Prokofiev: Symphony No.6
Myaskovsky: Symphony No.27
Vasily Petrenko / Oslo Philharmonic (LAWO)
(scroll down for English review)
V佩特連科另一張新碟是和奧斯陸愛樂錄製，再一次將普羅歌菲夫配搭米亞斯科夫斯基，兩曲都是在蘇聯在二戰獲勝後那幾年寫的作品，《第27交響曲》是米亞斯科夫斯基最後一首交響曲。
和上一張「普米配」一樣，我也是較喜歡後者。話雖如此，未聽過或未聽熟普六的朋友，都可趁此機會認識普羅歌菲夫在上一首交響曲的成功後，突破自己的嘗試。它框架較大，材料的發展更意想不到，高潮也較為震憾。這個演奏，我也是欣賞佩特連科的秀麗，和小心調校聲部平衡以求不會出現噪音及醜陋，但我覺得過猶不及，感情的濃烈出不到來。
米27（軌四至六）同樣是三個樂章，它的開頭運用兩支很少在交響曲獨奏的樂器：巴松管及低音單簧管，構成獨特的音響，但之後的發展卻令我覺得米氏仍然堅守着19世紀交響樂的管弦技法及美學。我這樣說絕無貶義，正當其他作曲家要不發明新的音樂語言（例如無調音樂、序列主義）就是加大樂隊（蕭斯塔高維契），米氏就是用最基本的弦樂及木管造出頗多變化，就連銅管也用得很克制，一用就令人覺得充滿力量。
說這首《第27交響曲》，我很欣賞它的閑適，但也不會一成一變，我發覺米氏並不會強行發展或轉化材料，而是忽然拋出一個相反的元素來撞一撞，再回到從頭、再相撞，然後融合。其實這也不過是交響曲這種曲式的基本，只是一踏入現代，好像各位天才都忘記了。
The second Vasily Petrenko disc was done with the Oslo Philharmonic and it was a second Prokofiev-Myaskovsky combination. Despite their numbers, the two symphonies were written just a couple of years within each other, in the aftermath of Soviet’s WWII victory. Myaskovsky’s 27th Symphony was his last.
Like the previous time I also preferred the Myaskovsky. Still this is a good chance to know Prokofiev Sixth (tracks 1-3) if you’re not yet familiar with it. This is Prokofiev’s heroic attempt to break new grounds after his very successful Fifth Symphony. Once again I acknowledged Petrenko’s effort to balance, never letting an ugly edge. But I think he overdid it, so some intended effect couldn’t be delivered.
Myaskovsky’s 27th Symphony (tracks 4-6) is also a three-movement work. He started the first movement with two awkward choices for solos: the bassoon and the bass clarinet. But the subsequent moments showed that he was adhering strictly to the 19th century symphony orchestra. He achieved enough variety just by using the usual strings and woodwinds, brasses were reserved for the loudest instances. Unlike 20th symphonists who felt they had to invent new languages (atonality or serialism) or have a huge orchestra (Shostakovich), Myaskovsky’s insistence was rare indeed.
The sense of pastoral repose dominated this symphony and Myaskovsky kept things moving. He wouldn’t keep on spinning and twisting the same material, instead he’d throw in entirely different material to shake things up. The contrasting material would keep clashing then mesh with each other. That’s the classic aesthetics of the symphony, perhaps the geniuses of the 20th century had forgotten that.