Saint-Saëns: Symphony in A Major; Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
Jean-Jacques Kantorow / Liège Philharmonic (BIS)
(scroll down for English review)
今年是聖桑逝世一百周年，錄音開始蜂擁而至，這張是小提琴家兼指揮Jean-Jacques Kantorow（年青鋼琴家Alexandre之父）和比利時列日愛樂的三首聖桑交響曲。聖桑一共有五首交響曲，三首有號碼，《第一》之前有一首《A大調交響曲》、《第一》及《第二》之間又有一首《羅馬城交響曲》。這張收錄《A大調交響曲》、《第一》及《第二》，我相信同一組合會灌錄《羅馬城交響曲》、《管風琴交響曲》完成全套。
聖桑是音樂神童，先以鋼琴成名，又很快展現作曲天份，《A大調交響曲》（軌一至四）就是15歲作品，這只是1850年的事，孟德爾遜只死了三年，舒曼還未死，此曲很容易聽到這兩人的影響，不過聽下去，我感覺到樂曲愈來愈有海頓及莫扎特在格式及旋律上的勻稱。這不僅是聖桑的少年作品，他也有用來練習的本意，完成後不久撤回。
《第一交響曲》（軌五至八）是三年後的作品，聖桑一頭栽進了浪漫派的交響世界，除了感情強烈，也有在格式上力求創新。第一樂章不用緩慢引子，卻放在提示部之後。第二樂章他叫做進行諧謔曲，但不像一般交響曲中的諧謔曲，有一些田園風味。這樂章和第三樂章（慢板）是我最為欣賞的，這個慢板對我來說很有歌劇間奏曲的味道，旋律如舞動。第四樂章我就一般，但強勁如進行曲的配器及節奏也算搶耳。
幾個月介紹過另一位指揮的《第二交響曲》（軌九至十二），今次在兩首聖桑交響曲之後再聽一次，反而覺得比兩首前作失色。我猜想聖桑在寫了三首交響曲後，會進一步擴充體裁，但這曲反而是想找到更精煉的交響曲格式。第一樂章是很特殊地用宣敘調開始，再用一小段賦格帶到激動的主段落，不過聖桑就沒有再轉到另一方向。第二及三樂章分別是慢板及諧謔曲，先前聽的兩首交響曲的慢板對我來說有點過長，但也只是未識見好就收，而這個慢板就太沒野心。
最重要是演奏及錄音俱佳，用心呈獻冷門曲目，三曲雖不是曠世名作、要時時重溫，但有用心演奏聽這一次也特別愉快。
There’s now a rush of Saint-Saëns discs for his anniversary. Jean-Jacques Kantorow and the Liège Philharmonic brought out three symphonies, the unnumbered A Major, and Nos. 1 and 2. I expect a second release of the Urbs Roma Symphony, written between Nos. 1 and 2, with the Organ Symphony to round off the cycle.
Saint-Saëns wrote the A Major Symphony (tracks 1-4) at age 15, as an exercise in extended writing. Mendelssohn had been dead for only three years and Schumann were still alive, the influence of the two could be felt at the beginning. But as the symphony unfolded, I found there was more of Haydn and Mozart in the balance of form and melody.
Three years later came No. 1 (tracks 5-8), Saint-Saëns plunged in the romantic symphony. There wasn’t just an enhanced vigour but some sort of innovation in the form. In the first movement, the slow introduction was placed after the exposition. The pastoral second movement was titled March-Scherzo. This, and the adagio third movement were my favourites of the whole symphony. The adagio was like an opera intermezzo with a waltzing melody. I don’t really care for the finale but the march-like rhythm and volume would please some ears.
The Second Symphony (tracks 9-12) now meant different to me after listening to two earlier works. I expected Saint-Saëns to further expand his canvas, but on the contrary he shrank it. A recitative was an innovative start for the first movement which then burst into the main section via a fugato passage. But Saint-Saëns didn’t bring us to another direction. The scherzo and the adagio were simply too concise and that was my overall impression of the whole symphony.
Rare works hardly got to be played and recorded with such dedication. They aren’t immortal masterpieces but brought me enough joy for a single listening.