結合當代科技與演奏技藝：奧特重現費爾德夜曲中的幽微世界

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　　新冠肺炎疫情期間，幾乎所有人都歷經恐懼、茫然與孤獨的情緒。鋼琴家愛麗絲‧紗良‧奧特（Alice Sara Ott）透過音樂找到慰藉，在串流平台建立一份夜曲播放清單。當她開始搜尋曲目時，偶而發現費爾德（John Field）夜曲全集錄音。

　　奧特先前對這些作品一無所知，但是從第一號夜曲開始，她就有說不出來的熟悉感，彷彿從小就認識這些曲子。「我第一次聽到費爾德的音樂，像是聽到一個老朋友在低語，」奧特說：「它的情感不像蕭邦那樣濃烈，卻有種純粹的魔力，讓我忍不住一聽再聽。」她反覆聆聽這十八首小曲，旋律深植腦海，甚至在日常生活中也會不自覺哼唱。

　　奧特發現，費爾德的夜曲並不是單純的「夜間小品」，但是她無法判斷這些作品創作於古典還是浪漫時期，因為她在音樂中聽到莫札特的優雅，早期貝多芬的俏皮與和聲轉折，有時甚至浮現蕭邦式的感傷，而和聲的細膩變化為她帶來意想不到的慰藉。

　　於是，她開始查找與費爾德的生平，得知這位來自愛爾蘭的作曲家與貝多芬約莫是同時期的人，在倫敦師從克萊門替（Muzio Clementi），是早期在歐洲巡迴演出的著名鋼琴家之一。成年後的費爾德定居俄羅斯，是聖彼得堡和莫斯科的音樂巨星，學生包括葛令卡（Mikhail Glinka）等人。只是生活散漫的費爾德酒精成癮，當他因健康受損回到倫敦求醫時，發現英國樂界關注的音樂已經轉向莫札特、貝多芬、孟德爾頌等德奧音樂家的作品，法國則是李斯特、蕭邦的天下，他成了過氣的鋼琴家與作曲家。一八三七年，費爾德在莫斯科因肺炎逝世，留下約七首鋼琴協奏曲、四首鋼琴奏鳴曲、少量室內樂與鋼琴獨奏小品。最著名的十八首夜曲創作於一八一二年到三五年間，主要是在俄羅斯完成。

　　如同多數人所認為，「夜曲」一詞常與蕭邦劃上等號。那些如夢似幻的旋律，伴隨著左手輕柔的琶音，彷彿是蕭邦的音樂名片。然而，當奧特聽到費爾德的夜曲，赫然驚覺這位愛爾蘭作曲家才是夜曲的真正開創者。一八一四年，當費爾德出版他的前三首夜曲時，蕭邦還是個四歲的孩子！十八首夜曲的戲劇性與情感深度雖然比蕭邦更為含蓄，但是展現出古典過渡到浪漫時期的美感，營造出一種夢幻的氣氛，像是閃耀著獨特光芒的十八顆小珍珠。

　　除了疫情帶來的恐懼，奧特在二○一九年被診斷出患有多發性硬化症，也讓她經歷世界崩塌般的情緒波動，最後她選擇與之共存並且公開病情。經過治療，新的預防性治療讓奧特目前維持「無發病症狀」。罹患無法治癒的疾病以及經歷疫情封鎖，在在讓奧特更珍惜在舞台上演出的機會。費爾德的夜曲為她帶來平靜，成為她的情緒避風港，幫助她度過疫情期間的低潮與疾病帶來的挑戰，那種有所依歸的安全感，「像是回到童年的家」。

　　奧特為這張專輯投入驚人的心力。她花十四天聆聽錄下來的七百六十九個錄音段落，從中挑選出最喜愛的版本。她親自撰寫唱片內頁解說，並與英國導演史塔普勒斯（Andrew Staples）合作拍攝影片。史塔普勒斯是一名傑出的男高音，但是站上歌劇院舞台沒多久，便開始執導歌劇與音樂影片，曾經為奧特等音樂家拍攝梅湘《世界末日四重奏》（Quatuor pour la fin du temps）影片，以視覺色彩讓觀眾感受到梅湘二戰時期在戰俘營創作時，曾經產生的精神幻覺。

　　奧特結合音樂表演與視覺效果的構想，受到科技藝術團隊 Tin Drum 啟發。該團隊於二○二三年為坂本龍一製作的《鏡：KAGAMI》混合實境（MR）影片，結合真實演出與虛擬影像，重新定義現場音樂體驗。Tin Drum 團隊運用尖端技術捕捉坂本龍一的鋼琴演出，創建沉浸式虛擬實境表演。觀眾只需配戴專屬眼鏡，即可在設定好的場域自由移動、近距離觀賞，沉浸於音樂與科技交織出的獨特氛圍中。奧特的這部長約五十分鐘的影片《夜曲》（Nocturne）則是在虛擬攝影棚中，以巨大的LED螢幕與LED投影機在天花板投射出各種場景，結合真實場景與虛擬的超現實影像。目前在YouTube釋出第二號、第九號與第十四號。

　　奧特特別提到第二號夜曲靈感來自她喜愛的電玩《浪貓》（Stray）。她在投影塑造的霓虹世界中彈奏鋼琴，但是不懂日文的美術團隊把影像中縱排的「寿司バー」（壽司吧），最後一個片假名放顛倒了。雖然可以即時以電腦修正，奧特決定保留這個錯誤，因為虛擬影像的世界不就是個扭曲的世界？只是對看得懂中文字的我們來說，扭曲的地方應該不只是「寿司バー」。例如在這個畫面裡，出現三次的「臺灣搖勒」是什麼？「愛水」、「慶陳央」又什麼？忽然讓我聯想到過去潮牌SUPERDRY服裝上，常常出現的諸如「極度乾燥」、「目娱乐节今日」等讓人啼笑皆非的漢字既視感。

　　費爾德的夜曲雖技術上不艱深，但是奧特的詮釋展現出細膩的表現力、自然的速度與音色控制，以及令人著迷的流動感。最大的驚喜應該是第十二號《正午》（Noontide）尾聲，費爾德在譜上標註了「Cloche」（鐘）。錄音期間，當奧特用完午餐想小睡一會兒的時候，聽到古鐘敲響正午的鐘聲。她突發奇想，告訴著名的調音師布蘭德耶斯（Michel Brandjes）「我想讓鋼琴發出鐘聲般的聲音」。布蘭德耶斯當場開始各種實驗，最後成功讓鋼琴調校出可以發出鐘聲般的音色，利用多軌錄音達到奧特想要的效果。

　　依照樂譜指示的原本演出效果是這樣。但是奧特彈奏的鐘聲讓我想起在俄羅斯聽到的東正教教堂鐘聲。費爾德在俄羅斯定居多年，或者，與俄羅斯音樂密不可分的東正教教堂鐘聲，正是他這首夜曲的創作靈感來源？有興趣的人，可以看看奧特在影片裡親自解釋這段音色的處理手法。不只是這一首夜曲，奧特特別請來布蘭德耶斯合作的原因，是要利用他對鋼琴音色豐富的知識，想盡辦法實現腦中想要的效果，而這項合作的成果也證明她的構想是可行的：即使面對十九世紀樂譜中未具體記載的聲響細節，現代技術與高階調音技法，仍可以忠實表現藝術家的聲音構想，並賦予作品全新的詮釋空間。

During the COVID-19 lockdowns, German-Japanese pianist Alice Sara Ott created a playlist of nocturnes for emotional comfort. While searching for music, she discovered the complete nocturnes by Irish composer John Field, a name she had never encountered in her musical education. From the first piece, Ott felt an uncanny familiarity: "It was as if I was hearing an old friend whispering to me," she recalls.

Field's nocturnes are not as emotionally intense as Chopin's, but they carry a gentle magic. Ott found their subtle harmonies deeply soothing, and she began to explore Field's life. She learned that Field, a student of Muzio Clementi, was a successful pianist and composer in Russia during the early 19th century, teaching students like Glinka. However, his fame faded after his death in 1837, and his music was forgotten in the West.

Ott was amazed to discover that Field, not Chopin, invented the nocturne as a piano genre. When Field published his first nocturnes in 1814, Chopin was only four years old. Listening to all 18 of Field's nocturnes, Ott heard traces of Mozart's grace, early Beethoven's wit, and even hints of Chopin's sadness—yet all filtered through Field's unique voice.

The project had personal meaning. In 2019, Ott was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a life-altering and incurable disease. Combined with the isolation of the pandemic, this period brought emotional turmoil. Field's nocturnes became her refuge—"like returning to my childhood home," she says. After careful selection from 769 recorded takes, she finalized the album, which was released by Deutsche Grammophon. Ott also wrote the liner notes herself.

She collaborated with Andrew Staples, a singer and visual director, to create a 50-minute visual work titled Nocturne. Using virtual production technology (with LED walls and ceiling projections), they designed immersive dreamlike scenes, inspired in part by the mixed-reality project KAGAMI featuring Ryuichi Sakamoto and the Tin Drum collective. In Ott's video for Nocturne No. 2, she plays in a neon-lit virtual city inspired by the game Stray. Humorously, some Japanese characters like "寿司バー" (sushi bar) were mistakenly flipped upside down. Ott decided to keep this flaw—it reflects the distorted world of virtual reality. Other strange characters, like "台灣搖勒" (Taiwan shake?), "愛水" (love water?), and "慶陳央" (unknown meaning), gave viewers the same kind of amusement once provoked by odd Chinese text on SUPERDRY clothing.

Technically, Field's nocturnes are not difficult, but Ott's interpretation shows refined phrasing, natural pacing, and beautiful tone color. The biggest surprise is the ending of No. 12 (Noontide), where Field writes "Cloche" (bell) in the score. One day, Ott heard a clock strike noon and asked renowned piano technician Michel Brandjes to help her make the piano sound like bells. Using internal techniques and multi-track recording, they achieved a resonant, bell-like effect that evokes Russian Orthodox church bells—possibly Field's original inspiration during his years in Russia.

Ott's goal is to reinterpret old works with modern tools, honoring both the score and her own imagination. Through this album and video, she invites us to rediscover Field as a pioneer of the nocturne—less known than Chopin, but deeply influential.

*This English version is a concise summary of the original Chinese article.*

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