Víkingur Ólafsson Plays Rameau and Debussy (DG)
(scroll down for English review)
Ólafsson出道了好幾年，但都未聽過他的唱片，去年的香港演出又因疫情取消。這次是因為他把德布西去配搭巴洛克時代的拉摩，終於接觸了這位炙手可熱的新秀。
拉摩佔了過半碟長，Ólafsson選的多是較為出名的「描寫樂曲」，例如頗出名的《鼓》（軌五）、《獨眼獸》（軌16）、《雞》（軌23）、《野人》（軌26），讀下去前不妨先聽這幾首，就算不怎熱愛巴洛克音樂，也值得認識。
很多鋼琴家彈巴哈，但較少涉獵其他巴洛克作曲家，Ólafsson願意學習及推介拉摩本值一讚，不過我覺得他彈不出應有的風味。不是因為他用鋼琴彈，又不是因為他不去模倣古鍵琴：古鍵琴只是手段，不是目的。以整體感覺來說，Ólafsson把拉摩彈得太悶，是比古鍵琴家悶，如果你覺得古鍵琴很悶的話。
技術而言，他把樂譜上過半的裝飾音都省略。在這種音樂，裝飾音不只是多幾個音符、玩玩花樣，而是旋律的一部分，也扮演到節奏、和聲，甚至感情、感嘆的功能。他不彈大部份裝飾音，最影響到兩首很重要的慢板：《繆詩們的相遇》（軌13）及《等音》（軌24）。此兩曲本來氣氛肅穆，倚靠裝飾音造出歌唱的感覺及感情，Ólafsson不彈裝飾音，他要用頗快的速度才能避免音樂太空洞，於是連樂曲本身的意義也奪走。
至於德布西，我並不是首首都聽得完，因為發覺Ólafsson慣性的無視音量指示，無輪是pp、p、f、ff的音量及觸感都沒大分別，要是不用弱音，德布西就很易彈了。總體上，他的拉摩不像拉摩，德布西又不像德布西。
假如不想聽古鍵琴、只想聽鋼琴彈的拉摩，應該去聽Angela Hewitt或Alexandre Tharaud，前者網上未必找到，後者的連結我放在留言。
This is my first encounter with Ólafsson, I finally tried him out because he dared to couple Debussy with Rameau. Rameau took more than half of this album’s play time. Ólafsson chose mostly his “character pieces”. Before you read on you might like to try out Tambourin (track 5), Les Cyclopes (track 16), La Poule (track 23) and Les Sauvages (track 26). These pieces are worth knowing even if you’re not a Baroque aficionado.
Pianists generally play Bach but few play the French clavecinistes as well. I admire Ólafsson’s exploration of this fringe repertoire but I think he failed to deliver the flavor of Rameau. Not because he played it on the piano, nor because he didn’t imitate the harpsichord touch. Harpsichord is just the means (and not the only), not the end. Generally speaking Ólafsson’s Rameau is duller than a typical harpsichord rendition, if you already consider harpsichord dull.
He ignored more than half of the ornaments. In this repertoire ornaments aren’t just that extra something, but an essential element in the melody, and has the function in enhancing rhythm, harmony and emotions. Such omission especially affect the two grand adagios: L’Entretien des Muses (track 13) and L’Enharmonique (track 24). The sombre moods of these pieces require the help of the ornaments. The consequence of their omission resulted in Ólafsson’s brisk tempi, thus depriving the pieces of their meaning.
I didn’t manage to listen to all of the Debussy pieces. The reason is that Ólafsson practically overlooked the dynamic markings. The volume and the touch of pp, p, f, ff are almost constant. Debussy is twice as easy if pianists don’t have to play the pp. All in all, Ólafsson’s Rameau and Debussy is anything but Rameau and Debussy.
Harpsichord remains the best choice of listening to Rameau. But if you prefer a piano, just go for Angela Hewitt or Alexandre Tharaud, the link to the latter is in the reply section.