巴洛克音乐精华 　　如果阅读特罗夫大字典1771年版，你会看到巴洛克「意指不规则的、非寻常的」；的确，在文学、绘画、建筑与音乐等领域，「巴洛克」就是「古典」的相反面，会联想到自由的意念、甚至过度与奢华。卢梭曾形容巴洛克音乐是「有著令人困惑的和声、充满变调与不协和音的。」虽然很难精确地勾勒出巴洛克音乐的年代，但公认大抵约在西元1600年到1750年之间，这时期的开始诞生歌剧与清唱剧，而结尾则是巴哈的去世。这时期的义大利风格席卷整个欧洲，作曲家不管有没有到其他城市去旅行，都会受到此风格的影响。 　　  　　by James Manheim 　　  　　Repackaging old recordings as some kind of ideal selection for newcomers is reprehensible. Would you serve a plate of leftovers to a party of new visitors to your home? That said, this disc gives the casual buyer a reasonable sampling of some of the new ways in which Baroque music has been performed over the last two decades, with almost all the performers coming from the world of "historical instruments": the use of musical instruments modeled on, or even dating back all the way to the time of, those for which the music was written. What the music loses in sweetness and sheen it gains back in vigor and drama. The "Stabat mater dolorosa" movement from the Pergolesi Stabat Mater exposes the listener to two of the really great voices in this field, French soprano Véronique Gens and countertenor (a male alto) Gérard Lesne. The program is nicely balanced between ultra-familiar pieces like Pachelbel's Canon (here presented with its originally accompanying Gigue as a Canon & Gigue in D major) and less commonly heard but still crucial composers like Henry Purcell and Marc-Antoine Charpentier. The splendor of French court music is briefly but well represented. Vivaldi is rather shortchanged, which is curious in view of the fact that there was almost 10 minutes of unused space on the disc, certainly enough room for one of his more imaginative short concertos. The Pachelbel piece is heard up front, and it's going to be a shock for those who have encountered this work in modern versions, which may be the idea. Britain's Taverner Players under Andrew Parrott blaze through the Canon in just over three and a half minutes. The reading of the equally familiar Albinoni Adagio comes last and is much more conventional; it might have been better to open with that and end with the brisk Canon, but this way the listener's ears are basically retuned right off. The music here was recorded in the 1990s, but it's as close to state of the art as you're going to get with a recording of this kind; there are plenty of Baroque collections out there with performances by lumbering symphony orchestras going back as far as the 1960s. The liner notes are brief and nearly incomprehensible, but the music here is worthwhile for the listener new to early music and ready to dip a finger in the pool.