San Francisco Conservatory
05/22/2011
Rarely Performed Quartets by Quantz and Telemann
QUANTZ
Quartet No. 5 in C major
F. COUPERIN
“La Françoise” from Les Nations ‘Sonade’
TELEMANN
Quartet No. 6 in D minor
QUANTZ
Quartet No. 3 in D major
RAMEAU
Cinquième Concert in D minor
TELEMANN
Quartet No. 5 in G major
Stephen Schultz, flute
Lisa Weiss, violin
Katherin Kyme, viola / violin
William Skeen, cello / gamba
Charles Sherman, harpsichord
這是去西雅圖開會前一天，特地趕上舊金山去聽的音樂會。這天的音樂會，位於舊金山音樂院，是Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra這一季開始的室內樂系列，也是本季最後一場音樂會。我們學校音樂系有一堆免費的票發不完，所以我去索取的時候，就一併全部給我了。東找西找，最後還是有一張票找不到人給。
因為音樂會是下午兩點開始，所以進舊金山之前，一行人在San Mateo的北京麵食館先吃中餐。那時看到旁邊好幾桌的中國學生都在點的東西，問了裡面的服務生，才知道叫做煎餅果子。近看，才知道像是蛋餅包油條，是天津的小吃。
煎餅果子
這次音樂會表演的曲目，就如上面所寫，主要為Telemann和Quantz較不被演出的長笛四重奏。其實最後總曲目有若干變動，本來只有他們二位的作品，不過最後還是加入了Couperin還有Rameau的作品。這些Telemann的長笛四重奏，既不是第一套在法國被盜版商Le Clerc出版的六首Quartets，也不是第二套後來在Telemann許可下走訪巴黎時，1738年再次經由Le Clerc出版的六首Paris Quartets。這是1752，又是Le Clerc頂著Telemann出版的六首長笛四重奏，標題為「第四冊四重奏」。有個疑點存在，因為沒有出現過第三冊～～ 而且Le Clerc這種貪財沒道德標準的商人，也不知道這些是不是Telemann真正的作品。不過，就算不是，也學得夠像了，確實是德國晚期巴洛克的風格。
Quantz的四重奏，則是他較早期的曲子，在二戰過後，一度以為失傳了。不過，這些音樂是於二十一世紀初，被美國長笛家Mary Oleskiewicz在烏克蘭被發現的。這些曲子，還保留巴洛克對位的曲風，和之後他galant style的華麗風不大相同。和他那些晚期的作品相比，這些曲子還更深得我心咧。
演奏的音樂家為Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra的各首席，包括常見到的Lisa Weiss，Katherine Kyme，以及William Skeen。長笛家Stephen Schultz我以前聽過一場他的音樂會，不過手邊還有幾張他的CD，所以對他特別有印象。大鍵琴家Charles Sherman，則是我第一次看到他。
這些四重奏，他們表現得實在是非常好。Schultz長笛吹出的音，又乾淨又圓潤，而Weiss，Kyme，與Skeen在小提琴，中提琴，大提琴上，也都有生動的演出。他們塑造出室內樂的整體性，速度不疾不徐，是個輕鬆但有精神的表演。
法國的曲子，就變成了三重奏，小提琴換成Kyme拉，而Skeen也從大提琴，換成古中提琴，符合當時法國的室內樂。換成了Couperin和Rameau的曲子，風格立刻大轉變，從開頭的幾個小節就知道是典型的法國音樂。德國樂派中間穿插一些法國音樂，倒是個很不錯的安排。可是，最大的敗筆，在於Skeen的gamba聲音實在太弱，我們坐的位子根本聽不大到。原本我很期待Rameau的那首Pieces de clavecin en concerts，但因為樂器聲音的比重問題，所以Skeen的gamba幾乎都被蓋過去了。值得一提的，是Rameau那首，前兩個樂章，高音部份分別交由小提琴或是長笛。等到第三樂章的La Marais，則兩支樂器一起來，有時輪留彈奏，有時合奏出同個音樂線，讓我覺得很新鮮。
如同許多古樂的音樂家，音樂會結束他們都很親切地留在台上，與聽眾互動，介紹並解釋他們的樂器。Schultz多年前看到他的時候，以為他是個嚴肅的傢伙，結果後來發現他原來是個相當友善的人。因為手邊有些他的CD，所以就當了追星族，索取他的簽名。其中，Telemann的「第四冊四重奏」的首次錄音，就是他在1989年和Charles Sherman等錄的。我手邊有那一張，當然也不能放過機會啦。
Stephen Schultz
同行的朋友們也有幾位是會吹長笛的。Schultz還相當大方地借給她們拿拿看。因為自己不會吹長笛，所以對它沒啥概念，不過她們是說和現代的長笛比起來，輕一些。另外，雖然巴洛克長笛的按孔少了些，音域窄一點，但其實也沒有差得特別多。
Baroque flute
巴洛克長笛
離開會場，喝了個下午茶，回程路上，發現又到了吃晚餐的時間。這時，又回到San Mateo，去吃Ramen Dojo(拉麵道場)。這一家店面原本是當初的Santa Ramen(聖誕拉麵)，不過Santa搬家後，就開了這家店。這是我第一次來這家，發現比現在的Santa還要好吃呢！只能說，這整天基本上就是在吃吃喝喝，然後免費去聽一場音樂會， 實在是很享受！
PBO started its Chamber Music Series this season, where they had a series of three chamber music concerts performed at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The previous programs weren't as interesting, so I only targeted this last one, which happens to be the last PBO concert of this season. It's been years since I've last visited the SF Conservatory of Music. Apparently, they've moved from their old location in the Sunset District to their current location, which is basically close to the heart of downtown. When we arrived, we noticed that there were loads of young musicians dressed up nicely with their parents, scampering to go from place to place. Turned out that the same day, the conservatory was also being used for a music certification/placement test of some sort.
Amidst all the commotion, we were able to find our concert hall, which was then nice and quiet. The main pieces on this day's concert comprises of flute quartets by Telemann and Quantz. The Telemann quartets do not refer to the famous set of 12 Paris Quartets, but another "Fourth Book of Quartets" published in 1752 by Le Clerc, the same unscrupulous Parisian publisher of the previous quartets. It's a bid odd that there was never a Third Book published, so whether or not these are authentic Telemann pieces is under some doubt. However, if it wasn't by Telemann, then the imitator did a pretty fine job in sounding like him, for it does sound very late German Baroque in style.
And the Quantz quartets, they are from his earlier part of his career. These quartets are not the full blown galant style that we often associate his music with. Instead, these are in the early Baroque idiom, with lots of counterpoint between the flute, violin, viola, and continuo parts. These quartets were thought to be lost after WWII, but American flautist Mary Oleskiewicz discovered these in Ukraine, and she also made the premiere recording on Hungaroton, and a fine one too I might add.
The musicians include regular members of the PBO that I have heard many times in the past, but it also includes flautist Stephen Schultz and harpsichordist Charles Sherman. Incidentally, they alongside violinists Elizabeth Blumenstock and others made the premiere recording for Telemann's "Fourth Book of Quartets" back in 1989, whose reissue recording I also own. The ensemble's playing was very refined, with Schultz's intonation on the Baroque flute to be extremely clean and round, and the other string players bringing strong performances. They always sounded very coherent, and their tempo was just right, relaxed but never soggy. Basically, it was a high spirited performance from start to finish, add to the fact that Quantz and Telemann's music don't disappoint to begin with anyways.
The French pieces were thrown in after a change of program, and they are a good change of style and interesting contrast. For these pieces, Skeen changed from playing the cello to the viola da gamba, more in line with what was done in France. Those lines were written for gamba in mind, and it is just too difficult to play it on the cello anyways. However, the gamba sound was too soft, and the performance suffered greatly from the imbalance of the instruments, especially where we were sitting. I was really looking forward to the Rameau piece, but my expectations fell a little short solely because of this. One thing to point out was that Kyme and Schultz alternately take turns playing the soprano part on the violin and flute in the first two movements, while they play collaboratively in the third movement. They either alternate playing the musical line or play simultaneously, which I thought was a nice delightful arrangement.
In all, this was very much an enjoyable concert. As with most of these period instrument musicians, they were very happy to stay after the performance and speak to the audience. Heck, Mr. Schultz was even so nice (pretty bold on his part) to let my friends take a good look and even hold his Baroque flute!
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