Bach: 12 Preludes and Fugues from Well-Tempered Clavier Book 2
Piotr Anderszewski (piano) (Warner)
(scroll down for English review)
Anderszewski從第二冊《平均律》的廿四首前奏與賦格，選了一半，重新排過次序。若你以為把巴哈彈得慢、彈得悶就是知性，這碟可能合你口味。
我發覺Anderszewski在前奏曲中，傾向用很重的連奏，每個音一個接一個緊貼，好像每一個音符都同樣重要，但我聽來就沒有節奏，也就沒有形狀可言。好像來來去去就只有一種平靜、所以有深度的感覺。亦因為音符同等重要，我也覺得Anderszewski容易忽視和聲，只能靠音量去帶出一首前奏曲的起伏位。
至於賦格，我不相信演奏者需要把所有聲部彈得同樣清楚，是有需要分開哪個聲部在此刻較為重要，不斷引導聽者留意不同聲部。不過我覺得Anderszewski似乎是，不是他想強調的聲部，就都很模糊，而他強調的聲部，往往就是主題而已。恕我孤陋寡聞，只是將主題在不同聲部間拋來拋去，應該不是賦格精妙所在。
另外是各首前奏與賦格的排序，我覺得按照原來的次序，反而較有不同，Anderszewski這12首排到出來，我聽來沒幾多分別。我覺得這張選集，只適合本身對《平均律》有點心得的人聽，假如對《平均律》甚至巴哈不怎麼樣，不宜追着Anderszewski的名氣去聽。
Anderszewski selected 12 preludes and fugues from Book 2 of WTC. He didn’t play in order, though. If you prefer slower and duller Bach, you might find this album “cerebral”.
I think Anderszewski had the tendency to overdo the legato in the preludes. The notes were strung tightly together, allowing hardly any groupings. So to me it just sounded like a string of notes without rhythm and therefore, shape. There seemed to be a singular peaceful and subsequently aloft feeling. Since all notes were of equal importance I found Anderszewski to be less aware of the harmonic implications of various passages and had to rely on volume gradations to mark out the climaxes.
As for the fugues I’m no disciple in hearing all voices on equal volume. Yet Anderszewski, after he selected a certain voice to bring out, rendered all other voices in mish-mash. And the voices he deemed important are usually the fugue subject. I don’t believe the magic of fugues lie in tossing the subject back and forth.
In my opinion, following Bach’s original order allows for a higher variety than Anderszewski’s sequence. To me the 12 preludes and fugues sounded like just one song. I won’t recommend this album to those who have yet to love WTC.