Pfitzner: Overtures and Preludes from Palestrina, Die Käthchen von Heilbronn, Die Rose vom Liebesgarten
Wolfgang Sawallisch / Bavarian Radio Symphony (Orfeo)
(scroll down for English review)
再聽和理察史特勞斯同代、聲名被他蓋過的費茲納的作品。沙華列殊指揮BRSO，演奏出自舞台作品的序曲、前奏曲或者間奏曲。以文藝復興時期的意大利宗教作曲家為題材的《帕勒斯替那》，三幕都有前奏曲（軌一至三），兩慢一快，第一首及三首甚有暮鼓晨鐘的味道，都是動人的慢板，但以第三首更為惘然，第二首以激烈音樂去描寫特倫特會議的喧鬧。這三首前奏曲所代表的情緒，令人有《帕西法》的聯想。
軌四《海布隆的凱欣》序曲是話劇的配樂，不過費茲納實在寫得太長，放得太多不同元素來描繪戲劇內容，我覺得聽完這首十幾鐘、又沒多方向感的序曲，很可能不想看之後的話劇。
《愛園玫瑰》是擺明華格納風的歌劇，軌五及六是兩段間奏曲，令我覺得值得介紹此碟。軌五〈花之奇蹟〉是帶魔幻感覺的慢板，軌六〈葬禮進行曲〉我原以為會像《諸神的黃昏》那首，因為這齣歌劇的主角就叫做齊格諾特，不過菲茨納的寫法，不像華格納偏重銅管，改為用弦樂帶動悲慟之情。
Though he followed the Wagnerian approach in writing operas, Pfitzner’s music isn’t fully of that vein, this LP of the overtures or interludes from his operas offer a glimpse into his talents without the need to go through his not-so-enjoyable operas. Some may object that his opera Palestrina was a success so the three preludes (tracks 1-3) are a must for such album. You might listen to them as a vigorous allegro sandwiched between two adagios. The religious and contemplative atmosphere of the first and third prelude reminds me of Wagner’s Parsifal.
Pfitzner wrote incidental music for Kleist’s drama Die Käthchen von Heilbronn, the overture (track 4) tries too hard to condense the drama into a multi-sectioned overture. To me it seemly is just going nowhere.
But I enjoyed the two pieces from Die Rose vom Liebesgarten (tracks 5-6), I guess it’s their Wagnerian qualities that attracted me. The Miracle of the Blossoms is a slow piece with magical overtones, perhaps Act 2 of Parsifal? I thought the Funeral March would be a clone of Wagner’s because the hero of this opera is named Siegnot. But Pfitzner refrained from a Wagnerian deployment of full brass, relying on strings to express the sadness.