Albinoni的爸爸，則是一位紙牌印製工廠的老闆，而音樂教育完全是自學而來，學有聲樂，小提琴，以及作曲。由於是業餘作曲家背景出身，因此起初Albinoni一直被當作是邊緣人。不過，1705他取了一位女聲樂家Margherita Raimondi之後，有助於他踏進歌劇界。
使Albinoni聲名遠播的，卻是他的器樂曲。在他出版的十部作品裡，九部都是器樂曲，有三重奏鳴曲和協奏曲。裡面的作品七和作品九協奏曲，更是在協奏曲裡編入雙簧管(oboe)最早的作曲家之一。
另外，原先在義大利採用的印刷術仍為活字印刷(movable print)，在印譜上有時候不是很漂亮。譬如，今天的譜上多個八分音符(♪)都會被連在一塊(♫)，但活字印刷則將它們印成單獨的音符。在歐洲其他地方開始流行的雕版印刷術(engraving press printing)，不僅將義大利原有的印刷術淘汰掉，許多義大利音樂家為尋找更大的市場而紛紛跑到荷蘭和英國等地方找別的印刷商出版他們的音樂。Albinoni便是這樣在歐洲各國找到他的廣大音樂市場。
今天入門的古典樂裡，常會聽到Albinoni的G小調慢板。不過，這一首經後證實完全不是他所寫的，而是音樂學家Remo Giazotto假Albinoni之名而親手寫的曲子。當初他宣稱是在德勒斯登Dresden圖書館裡找到殘缺的譜，自行改編完成的，但後來修改說詞，說只有數字低音線，其餘都是他自己譜上去的。
不過，Albinoni在世的時候寫的器樂曲其實相當多。除了上述九部作品之外，還有幾十首無作品編號的奏鳴曲和協奏曲。Albinoni為自學型的作曲家，作品的深度雖然常被批評說深度不夠或是結構不夠嚴謹，但Albinoni對於旋律的掌握非常漂亮，許多慢樂章中的慢板，甜美的樂句更勝過Handel和Vivaldi。我自己對Albinoni的入門曲子，可是高中時買I Musici (義大利音樂家合奏團) 錄他作品五的五聲部協奏曲及另外作品九的協奏曲，深深地被他既簡單但優美的旋律所吸引。
這兩張CD收錄了Albinoni所謂的6首作品四和12首作品六的三重奏鳴曲。不過，這六首作品四的奏鳴曲，雖然很有可能是Albinoni的曲子，但作品編號是假的。當時荷蘭的大印刷家Estienne Roger，為了增加曲子銷售量，硬在這六首曲子上灌上「作品四」的假編號。Albinoni真正的作品四，其實是12首清唱曲，但這種聲樂曲普遍來說，在義大利以外並不受歡迎。雖然這種不道德的做法，確實會增名曲子響量度，但可讓後世的學者很頭疼。
CD上的表演者為Elizabeth Wallfisch女士所帶領的The Locatelli Trio，後改名為Convivium。Elizabeth Wallfisch最令人敬佩的成就之一，應該是錄了Locatelli作品三的12首超高難度的小提琴協奏曲。不過，我雖然有許多Wallfisch的錄音，但很多她拉的方式有點過於保守，而且琴聲過於乾燥，使得有些音樂失去了一些生命力。
這兩張CD好像是我購買Wallfisch團的第一個錄音。當初聽完之後印象並不深，因此就被藏起來擺了一陣子。最近將這一套拿出來回顧一下，赫然發現她的琴聲在這張錄音其實相當優美，沒有別的錄音乾癟癟的感覺。快樂章裡，她的對樂句的修飾很充份，提供一定的活力，而慢樂章裡琴聲如歌般的柔美，更襯托出Albinoni身為「慢板巨匠」的大師功力。
兩張CD總共錄了18首三重奏鳴曲，每一首都簡短，但都是悅耳的小品。如果硬要一次將全部聽完是太勉強自己了，而且也不是當初作曲家的原意。就如同甜點，吃個一兩口或是一兩塊就好了，多吃反而會膩，這些奏鳴曲品嘗個幾首，甘甜之意散發地恰恰好。
Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751) was an Italian composer of the late Baroque era who dominated the Venetian music scene along with Benedetto Marcello and Antonio Vivaldi. Different from these two composers, who came from musical families, Albinoni was a son of a playing card manufacturer. Albinoni took up music by himself and when it came time to inherent the family business, he let his two younger brothers handle the operation instead (but he still took a third of the revenue made.)
A marginal figure in the Venetian music scene initially, his marriage to singer Margherita Raimondi in 1705 did help cement some of his footing in world of opera. He was to compose no less than 80 operas during his lifetime, most of them lost today. However, his true fame, contemporary or posthumously, lies in his large collection of instrumental music, writing many dozens of trio sonatas and concertos. His op.7 and op.9 concertos were one of the first concertos to adopt the oboe. His pieces enjoyed great success outside of his country of Italy, as his works were in high demand and much sought after by the big publishers in London and Amsterdam.
Ironically, the piece he is most known for today is the "Adagio in G minor," a piece that wasn't even composed by him, but by musicologist Remo Giazotto, who probably just wanted to attract some attention. Pathetic as it is, it has repeatedly been on classical CDs for beginners. It's just a pity, as Albinoni's grasp of the melodic line is nearly unmatched in terms of beauty, and it continues to charm me even now, despite his other shortcomings on his music, such as being too simplistic and displaying lack of inventiveness. His many other Graves and Adagios, if not as popular, are no less gorgeous and sweet.
My first entry into Albinoni's music were the op.5 and op.9 concertos recorded by I Musici. I have since preferred period instrument recordings to modern instruments, but I still owe it to them to get me started in exploring this composer.
This present recording is played by the Locatelli Trio, led by Miss Elizabeth Wallfisch on the violin. It is one of the first recordings of them that I own, and upon repeated listenings, has also been one of the recommended ones. Having heard her on CD and live, her violin suffers from a certain dryness in sound that is most noticeable when needing to fill a larger hall. Often times in recordings, she also takes a more conservative approach to the music, which can sometimes take the vitality out of the music.
In this Albinoni recording, her tempi are good, and her handling of both the slow movements and the fast ones are well-done. Her phrasing in the fast movements are very focused and lively, and she makes the melodic lines sing in the slow movements, doing the Albinoni much justice. The violin sound doesn't seem to suffer, but that could also have been easily due to the placement of the mics. In the end, this turns out to quite the enjoyable listening experience. Taking everything in moderation, these 18 sonatas are not supposed to be gone through in one sitting, but rather, sampling just a few is just the right amount.
One note: the six op.4 trio sonatas, while possibly are written by Albinoni, is a bogus opus number. It was added by publisher Estienne Roger probably to increase the sales of those works. Albinoni's true op.4 is a set of 12 cantatas, which were not well received outside of Italy. Hence, Roger came up with the idea of "filling in" an opus to this set of six trio sonatas. False opuses tagged onto certain works were not uncommon in those times, and while the dishonest merchant boosted his revenue, it's a nightmare keeping track of these from the music historian's point of view.
No comments:
Post a Comment