Concert: Wieland Kuijken (03/04/2014)

03/04/2014

Memorial Church, Stanford, CA

KUHNEL:  Sonata No.2 a 2 in E minor
SAINTE-COLOMBE: Le retour (from Concerts a deux violes esgales)
SCHENCK: Chaconne in G (from Le Nymphe di Rheno)
TELEMANN: Quartet in G major

MARAIS: Pieces a 2 violes with basso continuo in d minor, Premier Livre

MARAIS: Tombeau de Mr. de Lully
VIVALDI: Trio Sonata in A minor, RV 86

Wieland Kuijken, viola da gamba
Eve Legene, recorder
John Dornenburg, viola da gamba
Yuko Tanaka, harpsichord

這場音樂會是緊接著幾天前週末的Meyerson和Quicksilver之後的週二晚上，回到Stanford去參加的。這場音樂會，除了Michael和他高中時在Monterey的鋼琴老師專程開上來之外，我也找了幾位志同道合的愛樂朋友一塊兒去。也正因為如此聽古樂音樂會那麼熱鬧，所以大家約在Palo Alto的Pastis餐廳先享用晚餐。

Wieland Kuijken大師年事已高，這次訪美是他最後一次了，而且全靠著他學生John Dornenburg（灣區著名的古中提琴家）的面。雖然Kuijken的名氣沒有Jordi Savall那麼大，但打著「告別美國音樂會」的名稱，在Stanford教堂也引吸了一定的人數。

平常若是在教堂舉辦古樂音樂會，都會在旁邊的耳堂（transept）舉行的。那邊的空間和聲響效果非常適合表演那類型的音樂。不料，這次來的聽眾人數較多，改在中殿（nave）舉辦。古樂樂器音量之小聲，加上中殿的空間實在是太大，根本沒有形成一個有效的擴散音場（diffuse field），反而像是一個無回音室（anechoic chamber）裡。如果不坐得靠音樂家們近一些，那聽音樂會的品質保證是極為惡劣的。

音樂會曲目，自然以古中提琴的為主。St. Colombe與Marais，是法國古中提琴音樂最重要的代表人物。德國與荷蘭的古中提琴音樂，則有Kuhnel（1645－1700）與Schenck（1660－1712），後者今天的知名度較大。上半場前三首曲子是純粹給兩把古中提琴的音樂，沒有數字低音伴奏。Kuhnel的奏鳴曲，採常見的德國巴洛克中期模式，有兩個主題與變奏（aria and variations）的橋段。St. Colombe的曲子，則是組曲，開頭的Le retour（歸還）是典型的character piece，形容反覆出現的一段主題，然後緊接著是簡短的舞曲。Schenck的夏康舞曲，則是出自作品八Le Nymphe di Rheno（萊茵河的仙女）第十一首奏鳴曲，是常見的巴洛克變奏曲形式。Kuhnel和Schenck的曲子，兩把古中提琴多半是輪流當主奏與伴奏，而St. Colombe的曲子則是將兩把琴以獨立聲部的方式處理。

下半場的Marais，則是數字低音的。其中，有他第一冊給兩古中提琴的組曲，以及第二冊裡悼念盧利（Lully）的墓誌銘（tombeau）。Tombeau是只寫給一把古中提琴的，所以Kuijken這首和Tanaka女士一塊兒伴奏。Marais的音樂我通常比St. Colombe還要更為欣賞，但這首組曲卻讓我沒感到那麼突出。那首tombeau，則正好發揮了古中提琴深沉陰暗的音色。無論是紀念逝者，或是與亡靈對話，viola da gamba都是開啟這段溝通的橋樑。

古中提琴音樂，因為時空背景的原故，和今日的主流古典樂有斷層。大鍵琴曲起碼可以在鋼琴上彈，魯特琴勉強可以改編給吉他，但古中提琴的音域，使得大提琴或中提琴都無法演奏；就算音域符合了，古中提琴的絃較多，硬換到了提琴上，不自然的把位會讓曲子變得異常難拉。也就是說，沒有古中提琴，這種風格的音樂還真的是聽不到。因此對於多數人，欣賞古中提琴是需要逐漸培養的。

上下半場的最後一首，則是有Eve Legene加入，吹奏直笛。上半場的Telemann四重奏與下半場Vivaldi的三重奏，是義式的奏鳴曲，曲風直接，較容易入耳。Telemann的那首編制其實是寫給一般的中提琴的，雖然古中提琴可以硬拉，但Kuijken和Dornenburg拉得相當辛苦，也使原本輕快的曲子變得拖泥帶水。Vivaldi那首三重奏，則是幾年前Kuijken和Legene同台時表演一模一樣的曲子，也是我學大鍵琴後練的第一首室內樂曲，所以在心中別具意義。雖然希望聽到不同的曲目，但畢竟「舊愛還是最美」，這首仍是全音樂會我最喜歡的表演。

與Marais那首一樣，Vivaldi的三重奏鳴曲，Kuijken退居數字低音，交給徒弟Dornenburg演奏另外的低音主聲部（低音管，大提琴，古中提琴皆可演奏）。這也預示Kuijken大師即將退隱，學生們完全掌舵的時代來臨了。

參加了幾次Kuijken的演奏會，一向給人誠懇樸實而不愛出風頭的感覺。無論是獨奏或是伴奏Kuijken都扮演了該扮的角色，但更重要的，他將重點放在「音樂」而不是在「人」上。一場音樂會下來，絲毫不展現任何霸氣，只有一位音樂家，想將年代久遠的古樂，分享給有興趣聽的聽眾。

最下面貼了一個Kuijken兄弟（Wieland有兩位弟弟也是古樂音樂家）的訪問影片，可從對談中了解他們學音樂的過程以及詮釋古樂的理念。

Maestro Kuijken's instrument

Following the Meyerson and Quicksilver concerts the weekend before, I returned to Stanford the Tuesday after for this concert to make this the most fanatical early music concert experience to date. Harpsichordist friend Michael and his high school keyboard teacher also came up all the way from Monterey, while I invited some other interested friends to join the concert. Such an occasion called for a celebration, and we did so by having dinner together at Pastis in downtown Palo Alto.

Maestro Wieland Kuijken is past retirement age, and he's made it clear that this U.S. trip would be his last. It was at the strong urging of former student John Dornenburg, renowned Bay Area gamba player, that he agreed to hold this concert. Although Kuijken does not draw nearly the crowd that Savall manages to do, a "U.S. farewell concert" from one of the pioneering figures of early music is bound to attract a significant audience at Stanford's Memorial Church. 

Normally the early music concerts I've attended at the church have been held in the side chapel at the transept. This is because the small reflective acoustic space is ideal for the likes of early music instruments. However, due to the large turnout, they had to move the concert to the nave. Well, with a church of such considerable space and combine that with the quiet viola da gambas and harpsichord, you have the perfect recipe for disaster.  The large space practically guarantees that the sound has decayed out by the time it reaches any of the walls or ceiling, and instead of getting a good enhancing diffuse sound field, it's more like being in a large anechoic chamber (those test chambers that absorbs most of the sound). If you weren't sitting close enough to the performers, you might as well get up and walk out. Imagine trying to watch a movie on an iPhone, 10 meters (~30 feet) away....

The program naturally focused on music written specifically for the viola da gamba. St. Colombe and Marais are arguably the two most key figures of French viol music. For the Germanic region, we have Kuhnel (1645－1700) from Germany and Schenck (1660－1712) from the Netherlands, the latter being the more well-known today.

The first three pieces of the first half are written for two gambas without bass continuo. The Kuhnel sonata is typical of mid-Baroque German form, containing two lyrical aria and variations segments. The St. Colombe piece is a French suite, with the opening character piece being the title of the entire piece. Le retour (return) refers to the reappearance of themes in the piece. It is followed by a series of short dances. The Schenck chaconne is the last movement of his 11th sonata from his opus 8 collection titled 
Le Nymphe di Rheno (The Nymphs of the Rhine), a common variational form.  Of the three pieces, only St. Colombe seemingly adopts a contrapuntal texture, where both gambas are truly given independent lines. In the Kuhnel and Schenck pieces, the gambas take turns playing the melody and accompaniment.


The Marais pieces of the second half have added continuo parts. There is a suite for two gambas and continuo, and the tombeau is written for gamba and continuo. In the latter one, Kuijken joins Tanaka in doubling the continuo line. Normally I prefer Marais's viol music over St. Colombe, but this suite didn't seem to delight me as much. The tombeau, on the other hand, was the ideal idiomatic piece for gamba. Its dark and sombre timbre has come to be the perfect medium, whether it be mourning or a means to establish communication with the dead.

The last pieces of both halves were joined by Eve Legene on the recorder, a Telemann quartet and a Vivaldi trio sonata. These pieces are Italian in nature, which is what I would call a more direct and familiar listening experience. The Telemann quartet is scored for two concert violas, and although technically "playable" on the gamba, is simply not idiomatic for the instrument. This is evidenced by Kuijken and Dornenburg trudging through their parts, impeding the flow of a piece that would have been uplifting. The Vivaldi trio sonata is the same piece they played two years ago at the conservatory. I know this piece well, as it's also the first ensemble piece I learned after harpsichord lessons. Maybe I would have liked to hear a different piece played this night, but then again, this is a piece that I do like, and it did end up being the favorite piece of the concert. 

Like Marais's tombeau, Kuijken partnered up with Tanaka on the continuo line, while Dorenburg tackled the at-times tricky bass voice (could be played by either the bassoon, cello, or gamba). To me, this gesture symbolized and signaled the complete passing of the torch from Kuijken to his students.

In the few occasions of hearing Kuijken, other than that stiff mean appearance, he's always struck me as honest, down-to-earth type, not one who likes to show-off and hog the spotlight. He's equally comfortable playing the supporting continuo as he is in a solo role, but more importantly, for him it's always about the music and not him. On the stage, there's no early music diva, but simply a musician who wants to share music of the distant past with those who are interested.  

Below is a video of an interview of the Kuijken brothers (two of them also prominent early musicians), where they talk about their music upbringing and their approach and ideas to early music, which I found quite illuminating.