Bach: Viola da Gamba Sonatas
Christoph Schaffath: Viola da Gamba Sonata in A Major
Robert Smith (viola da gamba), Francesco Corti (harpsichord) (Resonus)
(scroll down for English review)
因為聽過Corti在Pentatone的巴哈古鍵琴協奏曲全集，所以對他和Robert Smith合作的這張巴哈低音古提琴奏鳴曲全集有興趣，也時候去面對這套我不夠熟悉的曲目。
這套作品有很多人混淆成大提琴作品，可能是因為巴哈寫過六首無伴奏大提琴組曲，也因為有一些大提琴家演奏這三首奏鳴曲，即使頻繁程度可能不及大提琴組曲的百分之一。也有一些中提琴家挪為己用，不過低音古提琴才是原來的樂器。
三首奏鳴曲在這碟沒有順序，最有名及悅耳的BWV1027放在最後（軌12至15），而我也覺得這首最值得聽，因為不只是作品本身，更是演奏遠比其餘兩首為佳。在其餘兩首我不同意Smith的發音，往往變相成為了頓奏，未能拉出這種樂器最佳的音色出來。不過另一方面，你聽BWV1027應該會覺得聲音頗接近大提琴，其餘兩首明顯較高音，也更顯得那兩首其實不怎麼大提琴。再進一步說，這三首奏鳴曲少人演奏，除了考量甚麼樂器適合，其實站在低音古提琴的立場，它們真的太過巴哈，而沒有真正照顧到低音古提琴的特色。
穿插三首奏鳴曲中間的，有比巴哈年輕20年的Christoph Schraffath的《A大調低音古提琴奏鳴曲》（軌四至六），它稍微貼近這種樂器，但又缺乏巴哈的神采。另外Smith改編了一個《狄多的哀嘆》（軌11）版本，令我覺得頗有現代作品的炫技氣質。
I enjoyed Corti’s recordings of the Bach harpsichord concerti and that made me try out this disc of the Bach viola da gamba sonatas with Robert Smith. I also wished to take this opportunity to get myself more familiar to this repertoire.
Many have been confusing these sonatas to be cello sonatas, perhaps because of Bach’s cello suites. Some cellists do play them, but these are rare to come by, maybe just once for every hundred solo suites performances. More and more violists took these into their repertoire, but viola da gamba was the intended instrument.
The first, also the most well known First Sonata was placed at the end (tracks 12-15) of this disc. You might think it does sound like a cello piece but the other two sonatas were on a higher tessitura. And I think Smith played this BWV1027 sonata better than the other two, although the Second and Third Sonatas were obviously more suited for the gamba. Subsequently, the choice for the right instrument is probably one of the reasons that these sonatas don’t get to be played more often. Yet in comparison to the French gamba pieces, these Bach sonatas were just “too Bach” and “not gamba enough”.
The fillers are quite interesting, though. Tracks 4-6 are a gamba sonata by Christoph Schaffrath, Bach’s junior by 20 years. To me it’s more idiomatic but less flamboyant than Bach. Track 11 is Dido’s Lament arranged by Smith as a showpiece. It’s closer to the virtuosity of our age than the gentleness of Baroque.