Bach: Goldberg Variations
Jean Rondeau (harpsichord) (Erato)
(scroll down for English review)
尚隆多這個《哥德堡變奏曲》新錄音去到106分鐘長，相信破了最慢／長的紀錄。當然也要好奇怎可以去到這麼慢，有沒有造作、或者新加了即興段落的問題。前者，我覺得沒有，後者也是沒有，真的是彈到這麼慢。聽到最後，我覺得106分鐘並非目的，而是在不同追求下的結果。
我認為這個錄音足以從此反駁任何說古鍵琴「聲音像音樂盒一叮即逝」、「古鍵琴音符之間就是空白、很禪」的無知說法。即使沒有尚隆多這錄音，我相信任何古鍵琴家、用任何古鍵琴，要把《哥德堡》彈到90分鐘都不會有持音力不夠的問題。我換個說法，假如有心把《哥德堡》彈到好慢，用古鍵琴的話，額外工夫會比鋼琴少很多很多。
此外，尚隆多選用的古鍵琴也比絕大多數古鍵琴，有更強的持音力，我聽了一半才去查他用甚麼琴，心裏有數，但答案是Jonte Knif及Arno Pelto於2006年做的琴，關鍵是此琴並非複製個別樂器、或者個別工匠而來，只是籠統的說參考不同的德國古鍵琴。對這點我有微言，假如為了最大的持音力、最柔和的琴音去造琴，很容易會失卻不同古鍵琴的特色，就像製作出古鍵琴版本的史坦威那樣。
回到速度的問題，我很少感覺到尚隆多有拖慢的跡象，明顯覺得慢的，就是所有要分開兩個鍵盤彈的變奏，也包括最慢或最長的第25變奏。這部琴因為比多數古鍵琴的聲音厚，於是這些雙鍵盤變奏的聲音也異常厚，但可能失卻了巴哈指定要分開鍵盤的意義。不過將這些雙鍵盤變奏大幅彈慢，另一個效果是令所有變奏在速度上更為一致。
在其他而佔多數的單鍵盤變奏，我覺得尚隆多能夠用這部古鍵琴，做出一般古鍵琴家在彈《哥德堡》或其他巴哈作品時，彈不出的厚實和弦，因為古鍵琴本來就無法像管風琴和鋼琴那樣，彈到粒粒音都聽得清楚的和弦。在對位的意義上，尚隆多在「橫」的對位以上，大大增添了「直」的對位元素，所以我會期待尚隆多再用這部琴去錄《平均律》。
見到一些宣傳字句，例如iTunes的介紹，解釋尚隆多這麼慢的速度是因為加了大量裝飾音。這一點是錯的，尚隆多很少加裝飾音，彈重覆奏也絕少加，加得最多就是詠嘆調，或者寫手只聽了詠嘆調？不過，即使這個106分鐘的演奏是成功的，但尚隆多愈是彈得慢，我愈覺得這首作品不值得彈重覆奏，這個錄音只是兩個53分鐘的演奏而已。
This 106-minute recording of Goldberg Variations from Jean Rondeau probably broke a record. But this recording convinced me that the 106-minute mark wasn’t an end in itself, but the result of various goals that Rondeau wished to achieve.
First of all, I think it’s essential not to think that Rondeau “extended” or “stretched” the piece from 80 minutes to 106 minutes. I believe any harpsichordist could easily play this work on any harpsichord at 90 minutes without losing his or her legato. It’d be much more difficult for pianists to play that slow without finding ways to compensate the loss of tone at such tempi.
Rondeau also chose an instrument with an exceptionally thick sound and a longer decay time. It’s a 2006 instrument made by Jonte Knif and Arno Pelto “after German models”. I don’t like the idea of building an instrument with the goal of the most sustained and mellow sound because it could mean producing a harpsichord version of the ever-reliable Steinway. One of the joys of listening to harpsichord is that you’ll get to hear different instruments with their different qualities.
The well-sustained sound prevented Rondeau’s interpretation sounding too slow, but he obviously slowed things down in the two-manual variations, including the grand adagio that is Variation 25. On this instrument these two-manual variations no longer sounded as lean as customary but that might have defeated the purpose for Bach indicating they be played on separate manuals. On the other hand, I agree with Rondeau’s tempi in these variations because it made them more consistent with the other variations.
For the single-manual variations, Rondeau was able, probably thanks to this instrument, to produce round and massive-sounding chords, something inherently unattainable on harpsichords. Thus Rondeau drastically raised the “vertical” sense of Bach’s counterpoint, while the usual interpretations could only highlight the horizontal counterpoint. I’d be eager for Rondeau to record the WTC on the same instrument.
Promotional material, such as iTunes, made the mistake of attributing Rondeau’s slow tempi to numerous embellishments. That’s simply not true, Rondeau’s embellishments, even during repeats, were scarce. Only the Aria (in both renderings) was filled with reasonable embellishments. Perhaps, the copyrighters heard only the Aria and made their speculations? This 106-minute recording is a winner but I do believe this is just a 53-minute performance played twice. I miss the days when concert promoters would ask pianists to programme this work for the second half and skip the repeats.