Beethoven, Brahms: Violin Concerto
Gil Shaham (violin)
Eric Jacobsen / The Knights (Canary Classics)
(scroll down for English review)
沙涵第一次灌錄貝多芬協奏曲之餘，還把它和布拉姆斯協奏曲放在同一張碟，更是一張CD便能收錄，速度明顯比一般演奏快。對上一個這樣做的應該是Rosand在1998年的錄音，但最多人熟知應該是海飛茲的立體聲錄音，不過當時距離CD面世還有二十幾年，Rosand那張就純粹是CD時代的產物。
沙涵再和The Knights室樂團合作，上次是錄普羅歌菲夫。這個錄音的管弦樂質感非常纖薄，在貝多芬尤其明顯，不過我就不喜歡這種聲響，因為又少人又單薄，打了雙重折扣。重點當然是沙涵能否駕馭這種快速，我覺得在布拉姆斯是成功的，但貝多芬就好壞參半。
先說布拉姆斯，我覺得拉得慢，例如總長度在40分鐘或以上的演奏，多是想追求最濃厚的感情，但往往流於凝重。沙涵在這個速度仍能保留相多熱情，但因為爽快了，感情反而變得更為集中。不過樂隊方面，第二樂章的雙簧管獨奏就快得索然無味。
至於貝多芬，我覺得快到這種地步就令第一樂章聽來更機械，更像連串沒有意思的音階或琶音，清爽過頭就甚麼味道都沒有了。第一及第三樂章的華彩段是用克萊斯勒，但第二樂章結尾、以及第三樂章中段的lead-in我就認不出來，可能是新作的，而且樂隊也有參與。
After 30 years in the recording business Shaham finally recorded the Beethoven concerto. And he had the nerve to pair it with the Brahms concerto and place them on one CD with several minutes of disc space to spare. The previous violinist to do so was probably Aaron Rosand. But the most famous of such pairing is that of Heifetz’s stereo remakes. Obviously Heifetz didn’t record them for CD but Rosand’s sit unquestionably in the CD era.
After recording Prokofiev Shaham again teamed up with The Knights. Their sound was particularly thin on this recording and I don’t like it at all. They sounded understaffed and they deliberately played with a thin sound. But the point here is whether Shaham did well in these tempi. I think yes for Brahms, mostly no for Beethoven.
I’m not keen on Brahms concerto recordings that exceed 40 minutes. Quite often those violinists aim at maximum tone and emotions but could be too heavy and prodding at times. Shaham, at 35 minutes, maintained a full and passionate tone throughout. And the brisk tempi reined in the emotions, making them more focussed. But the oboe solo of the second movement was too hurried and alienated.
As for the Beethoven, Shaham surely could surf on such speed but to me the scales and arpeggios sounded more mechanical at such tempi. You can hardly make anything out of them. Shaham used the Kreisler cadenzas in first and third movements, but I can’t tell what were the lead-ins in second and third movements. My guess is those are newly written as the orchestra also took part.