R. Strauss: Orchestral Works
Andris Nelsons / Boston Symphony, Gewandhaus Orchestra (DG)
(scroll down for English review)
繼續談尼遜斯的史特勞斯套裝。
軌34-42：《查拉圖斯特拉如是說》（萊）。不只是慢的地方較慢，連快的也是稍慢，想聽齊「橫」的聲部是不錯的，但想聽直的聲音混和就有點怪，好像聲音混合不到的。如果以這個稍慢的速度來說，高潮的力度不夠。
軌43-64：《阿爾卑斯交響曲》（波）。55分鐘理論上算慢，但聽來又不覺得很拖。不少地方都突出到平時被忽略，甚至理應是最重要的聲部。我覺得波士頓這批錄音，音響不對勁也和混音有關，將所有東西都出到，但應大聲的地方又不夠大。
軌65-67：《馬克白》（萊）。冷門的史特勞斯交響詩，近期好像多了指揮選奏。它較像李斯特的交響詩，多過我們最常聽的那些史特勞斯交響詩，因為很執着的同一個很有命運壓逼感，應該是代表馬克白的動機貫徹全曲。很多時候都有戰爭氣氛，演奏夠力又清楚。
軌68-71：《死與變容》（波）。這套錄音暫時最少花巧的演奏，但讓樂隊自然發聲其實好聽得多，而且銅管的齊奏極佳，可能勝過萊比鍚。
軌72-77：《英雄的一生》（萊）。可能是最能表現萊比鍚錄音和波士頓錄音，在音響上差距的演奏，但也是尼遜斯拖慢拖得最過火的演奏。小提琴獨奏應該是受指揮指令才會這麼扭擰。戰役後的兩部分（軌76、77）本來是這曲我最喜歡的段落，但尼遜斯指得太斷斷續續，拖到沒完沒了。
Here comes the second batch of Nelsons’ Strauss recordings.
Tracks 34-42: Also sprach Zarathustra (Leipzig). A tad slower in all sections. This is a good chance to hear all the “horizontal” voices, but the ‘vertical” sound blended not so well. The climaxes were underpowered, given such relaxed tempi.
Tracks 43-64: Alpine Symphony (Boston). 55 minutes under Nelsons didn’t sound so slow after all. Again, neglected voices finally got revealed. You can hear everything thanks to the mixing but that’s actually a defect because the loud stuff weren’t loud enough.
Tracks 65-67: Macbeth (Leipzig). A symphonic poem more in the style of Liszt than Strauss. You’ll get to hear an obsessive motif, perhaps a “Macbeth” motif, throughout the piece. Lots of passages in a battle mood and they were very well executed.
Tracks 68-71: Death and Transfiguration (Boston). I’m glad Nelsons finally let the players do their thing. Without his fuzziness the whole orchestra sounded much better. Special credit is due for the brass section, who might be of a higher calibre than their Leipzig colleagues.
Tracks 72-77: Ein Heldenleben (Leipzig). The engineering of the Leipzig recordings was superior to those made in Boston and this is the best example. But Nelsons’ indulgence was also at its peak here. I wouldn’t believe the concertmaster would have played with such fuzziness without the conductor telling him so. The two sections following the battle scene were too much stop-and-go. These sections are my favourite of the whole piece but the way Nelsons did them was quite unbearable.