爾那樣，在較簡單的旋律還是可行，但旋律音符多一點就會不妥，往往是音樂去到激烈時，弦樂就好像沒幾多聲音出到來。
但撇除聲音（其實是不能撇除的，就假設吧）我覺得薩巴爾還是想追求猛烈痛快的貝多芬演奏，不過儘管我意會到他想營造出暴風雨，無奈實際吹出來的風及下出來的雨就是不夠大。貝多芬之後，薩巴爾將會錄舒伯特，或者效果會較貝多芬好。
（分成兩個連結，第一至五，第六至九。）
Jordi Savall finally rode over the pandemic and completed his Beethoven symphony cycle. Starting from the first volume (no.1-5) I was initially overjoyed by the prominent winds and timpani because I’ve always thought that the strings should have a better balance with the winds. But when I got to Eroica I came to realize the strings were indeed too weak. I couldn’t resist thinking that a baroque ensemble had indeed time-travelled to Beethoven’s time.
My guess is that Savall asked for less bow pressure and not to play every note fully from start to end. While this works well for modern orchestras trying to play Beethoven at his metronome markings, Savall’s strings barely managed in simpler melodies only. When the music got rough the string tone just didn’t have much sustaining power.
I believe Savall aimed at delivering a fiery Beethoven set but the sound just didn’t sound right. The thunderclaps were loud, but the moisture wasn’t enough to make it a bona fide storm.