专辑介绍:
来自挪威的2L公司在2010年3月，正式发行纪念挪威小提琴演奏家、作曲家、探险家，奥雷·布尔(Ole Bull,1810-1880)的小提琴音乐会高清音频专辑。专辑的FLAC 24bit版在2月初率先上市，SABD和SACD双碟版光碟将在3月上市，在中国地区的代理商是香港的Naxos。作为PCHifi的玩家，当然还是可以去2L公司的网站下载这张专辑，专辑24bit/192KHz单首价格在4美元左右，整张专辑价格24美元。SABD蓝光版本提供DTS HD的24bit/96KHz下的7.1声道和24bit/192KHz的5.1声道版本；LPCM源码24bit/192KHz的立体声版本。SACD碟，提供立体声和5.1声道两个版本。
正如我们前几次介绍2L唱片公司中多次提到的，这家来自挪威的唱片公司极力推崇挪威本土的音乐、音乐家和音乐团体，Ole Bull是另挪威人自豪的一位传奇人物，对于我们普通音乐爱好者来说可能并不了解它，但看了下面的一些内容也许大家一定不会忘记Ole Bull，也算我们今天的音乐没有白听吧。
如果大家去搜索引擎搜索Ole Bull，可能不是从其本人展开对这个名字的认识，而是从以Ole Bull命名的“瓜奈利”小提琴名琴开始。说到这里，我们要谈到一个家族和一个人，这就是意大利提琴创造家族“瓜奈利”家族。这把命名为Ole Bulll的名琴出自于Joseph Guarneri del Gesu（约瑟夫·瓜奈里·德尔·耶穌）1744年意大利的克里莫纳（Cremona）。约瑟夫·瓜奈利出生于1698年，是瓜奈利提琴制作家族的第三代，也是家族中最为出色的提琴制作家。他一生共制作约150把小提琴，名字中的del Gesu或Jesu是因为他做的琴内标有十字架图案。瓜奈利的小提琴也是当今名琴中惟一能与斯塔拉迪瓦里（Antonio Stradivari）制作的小提琴媲美的名琴。意大利著名小提琴演奏家作曲家帕格尼尼（1782-1840）直到去世一直使用瓜奈利1742年制作的一把小提琴。而被命名为Ole Bull的瓜奈利1744年制作的小提琴，也是因为历史上这把琴的拥有者Ole Bull最为著名而得以“冠名”。
耶穌?瓜奈利于1730年后，其手艺发展至登峰造极之境界，展现出独创性及个人风格，其整体的琴身结构优异且极富创造性，显露出他卓越的制琴天赋。 1730年至1735年这段期间，公认是他制琴的黄金时期。在他辞世的前几年，其作品较为粗獷质朴且不雅致，尤其是琴身的刀斧痕迹，一凿一銼皆表现出十足鲜明强烈的个性，具有独特的吸引力，音质也充满活力。他愈晚期所制作的提琴，在细部处理方面则愈渐偏离1730年至1735年间的精致作品。总之，耶穌?瓜奈里从黄金时期至辞世的短短十四年间，制作出来的那些充满多样性与原创性的小提琴，成为人间至宝，足以与斯塔拉迪瓦里 (Antonio Stradivari)的作品等量齐观，可说是与斯塔拉迪瓦里的琴并列为最顶级的乐器。
耶穌?瓜奈里辞世的1744年，约制作了九支小提琴，其中只有两支贴有原始标签，这支“奥雷?布尔”名琴亦包括在内。根据瑞士重要琴商维若 (Henry Werro)的臆测，这支作工稍嫌粗略的提琴，证明了当时耶穌?瓜奈里是处于身体衰弱的状况，然而，此琴却实为一件无与伦比的艺术作品。其琴身总长为 352mm，上侧板(upper bout)宽长166mm，中侧板(center bout)宽长110mm，下侧板(lower bout)宽长203mm。涂漆虽较为稀薄但恰如其分，呈现温暖的黄橙(yellow-orange)色泽。
提琴背板(back)是由两块枫木(maple)所制成，双拼面板(two-piece belly)则由两块不相称且不同年份的云杉木(spruce)拼板而成。背板的木头质量极佳，有色彩鲜明而呈波状的虎纹(flame)，侧板(rib) 木头的斜线虎纹也相当均匀，与背板极为相称。此琴的琴身轮廓较为坚挺刚硬，与耶穌?瓜奈里的加农炮(“II Cannone”)名琴相较之下，缺乏圆润的弧线。“奥雷?布尔”的双拼面板是由两块不同原木所拼板而成。侧板的斜线虎纹极为均匀双拼背板的虎纹相当鲜明醒目。
当然，最后还要认识一下这位Ole Bull本人，而不是名琴。
舒曼(Robert Schumann)曾说过：“布尔是最伟大的小提琴家之一”，并将他视为与帕格尼尼(Nicol·Paganini)旗鼓相当的大师。李斯特(Franz Liszt)更授予布尔“帕格尼尼的强大竞敌”之称号，布尔因此也赢得了“斯堪的纳维亚的帕格尼尼”之称。布尔在提琴史上的历史定位，已不仅止于一位技巧超凡的演奏家，他对小提琴的那股热忱与鐘爱，也使他获得提琴鉴赏行家与收藏名家之头衔，甚至更成为一位极富造诣的制琴家与古琴维修家。
布尔自我独特的詮释概念与表现力、技艺高超的即兴演奏，以及圆润丰满的音色，散发出一股强烈而深刻的感染力，也因此凡其行迹所至之处，皆受到听眾高度的赞扬。1836年，布尔于伦敦爱乐协会音乐会(Philharmonic Society concert)上获得了压倒性的胜利，一跃成名为当时最伟大的小提琴家，英国《泰晤士报》(The Times)更对其评论道：“他对乐器的掌握能力臻于完美。”1836年至1837年于英国期间，布尔出售他的第一把瓜奈里琴，买了另一支1744年制的瓜奈里琴，并长期使用这支琴于世界性的巡回演奏，而此琴即为奇美博物馆现所收藏的这支“奥雷．布尔”名琴，也无疑是布尔最珍贵的乐器。
根据科希奥国际名琴典藏网(Cozio.com)的统计，布尔一生中曾拥有过十支名琴，其中包括了两支瓜奈里名琴、三支史特拉底瓦里名琴、一支阿玛蒂(Nicol·Amati)名琴及一支达萨罗名琴。布尔拥有的这些大师级名琴，在舞臺上著实逐一发挥了他灵敏多变的表现力与适应力。音乐评论家汉斯利克 (Eduard Hanslick)曾提到自己对布尔演奏技巧的赏识：“泛音与双音的拉奏出奇地稳定与利落，断奏技巧则更为出色，他的演奏无人堪与匹敌，他的音色拥有完美柔和的特质。”就小提琴演奏史层面而言，布尔绚烂的演奏风格，以及饶富戏剧性的表现手法，使他被小提琴家沃东(Henry Vieuxtemps)誉为「演奏奇迹」的提琴名家，可谓实至名归。
不过遗憾的是，我们给2L公司发去邮件确认本录音使用的并非"Ole Bull"这把名琴，实在有些遗憾(不过图片里看上去真是很像啊）。这次录音使用的小提琴是Enrico Rocca 1870年于都灵制作一把名琴。大家喜欢的话，可以考虑去2L尝试购买正版音乐，另外2010年，2L公司还推出了除此之外的两张专辑的FLAC版本，可供购买。
http://www.soomal.com/doc/20100001098.htm
Ole Bull (1810-1880) was an adventurer, violin virtuoso, composer and international star who brought the name of Norway to worldwide attention. Within music and drama he was a pioneer in the development of a national identity, and on the concert stage his fabulous playing skills and intense charisma early won him the sobriquet 'the Scandinavian Paganini'.
Some of his most attractive tunes, as well as the rural potpourri Et Saeterbesog have remained part of Norway's cultural heritage; on this recording they can be heard alongside his two virtuosic violin concertos and the fiery Spanish fantasia La Verbena de San Juan. The concertos and the fantasia were rediscovered only a few years ago, and this is the first recording ever made of these attractive works. The A major Concerto was written in Italy in 1834 and boasts everything one could ever dream of when it comes to attractive tunes and giddy virtuosity. No. 2, Concerto Fantastico, lives indisputably up to its name and confirms what Franz Liszt wrote in 1840: 'He is a sort of savage's genius, possessing an abundance of original, enchanting ideas. In brief, he has moved me; it is a long time since that has happened to me.'
Orchestra: Norwegian Radio Orchestra
Conductor: Ole Kristian Ruud
Composer: Ole Bull
Blu-ray Audio (April 27, 2010)
Number of Discs: 2
Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD
Label: 2L
Ole Bull was, in the main, self taught as a virtuoso violinist and as a composer. He attended a grammar school in Bergen and subsequently studied theology at the University of Christiania (now Oslo). He soon became conductor of a musical and dramatic society in that town. Subsequently he went to Cassel to meet Spohr and then moved to G?ttingen where he became involved in a duel. He then returned to Norway where he gave concerts at Bergen and Trondheim as solo violinist. In 1831 he went to Paris, but failed to gain admittance to the Conservatoire. He heard Paganini, which he said, was the turning point in his life. He threw himself into the pursuit of technical studies to emulate the feats performed by the great Italian virtuoso. He was also influenced by the works of Bellini and was befriended by Chopin. As a virtuoso violinist, he performed his own works in France, Italy, Spain, Britain and the USA; he made and lost, a fortune in the USA, and married an American lady. Returning to Norway, he established a theatre in Bergen and tried to found a music academy in Oslo. He celebrated his 70th birthday in the USA but died later the same year at home and was buried in Bergen - his funeral surpassed anything that Norway had known previously in terms of production and attendance.
Bull never learnt to compose in the classical sense. However he had a gift for writing music where attractive melodies were linked together to form an attractive whole. With his longer compositions the listener never knew what to expect next and was often titillated by some unexpected turn. It is no wonder that he was admired by Berlioz, Schumann and Liszt amongst others. As a virtuoso violinist he approached and in some ways perhaps surpassed his hero Paganini. He used on his violin an almost flat bridge which facilitated double-stopping and the playing of four parts. His bow was of exceptional length and weight.
He is now little known outside Scandinavia and there the works most played are arrangements of ‘The Herdgirl’s Sunday’ and ‘La melancolie’, both of which are included here as is ‘A Mountain Vision’ which includes the former of the above works, together with other Norwegian folksongs. Strangely, none of these works would indicate that the composer was in his lifetime mainly known as a virtuoso player.
The other three works on this disc have only been rediscovered recently and here receive world premiere recordings. The Concerto in A was the basis of Bull’s early career as a virtuoso; after a long dramatic orchestral introduction, the violin solo comes in with an impressive demonstration of four part playing. After this attention-gaining start, we are treated to a number of memorable themes at various tempi, with contrasting virtuosic passages which delight the ear. The middle movement is short in comparison with the other two movements and starts with an orchestral introduction followed by a slow singing episode on the violin which then transforms into a dance-like theme. This quickly fades out to the sound of a distant cattle call - a beautiful effect. The third movement has two dance themes and after a sequence of variations proceedings end with startling violin virtuosity.
The Concerto Fantastico is in three movements. Bull considered it to be one of the hardest to play and the best of his compositions. The first movement is called “La Notte”; however it is far from being nocturnal, rather it gives an impression of being a description of war and strife, illustrated with a fiendishly difficult violin part. Second is a contrasting slower movement which is described as “l’Aurora” (sunrise). This is a beautifully descriptive piece which is atmospheric and pleasing. The final movement is “Rondo vivo Scherzo”. Like the first movement this starts with trumpet fanfares and then a reply by the strings. After a short crescendo the orchestra stops and a new theme emerges from the solo violin which fantasizes to a climax then taken over by the orchestra. The movement concludes with a new theme developed by the violin into a very effective ending of violin virtuosity.
In 1846 Bull embarked upon a concert tour in Spain where he became a friend of Queen Isabella; his Spanish rhapsody “La Verbena de San Juan: Fantasie” is dedicated to the Queen. This is typical of the composer, with a fascinating intermingling of Spanish folk songs and violin virtuosity; Bull had become friends with the Spanish composer Sebastián Yradier and incorporated his dance “Jota Aragonesa”. This Spanish Rhapsody has a lot in common with Liszt’s Spanish Rhapsody and there is no doubt that this is one of Bull’s most enjoyable works.
Annar Folles? plays these immensely difficult works with great élan and is well supported by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and their conductor Ole Kristian Ruud. The Orchestra has about fifty musicians and plays and records a wide range of musical styles including light music and jazz. Its playing here is admirable and full blooded. In size it probably mirrors the original orchestras which Bull would have had for his concerts.
From a recording point of view this issue is very interesting. When the SACD disc is played on a normal stereo set-up the music sounds fine and the separation between the solo violin and orchestra is convincing. However, this is a Blu-ray recording, and the reviewer then played the Blu-ray disc on a LG Blu-ray player with the sound feeding into a Cambridge surround sound amplifier connected with Tannoy surround speakers in a 5.1 DTS configuration. The results were superb, with a very natural surround effect and a sweeter tone for the solo violin. The TV Screen showed only information on which track was playing.
The two discs were packed in the conventional Blu-ray plastic case with exceptionally good notes about the composer and the music.
In summary this is an important issue of fine music from a composer who is at present almost unknown outside his native Norway. It includes world premiere recordings of three recently rediscovered, interesting and attractive substantial works. This is presented in Blu-ray audio format which will be new to most of us - together with an SACD disc for people not possessing appropriate Blu-ray equipment.
Arthur Baker
Read more: http://www.musicweb-international.com/clas...HeOD8koa