Schnittke: Suite in Olden Style, Polka, Tango, Violin Sonata No.1, Madrigal in Memoriam Oleg Kagan, Gratulationrondo, Stille Nacht
Daniel Hope (violin), Alexey Botvinov (piano) (DG)
(scroll down for English review)
我早前才說Daniel Hope是DG的輕音樂天王，殊不知他在DG出了一張舒尼卡（1934-1998）專輯。舒尼卡可謂蕭斯塔高維契死後，最受西方推崇的蘇聯作曲家，一來是因為他繼承了蕭氏晚期的荒涼風格，二來是他不受羈絆的音樂風格被政府打壓。
二三十年前，甘祈頓非常努力推廣他的音樂，但舒尼卡相對早死，也就再沒新作，西方也開始發掘到其實更接近蕭斯塔高維契的魏因貝格，就連甘祈頓都變了心。
所以我樂見Hope灌錄這張專輯，但我個人來說，我覺得Hope實在選得太多他的所謂易聽作品。軌一至五的《古風祖曲》、軌六《波爾卡舞曲》、軌七《探戈》、軌13《祝賀迴旋曲》完全適合沒怎聽過舒尼卡的樂迷。《古風祖曲》及《探戈》都是來自舒尼卡寫來餬口的電影音樂，它們採用古典或流行的舞曲形式，根本不用言語解釋，只是單聽他們其實是難以領略舒尼卡想像馬勒一般，想將通俗或鄙俗音樂和嚴肅音樂並置的音樂哲學。
不過頭七軌，亦即是全碟三分一，卻為之後的《第一小提琴奏鳴曲》（軌八至11）做到很好的鋪排，這首四樂章奏鳴曲，便是從稍為通俗的旋律出發，逐漸通往舒尼卡想描寫的深邃靈性境界，軌十的廣板，從小提琴最低音、也是無法揉弦的空弦G開始，發展成動人的吶喊，我覺得Hope既拉出相當的美感，也有充裕的感情。
軌12《悼念卡根的牧歌》及軌14《平安夜》就是很舒尼卡的作品，前者是無伴奏小提琴，也像剛才說的廣板一樣，逐漸從虛無過渡至悲慟，再回到虛無。《平安夜》就即是把這首聖誕歌改寫成荒腔走板，就如冰冷的沙漠。想知舒尼卡是甚麼，聽這兩軌最好，但也多數會令你討厭他。
Earlier I described Hope as DG’s King of Easy Listening, so this Schnittke album came as a surprise. Schnittke was the most highly regarded Soviet composer after the death of Shostakovich. One of the reason is Schnittke being the heir of the late Shostakovich style, another reason is his persecution by the Soviet authorities.
Up to two decades ago, Gidon Kremer was a tireless champion of Schnittke’s music, but the premature death of Schnittke meant there would be no new works. With the rediscovery of Weinberg, Schnittke’s reputation is on constant decline. Now even Kremer plays more Weinberg than Schnittke.
So I’m glad to see this album coming from Hope. But to me I don’t appreciate the dominance of his so-called easy-listening pieces. Suite in Olden Style (tracks 1-5), Polka (track 6), Tango (track 7), Gratulationrondo (track 13) can be readily enjoyed by anyone. But such dominance voids Schnittke’s music credo of mixing the secular and the profound impotent as the profound side are hardly to be found in these pieces.
Yet the First Violin Sonata (tracks 8-11) follows those easy-listening dances very suitably. In this sonata, Schnittke seemed to start with benign dances then worked them towards deep spirituality. I especially enjoyed Hope’s playing in the Largo (track 10). The violin started with the open-string G, the lowest on a violin and a non-vibrato note, then built up to a catharsis.
Madrigal in Memoriam Oleg Kagan (track 12) and Silent Night (track 14) are what I call echt-Schnittke, they’re bitter, nihilistic or full of parody. If you’re turned on by the easy-listening pieces you might as well be turned off by these two pieces.