The Art of Arrau
阿劳的演奏艺术
by W.L.Taitte Texas Monthly/October 1983
翻译者：赵一/2018年1月
针对本文的翻译，欢迎文末指正、赐教！
At eighty, the brilliant pianist Claudio Arrau plays passionately on, but successors in the Romantic tradition are hard to find.
步入八十岁的杰出钢琴家——克劳德·阿劳（1903年2月6日-1991年6月9日）——依然活跃在演奏舞台上。而如今，这样的浪漫传统的传承者们已经屈指可数。
Is Claudio Arrau the greatest pianist in the world? He turned eighty this year, and the occasion is being marked with much rejoicing. Born in Chile, trained in Germany, and now residing in the U.S., Arrau has been giving celebratory concerts in America and Europe. Knopf has published a biography, Conversations With Arrau, by Joseph Horowitz, that is one of the most illuminating books ever written about a living musician. His many recordings are being re-released in boxes of the sort more often used to memorialize centenaries of composers than birthdays of performers. The best among them comes from Philips Records, which has been the pianist's label for the last two decades. The Arrau Edition (6768 350 through 357) is eight boxed sets devoted to individual composers, remastered and offered at bargain prices. The 58 records comprise works by Beethoven (concertos on 6 discs and sonatas and variations on 14 discs), Schubert (4 discs), Schumann (10 discs), Chopin (9 discs), Liszt (7 discs), Brahms (5 discs), and Debussy (3 discs). The selections represent the heart of the piano repertoire, and the performances substantiate the claim that Claudio Arrau is the dean and master of Romantic pianists.
克劳德·阿劳是世界上最伟大的钢琴家吗？今年，他步入八十岁，正是一个值得庆祝的时刻。阿劳，出生于智利，学成于德国，现居住在美国。他的演奏足迹遍布欧洲和美洲。Knopf（编者按：应该是一家出版社）出版过一部传记，约瑟夫·霍洛维茨所著的《阿劳谈艺录》（编者按：有中文版，洛阳纸贵），在描写在世的音乐家中只是一份很有启示性的书。阿劳有很多专辑都是为作曲家的百年纪念而出版的。其中最优秀的录音，由过去二十年间象征钢琴家们的标志的Philips唱片公司出版。阿劳的版本（6768 350-357）是八部作品合辑，其中包括老版本的重新灌录，以特价出售。这58个录音，包含了贝多芬作品（六张交响曲CD，十四张奏鸣曲和变奏曲CD），舒伯特作品（四张CD），舒曼（十张CD），肖邦（九张CD），李斯特（七张CD），勃拉姆斯（五张CD），德彪西（三张CD）。选曲涵盖了钢琴作品中的核心作品。而超高的录音质量也证明了克劳德·阿劳作为浪漫时期作品权威演奏家的地位。
The significant thing about these records is that the most recent performances are the best. Of how many other octogenarian instrumentalists is that true? Certainly it is not the case for Arrau's contemporaries and rivals, Vladimir Horowitz and Rudolf Serkin. Both have overshadowed Arrau for most of their careers, but in their latest recordings their technical proficiency has fallen off noticeably. During the last two years, the notorious Horowitz played highly publicized recitals at the Metropolitan Opera House and at London's Royal Festival Hall, and the records of those performances (Horowitz at the Met, RCA ATC1-4260, and Horowitz in London, RCA ARCl4572) are sad documents. The Chopin Polonaise-Fantaisie, Opus 61, on the latter displays neither the transcendent technique nor the volatile excitement of Horowitz's 1966 recording (Horowitz Plays Chopin, Columbia M 30643). Similarly, Serkin's recent recordings on Telarc and Deutsche Grammophon show the ravages of time on the pianist's dexterity.
值得注意的是，这些录音之中最优秀的是最近的录音。有多少八九十岁的演奏家身上会发生这样的事呢？这种情况并没有同样发生在阿劳的同代人和竞争者霍洛维茨和鲁道夫·塞尔金身上。他们在其大部分演奏生涯中都得到了比阿劳更多的赞誉，但技术的退步还是在他们最近的录音中显现出来。最近两年，霍洛维茨在美国林肯中心和伦敦皇家音乐厅的音乐会受到高度宣传，录音并不尽如人意。在后者的演出中，肖邦《幻想波兰舞曲》（Op.61），并没有表现出与其1966年录音（霍洛维茨演奏肖邦，Columbia M 30643）一样卓越的技巧，以及同样多变的色彩。塞尔金最近在Telarc公司和德国留声机公司的录音，也体现了钢琴家手指灵活性的倒退。
But Arrau goes on, playing better than ever. His tempos have slowed down over the years - there are drastic differences between his performances of any piece he has recorded more than once - but there can be no doubt that the changes result from conviction rather than physical necessity. He plays Liszt's frighteningly demanding Transcendental Etudes with commanding technique. His newest release, a Liszt potpourri (Philips 6514 273), displays Arrau's blazing emotional fervor and sincerity. It makes the most convincing case on records for Liszt as a major composer.
阿劳的演奏却越来越出色。近年，他演奏的速度减慢了——他的重录版本和最初的版本之间，几乎都有很大的不同——但是毋庸置疑，这样的变化出于其音乐上的专业判断而非其手指技术的局限性。他以无以伦比的技巧完美诠释了李斯特的超技练习曲。他最近的录音，李斯特合辑（Philips 6514 273），显示了阿劳真挚热烈的感性表达。他使之成为李斯特作品的最权威录音。
The deepening of Arrau's insight as he has aged may perhaps best be seen in the Schubert box, which contains many recent recordings. One, that of the A Major Sonata, D. 959, was previously unavailable in America. Arrau believes that Schubert's late sonatas reveal a preoccupation with death, which the composer knew was upon him. The A Major Sonata, published posthumously, is the most cheerful and aggressive of Schubert's last three sonatas, yet Arrau molds it to his conception without sounding arbitrary or injudicious. The first movement, though rather slow, has plenty of momentum and bounce, and the third and fourth movements swing with rhythmic definition. Arrau gives the slow second movement its most haunted and moving treatment ever - he tears into the violent central section passionately and brings forth pity and terror. He shades the reflective passages of the fourth, and last, movement to recall the emotions of the second movement, bringing a profound unity to the performance.
阿劳随着年龄的增长而深刻的理解力，体现在收录了很多近期录音的舒伯特专辑之中。其中的《A大调奏鸣曲》（D. 959），之前不曾在美国发行过。阿劳认为舒伯特的晚期奏鸣曲表达了作曲家预感到的即将到来的死亡。这首作曲家去世后出版的《A大调奏鸣曲》，是舒伯特晚期三首奏鸣曲中最欢快和有活力的，阿劳作出了慎重，明智的处理。第一乐章中，虽然相对速度较慢，动力则是不间断的。在第三第四乐章抓住了节奏的脉搏。阿劳的第二乐章充满了悬疑和动人的色彩-猛烈热情的乐曲中心部分之后，演奏又回到了悲悯和恐怖的气氛之中。末乐章回应了二乐章的音乐元素，及其音乐色彩，使演奏得到了完整的统一。
The indispensable boxes of the Arrau Edition are the Liszt, the Schubert, and the Brahms, which is full of near-perfect performances. The more I listen, though, to the rest of the edition, the less I want to be without any of Arrau's interpretations and their sometimes quirky insights. Another major commemorative recording is Claudio Arrau: A Retrospective (CBS M3 37866), which contains performances of Liszt, Schumann, Chopin, Debussy, and Ravel from the late forties and early fifties. Comparing the CBS and Philips versions of Schumann's Kreisleriana shows the earlier Arrau to be a mainstream interpreter and the later Arrau to be more individual, even slightly eccentric, but tantalizing. Perhaps the real asset of the CBS box is the sample of five of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies. Both the music and the playing are far less solemn and imposing than in the Philips box; it is refreshing to hear the earlier Arrau indulge in a romp.
阿劳版本音乐专辑中，李斯特，舒伯特，勃拉姆斯的作品不容错过，这些演奏几乎无可挑剔。其他版本，有的包含一些让人难以琢磨的诠释，听的越多，就越让人无法忽视阿劳的演绎。另一个主要的纪念专辑是，克劳德·阿劳：曲目回顾（CBS M337866），包含了他四十岁后期及五十岁前期演奏的李斯特，舒曼，肖邦，德彪西和拉威尔作品。比较CBS公司和Philips公司版本的舒曼《克莱斯勒偶记》，早期的阿劳的演绎趋于主流，而后期的阿劳逐渐形成了个人风格，略显古怪，但很吸引人。CBS专辑中最值得注意的是五首李斯特《匈牙利狂想曲》。比较来看，音乐性和演奏远不如Philips公司专辑的庄重，也并不让人印象深刻；早期的阿劳的演绎风格稍显随意（indulge in a romp）。
Still, it is to the Philips Arrau Edition that I will return again and again when I want to hear the central Romantic repertoire played with passion and insight. Nobody else plays the Chopin waltzes like Arrau - often very slowly and with alarming rhythmic liberties but also with unparalleled drama and sweetness. Nobody else plays the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor with such majestic weight and power. Nobody else plays Schubert's last piano sonata, in B-flat Major, with such poignancy - the end of the development section of the first movement can always wring a tear. Looking for a successor to Arrau can be a depressing business. The last thirty years have seen the disappearance of many gifted pianists who would now be reaching their prime in their fifties and sixties. Dinu Lipatti and William Kapell died young, Van Cliburn has virtually retired, and Leon Fleisher, because of a crippled right hand, has been concentrating on music for the left hand. They were the natural heirs of the nineteenthcentury repertoire.
浪漫主义时期核心作品，笔者会选择Philips公司发行的，充沛的感情和深刻的思想性并存的阿劳版本。阿劳演奏的肖邦圆舞曲独一无二——通常以十分慢的速度，有自由度的节奏，兼具绝妙的戏剧性和甜美的舞曲风格。任何人的勃拉姆斯《第一钢琴协奏曲》都不能弹出像他一样的宏伟与气势。任何人都不能像他一样强烈地演奏出舒伯特最后一首奏鸣曲——第一乐章展开部的末尾那么令人动容。想找到一名阿劳的传承者是很困难的。过去三十年间，很多本该到达五六十岁巅峰时期的颇有才华的钢琴家们，淡出了我们的视野。迪努·李帕蒂，威廉·卡佩尔英年早逝，范·克莱本退休，莱昂·弗莱舍由于受伤的右手，已经专注于左手演奏的音乐。他们也是十九世纪作品的传承者们。
Those who love the piano and pianists are probably becoming apoplectic because I have not considered the claims of Sviatoslav Richter, who is certainly one of the world's most talented pianists. But Richter, who will be seventy next year, has long suffered from ill health. His appearances in the West have been infrequent, and his recordings grow rare. The most recent solo performance to be released here, in late 1982 (Vox Cum Laude D-VCL 9027), dates from his appearances in Japan almost five years ago. It contains two Schubert sonatas; the one in A Major, Opus 120 (an earlier, shorter. gentler piece than the one discussed above) has long been a Richter specialty. His performance from the early sixties (now available on Angel RL-32078) is an old favorite of mine, flowery, delicate, and joyful. The newer version is dirgelike and suffocating - one of the least appealing performances of Schubert I have heard. It's unlikely that Richter's future performances of Romantic pieces will match those he has given us in the past.
那些喜欢钢琴的人可能会觉得意外。笔者还没有提到斯维亚托斯拉夫·里赫特，当之无愧世界上最有才华的钢琴家之一。明年就七十岁的里赫特，如今长期经受着病痛折磨。他已经很少在西方国家演出，录音也非常罕见。最近的独奏录音是在1982年末Vox Cum Laude（D-VCL 9027），五年前日本演出的录音。包括两首舒伯特奏鸣曲；一首《A大调奏鸣曲》（Op.120）（早期，篇幅小，更温和的一首音乐作品）里赫特的代表作。他六十岁前期的作品now available on Angel （RL-32078）笔者之前就十分欣赏，演奏得华丽，精巧又欢快。最近的版如同挽歌一般，充满了压抑的气氛。笔者认为，里赫特未来的演奏不太可能会达到他之前的完成度了。
There are other pianists who might succeed Arrau, except that they are not comfortable with nineteenth-century music. Typically, they play Beethoven and modern composers fabulously but seem lost in Chopin and Liszt (if they play them at all). Maurizio Pollini, for all his Chopin credentials, seems to be one of these, and he has not been active in the recording studio lately. Charles Rosen, the most important middle-aged American pianist now performing regularly, is in the same category. His newest record, on the small Dutch label Etcetera (ETC 1008), contains two staggering performances of works by American composer Elliott Carter: the 1946 Piano Sonata and the 1980 Night Fantasies. Surprisingly, since American compositions are so scarce on records, Paul Jacobs' performance of both works (Nonesuch 79047) was released at the same time, and it is just about as good as Rosen's - less impetuous and overwhelming but still brilliant.
有的钢琴家比阿劳更有成就，只是他们并不十分适合十九世纪音乐。比如，他们可以优秀地诠释贝多芬和现代作曲家作品，但对于肖邦和李斯特的作品并不能准确演绎。莫里奇奥·波利尼，他的肖邦作品，就属于这种情况，最近他很少录音了。查尔斯·罗森，最重要的定期演出中的中年美国钢琴家，也是这种情况。他最新的录音，他的新唱片，由荷兰小唱片公司 Etcetera发行（ETC 1008），包含了两场难以置信的美国作曲家艾略特·卡特的作品演出：《1946年钢琴奏鸣曲》和《1980年夜幻曲》。少有的美国作曲家作品，保罗·雅各布的演奏版本（Nonesuch 79047）也同时发行，质量与罗森的版本相当——冲击力和气势稍逊，不过依旧出色。
A much likelier candidate for elderstatesman status is Ivan Moravec. He is a Czech pianist, now in his fifties, who made a notable series of Chopin and Beethoven records back in the sixties for a small American company - the aptly named Connoisseur Society. Only occasional recordings have come forth since, but in the last year two companies have released American performances by Moravec. Neither is of Romantic works, but both display an aristocratically Romantic temperament. On Ivan Moravec Plays Debussy (Vox Cum Laude D-VCL 9037), he performs Images and Estampes with uncannily liquid tone and rhythm. The other album contains Sonata I. X. 1905, In the Mist, and excerpts from On an Overgrown Path, by Leos Janacek (Nonesuch Digital 79041). They are fascinating to compare with the versions by Rudolf Firkusny, just re-released by Deutsche Grammophon (2721 251). In Firkusny's hands, Janacek's music sounds classic - and Firkusny's interpretations are considered just that - while in Moravec's it sounds mystical, dreamy, misty. Moravec has a lushly individualistic sensibility, though his idiosyncracies are subtle and tasteful. His playing is unlike any other pianist's, and I hope these releases mark the beginning of a new round of recordings.
同样的状况发生在伊万·莫拉维奇身上。现年五十岁的捷克钢琴家，在六十年代美国一家小公司——鉴赏家社会，发行了一系列肖邦和贝多芬的唱片作品，之后的录音并不多，直到去年另外两家公司发行了莫拉维奇的美国作品专辑。发表的并不是浪漫主义时期作品，不过其中表现了浪漫主义的贵族气质。伊万·莫拉维奇在德彪西Vox Cum Laude（D-VCL 9037）这张唱片里，展现了他令人惊叹的流畅的音色控制和节奏感，演奏了意象集和版画集。另一张唱片收录了《奏鸣曲 I. X. 1905》、《在迷雾中》和选自于莱奥实·雅纳切克的《在荒草蔓延的小径上》的片段。与鲁道夫·菲库斯尼刚在德国留声机公司发行的唱片相比较来听是很有趣的。在菲库斯尼的演绎中，雅纳切克的音乐听起来很传统——而在莫拉维奇的版本里，音乐听起来很神秘、梦幻，似迷雾一般。莫拉维奇拥有丰富敏感的情感，他的气质很微妙而典雅。这种诠释风格不同于任何一位钢琴家，笔者盼望着这些唱片的发行能标志着新一代唱片的开始。
Among the pianists whose names are better known, I have the highest hopes for Vladimir Ashkenazy. He has spent a lot of time playing and recording Mozart and Beethoven - with only middling success. But in a series of the complete piano music of Chopin, Ashkenazy takes a unique and most rewarding approach by recording Chopin's works in roughly chronological groupings rather than by genres. A single disc might include a mix of waltzes, nocturnes, mazurkas, and polonaises - much more attractive than the hour or two of one type of work usually presented. The latest volume, number thirteen (London LDR 71084), contains wonderful performances of some of Chopin's early music. (The fifteen volume series is arranged in reverse chronological order.) Volume two (London CS 7022), released several years back, contains Chopin's last compositions -including the best Polonaise-Fantaisie of the dozens I have heard. The eight volumes released to date mark the project as one of the most important series of records now in progress. It promises to be the basic set of Chopin for every library, and it is already proof that Ashkenazy has great talent for the Romantic piano repertoire.
在已经被人熟知的钢琴家之中，笔者对于弗拉基米尔·阿什肯纳齐寄予最高的期望。他曾花了很多时间来练习和录制贝多芬和莫扎特——但只取得了一般的成功。但在一系列包含肖邦全部作品的录音中，阿什肯纳齐用了独特，有效的年代顺序法进行录制，取而不是一般所采用的作品题材分类方法。一张唱片可能同时包含了圆舞曲，夜曲，玛祖卡，和波兰舞曲——这样的编排比连续一两个小时的同题材作品更吸引人。最后一辑，第十三号专辑（London LDR 71084），收录了其对于肖邦早期音乐的优秀诠释。（这十五张专辑是按照时间倒叙来编排的。）第二号专辑（London CS 7022），几年前发行，收录了肖邦的晚期作品——其中有笔者最为推崇的《幻想波兰舞曲 》演绎版本。迄今为止发行的八张专辑，预示着它已经成为了最重要的录制中专辑之一。它可能会成为每个图书馆有关肖邦作品的基本收藏。这已经证明了阿什肯纳齐拥有对于浪漫主义时期作品演绎的杰出才华。
Ashkenazy's Chopin is beautifully balanced between repose and abandon. Two other musicians, both in their forties, split those qualities right down the middle. The pianist of abandon is Martha Argerich, a favorite of mine; I am sorry that she has not released a recording recently, and I hope the lack is remedied soon. Her temperamental opposite is Stephen Bishop Kovacevich. While Argerich excels in Liszt, Schumann, and the wilder Chopin, Bishop Kovacevich's forte is Beethoven, Brahms, and Schubert. His new Brahms recital (Philips 6514 229) is autumnal and memorable, but even more satisfying is his new Schubert B-flat Sonata (Hyperion A66004). It is similar to Arrau's in its slow tempos and its depth, but it is far less weighty.
阿什肯纳齐演奏的肖邦，优美地平衡了宁静与狂热。另外两位音乐家，都在四十几岁的时候，将这两种特质分别开来。狂热派的钢琴家是笔者最欣赏的玛莎·阿格里奇；十分遗憾的是她最近没有发行专辑，但相信这个缺失很快会得到填补。与她气质相反的是斯蒂芬·毕肖普·科瓦塞维奇。当阿格里奇擅长于勃拉姆斯、舒伯特，以及狂野版的肖邦，毕肖普·科瓦塞维奇的专长则是贝多芬，勃拉姆斯和舒伯特。他最近的勃拉姆斯音乐会（Philips 6514 229）唱片，是成熟并让人难忘的，更让人信服的还有他最近的舒伯特《降b小调奏鸣曲》（Hyperion A66004）. 这与阿劳的慢速度与深刻的思想性相近，但并没有那样深遂的内涵。
The most logical successors to Arrau are the two pianists who are in many ways most like him, Alfred Brendel and Daniel Barenboim. Their Germanic styles (though Barenboim is an Argentine-born Israeli), their repertoires centering on Beethoven, Liszt, and Brahms, and above all their passionate, sometimes dogged seriousness put them in the same tradition from which the Chilean master has grown. Brendel has recently recorded the B-Minor Sonata (Philips 6514 147), the one piece by Liszt that almost everybody takes seriously, but he has also dug up some obscure Liszt, on Philips 9500 775. He is more like the younger Arrau at times, preferring somewhat quicker tempos, though he can lack the young Arrau's gracefulness. Barenboim plays with an unpredictability akin to the more recent Arrau, and he is almost the only younger pianist about whom Arrau has something nice to say in Horowitz's book. Comparisons of Arrau and Barenboim in Chopin's nocturnes, which Barenboim recently released on DG 2741 012, show how similar the two can be in tempo and rubato but how different in effect. Arrau's crystalline tone produces a starry night sky, while Barenboim's nocturnal scenes are foggy, even murky. Neither Barenboim nor Brendel can compete with the aging Arrau, on balance, but then neither can the Arrau of thirty or forty years ago.
阿劳还有两位最顺理成章的继任者，阿尔弗雷德·布伦德尔以及丹尼尔·巴伦博伊姆。他们的德式风格（尽管巴伦博伊姆是阿根廷出生的以色列人），他们对于贝多芬，李斯特和勃拉姆斯的作品的专注，尤其是他们的热情，有时固执的严谨性，让他们拥有b小调奏鸣曲》（Philips 6514 147）， 以及李斯特的小众曲目（Philips 9500 775）。他有时像是年轻时期的阿劳，偏爱稍快的速度，尽管他可能缺少了年轻阿劳的优美处理。巴伦博伊姆的演奏则是很丰富的，更像是近期的阿劳，同时他几乎是唯一一位在霍洛维茨书中得到阿劳积极评价的青年演奏家。比较阿劳和巴伦博伊姆最近发行在DG唱片公司的的《肖邦夜曲》（DG 2741 012），两者在原速和弹性速度上处理十分相似，但在效果上又很不同。阿劳透明水晶般地音色处理，营造出了一片繁星闪烁的夜晚，而巴伦博伊姆的夜曲氛围是朦胧，甚至昏暗的。然而，无论是巴伦博伊姆还是布伦德尔都无法与成熟时期的阿劳相提并论。并且，总的来说，三十岁时或四十岁时期的阿劳也同样无法与之相提并论。
What Arrau's career demonstrates is that no artistic pathway can be fully assessed until it has been fully traversed - who could have predicted when Arrau was forty or even sixty what his playing was going to be like when he was approaching eighty? That is why I do not even bother to bring up the names of the pianists still in their youth, some of whom even seem to have a touch of the everrarer Romantic spirit. We can only hope that some will grow, as Arrau has, into a magnificent old age.
阿劳的职业历程验证了只有完整的艺术之路才有可能得到公正评价——谁曾预想出阿劳四十岁甚至六十岁的时候的演奏水平，和他八十岁的时候达到的演奏高度呢？这也是笔者没有提及一些青年钢琴家名字的原因，尽管他们中的一些几乎抓住了浪漫主义音乐的精髓。我们只能期望他们会像阿劳一样，随着年龄的增长，步入钢琴演奏的成熟时期。
It's possible that with the extension of the piano repertoire into the twentieth century and beyond, the Romantic pieces will become an outdated specialty. Already there is a movement afoot to treat them with the same antiquarian historicism - rebuilding or rehabilitating pianos of the sort Chopin actually played on, and so forth - that now is necessary for a respectable performance of eighteenth-century music. The farther away, temporally and spiritually, the nineteenth century becomes, the more important a document the Arrau Edition will be. Even if Claudio Arrau is indeed the last great Romantic pianist, his performances will live forever.
也许在20世纪及其以后的钢琴作品陆续出现之后，浪漫时期作品会被认为是过时的风格了。但如今，历史主义的古文物研究者在进行着这样的活动，他们重新建造或者修复了肖邦曾实际演奏过的钢琴。这已经成为对十八世纪音乐权威演奏的一种必须。随着十九世纪离我们渐行渐远，阿劳对该时期作品的权威诠释对我们越来越有深刻意义。虽然克劳德·阿劳是最后的伟大浪漫主义的钢琴大师，他的演奏是不朽的！
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