終止懷疑：喪尸、吸血鬼、外星人、機器人……以及女高音？

文：司馬勤（Ken Smith） 編譯：李正欣

我必須承認，閱讀瑪麗·金特爾（Mary Gentle）長達680頁的“另類歷史小說”《邪惡歌劇》（Black Opera）令我心馳神往。故事圍繞著一位活在19世紀意大利那不勒斯的英國編劇，他接到費迪南大帝的委約，撰寫一部超凡的新歌劇，目的是為了對抗一部由秘密組織制作的、為了引動維蘇威火山爆發(fā)并乘機將魔鬼召喚到人間的“邪惡歌劇”。

新的“正義歌劇”背后顯然有著更具戲劇性的故事：這位英國編劇的合作伙伴是一位意大利貴族兼業(yè)余作曲家，而這位貴族作曲家的現(xiàn)任妻子與編劇曾有過長達一年的戀情。她更是位女高音，也是這部“正義歌劇”的女主角。內容那么精彩，小說肯定可以大賣，對吧？事實上，一切聽起來都富有歌劇性，直至我們發(fā)現(xiàn)這位女高音的真正身份是——喪尸（zombie）。

是的，一只喪尸。

當小說從“另類歷史”跳進“奇幻恐怖”故事后，敘事性隨即一落千丈。一位書評家甚至質疑，這部包括“火山、喪尸、鬼魂、三角戀、秘密組織、天主教廷、易裝癖，就連拿破侖都來客串了一小段”的小說，怎么會如此異常地缺乏張力。

上：桑姆托·蘇恰里故小說《吸血鬼合流》封面

左：瑪麗·金特爾的小說《邪惡歌劇》封面

也許作者不應把拿破侖拉進來。但這部小說卻令我想起一個問題：歌劇劇目里，究竟有多少作品的主題與喪尸——或鬼魂、食尸鬼、吸血鬼——混在一起？安妮·賴斯（Anne Rice）于1976年發(fā)表的《夜訪吸血鬼》（Interview with a Vampire）讓恐怖小說搖身一變?yōu)闀充N文學。幾年之后，她撰寫的新小說，書名為《呼天喚地》（Cry to Heaven），可這部“歌劇”小說發(fā)生在18世紀，以閹伶歌手為主人公，一個吸血鬼的鬼影都找不到。

也不奇怪，你會在科幻小說的子流派“太空歌劇”①編者注：“太空歌劇”（Space Opera）一詞，是在20世紀40年代被發(fā)明出來專門稱呼科幻文學中某一類特定小說的。這類小說的背景通常是龐大的銀河帝國或繁復的異星文化，情節(jié)混合了動作和冒險，是地道的宇宙英雄羅曼史。在“太空歌劇”電影里，太空只是冒險的場所，現(xiàn)有的科學常識并不是限制人們想象力的枷鎖。里找到許多女高音嗎？正如西部片被貶為“馬戲”（horse opera），或者通常由清潔劑公司贊助的日間情景電視劇被稱為“肥皂劇”（soap opera）一樣，嚴肅的讀者們不會把那些講述關于戰(zhàn)爭、浪漫與漫游太空的煽情故事放在眼里?！讹w俠哥頓》（Flash Gordon）？《星球大戰(zhàn)》（Star Wars）？你可以想象那些高傲的、擁護“正統(tǒng)分類”的人嘲笑道：“它們不過是‘太空歌劇’罷了?！?/p>

要想在“太空歌劇”里找到真正說女高音的故事，你必須認真地找——差不多要把整個書架翻遍。安妮·麥卡弗里（Anne McCaffrey）與賴斯齊名：正如賴斯讓大家更深入了解吸血鬼一樣，麥卡弗里讓喜歡巨龍的讀者們雀躍不已。麥卡弗里的《水晶歌唱家》（Crystal Singer）三部曲的主角，是一位潦倒的歌劇女高音，她在水晶礦場找到一份冒險性很高的差事，利用自己的絕對音高來控制重機器。菲利普·迪克（Philip K.Dick）的一部后世界末日科幻小說《機器人會夢見電子羊嗎?》（Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?）講述了一位舊金山的賞金獵手，他營生的伎倆，就是抓捕假裝是人類的機器人（android）。他走進歌劇院，深信舞臺上的女高音是個機器人。為什么？他太熟悉克麗斯塔·路德維希（Christa Ludwig，德國女中音歌唱家）唱片里的那首詠嘆調，但這個機器人唱起來感情不夠投入。［這部1968年出版的小說，到了1982年拍攝為電影《銀翼殺手》（Blade Runner）。導演把背景移至洛杉磯，歌劇女高音改為脫衣舞女郎，這些都是時代變遷的象征。］

左頁：影片《第五元素》中全身藍皮膚的外星人女高音演繹《拉美莫爾的露琪亞》中悲傷的詠嘆調

讓我們重返吸血鬼這個主題。創(chuàng)作出最令人滿意且?guī)в懈鑴☆}材的魔幻小說家，應該是桑姆托·蘇恰里故（Somtow Sucharitkul）。在他還未創(chuàng)辦曼谷歌劇院之前，這位作曲家兼指揮家也涉足文壇，用S.P. Somtow這個筆名以各種散文體裁寫作。他的小說《吸血鬼合流》（Vampire Junction）里有一名12歲的搖滾歌手，其實是活了兩千年的吸血鬼。他的死對頭是一位年邁的指揮家，一聽到男孩唱歌，就認出這個幾十年前曾經參加過試唱的嗓音。

雖然桑姆托創(chuàng)作《吸血鬼合流》的時間比賴斯的《夜訪吸血鬼》要早得多，但他的小說直到1980年代中期才有機會面世。盡管這部小說最終被恐怖小說作者協(xié)會（Horror Writers Association）列為“40本最佳恐怖小說”之一，出版商一直以來都認為故事過分怪誕——也許過分暴力，會讓毫無戒備之心的讀者感到不安［寫作風格將恐怖電影的視覺效果與音樂視頻的節(jié)奏相匹配，這個文學流派被稱為“噴血朋克”（splatterpunk）］。不過說真的，我認為無法廣為流傳的障礙是那些歌劇常識。

幾年前，看罷他在曼谷制作的《萊茵的黃金》后，我跟桑姆托提出疑問：他是否真的認為鐘情恐怖小說的讀者們能看得懂《魔笛》與《藍胡子公爵的城堡》中的暗喻嗎？或者他們知曉吸血鬼匿藏的巢穴被熊熊烈火燒毀的情景，其實是向《眾神的黃昏》致敬嗎？他調皮地說：“不，僅有2%或3%看得懂的人會覺得這很酷。”

不過，在我們完全摒棄這些電影之前，我必須推薦一下法國導演呂克·貝松（Luc Besson）的《第五元素》（The Fifth Element）。盡管這部影片符合大多數(shù)人對“太空歌劇”的定義，但電影里有實實在在的歌唱家演唱歌劇。穿上禮服的布魯斯·威利斯（Bruce Willis）聆聽一個全身藍皮膚的外星人女高音，以一連串超越人類可以掌握的發(fā)聲技巧，將《拉美莫爾的露琪亞》（Lucia di Lammermoor）中悲傷的詠嘆調演繹得尤為動人。這是整部電影中最令人難忘的一刻。

正當我在思量著，這個精彩片段在地球上某個角落還在回響時，我聽到了關于《永久死亡》（PermaDeath）這部歌劇。該劇被譽為世界上第一部“電子游戲歌劇”（videogame opera），去年9月世界首演時，每位觀眾可以通過手機App參與其中?！队谰盟劳觥酚傻ぁぞS斯康提（Dan Visconti）作曲，編劇林曉英（Cerise Lim Jacobs）的創(chuàng)作靈感源自她兒子普萊特·愛普斯坦（Pirate Epstein）。當林女士問“海盜”，什么可以讓他對歌劇提起興趣，得到的答案是：“要像《第五元素》里的歌劇場景那么激動人心?！?/p>

上：被譽為世界上第一部“電子游戲歌劇”的《永久死亡》劇照

＊＊＊

不知為何，《劇院魅影》（The Phantom of the Opera）是唯一的特別案例。普遍來說，魔幻情節(jié)與恐怖元素在歌劇舞臺上的影響力不大。吸血鬼、鬼魂，甚至科學怪人可能偶爾亮相，但都只是曇花一現(xiàn)。相對來說，科幻小說更具吸引力。

托德·馬可福（Tod Machover）1987年創(chuàng)作的《瓦利斯》（Valis，根據(jù)另一本菲利普·迪克的小說改編）是我畢生首次接觸到的、刻意被宣傳為“科幻歌劇”（science-fiction opera）的音樂戲劇作品。馬可福是麻省理工學院媒介實驗室（MIT Media Lab）的音樂及媒介教授，其作品《死亡與權力》（Death and the Powers）是2012年普利策獎入圍作品?！端劳雠c權力》以機器人為主題，因而也被貼上了“未來歌劇”（an opera for the future）的標簽。

左頁：歌劇《死亡與權力》劇照

但追溯起歌劇運用科幻小說作為素材的根源要深很多。正如我之前提到的，萊奧什·雅納切克（Leo? Janá?ek）的《馬克洛普羅斯檔案》（The Makropulos Case）里的女主角，因為年輕時喝過長生不老藥，是個活了整整三百年的歌劇大明星。這則故事應該介于科幻與魔幻之間。但雅納切克更早期的歌劇《布魯切克先生的旅行》（The Excursions of Mr. Brou?ek to the Moon and to the 15th Century）——正如題目所寫的那樣，基本上是關乎外太空與穿越時空旅行，這正是科幻小說中兩個最典型的元素。

倘若你認為月球之旅是一個現(xiàn)代概念，那你就錯了。讓我鄭重介紹海頓于1777年首演的歌劇《月亮上的世界》（Il mondo della luna），劇本來自18世紀威尼斯著名編劇卡洛·戈爾多尼（Carlo Goldoni）的手筆。我還得提醒你，在海頓之前，已有6位作曲家根據(jù)戈爾多尼的這個劇本譜寫過音樂。

當然，直到20世紀中葉文學流派牢固確立之后，這一切才被稱為“科幻小說”。有時候，這些元素只不過是附帶品，或是情節(jié)轉折的工具——比如說邁克爾·蒂皮特（Michael Tippett）的《新年》（New Year）或菲利普·格拉斯（Philip Glass）的《航行》（The Voyage），這兩部歌劇都含有穿梭時空或翱翔星際的情節(jié)。有時候，科幻是故事的整體背景，比如說格拉斯的《第八號行星代表的產生》（Making of the Representative for Planet 8）與《第三、四、五區(qū)域間的聯(lián)姻》（The Marriages Between Zones Three,Fourand Five）［這兩部作品都是根據(jù)多麗絲·萊辛（Doris Lessing）的小說改編而成］。再想深一層，還有格拉斯的《沙灘上的愛因斯坦》（Einstein on the Beach），那是一個虛構故事，也有一名科學家。

有趣的是，盡管近年來電影被大量改編成歌劇，但“科幻歌劇”卻僅停留在書本中。唯一的例外是霍華德·肖爾（Howard Shore）的《蒼蠅》（The Fly）。作品首演一敗涂地，我就不予置評了，但《蒼蠅》為我的論點提供了最有力的證據(jù)。很多人都會談及歌劇與大衛(wèi)·柯南伯格（David Cronenberg）于1986年執(zhí)導的同名電影的直接關系——這也有助于柯南伯格導演歌劇——但很少人留意到，歌劇劇本中的許多關鍵元素都是從1950年代的原著中提取出來的。

雖然在技術上算不上是改編作品，我猜我們也應該包括艾夫·范布林（Eef van Breen）的歌劇《u》（‘u’）。劇本的語言完全是克林貢語（Klingon），是《星際迷航》（Star Trek）經典電視劇與電影系列中所使用的人造語言。歌劇《u》備受觀眾追捧，但我不敢肯定，該作品在《星際迷航》影迷聚會上獲得的空前成功，對于現(xiàn)實的歌劇世界有沒有實質的影響。

但過了一會兒，你會察覺到一個重點。當真正的科幻小說登上歌劇舞臺，比如說洛林·馬澤爾（Lorin Maazel）的《1984》［改編自喬治·奧威爾（George Orwell）的作品］，或保羅·魯?shù)拢≒oul Ruder）的《侍女的故事》（The Handmaid's Tale）［改編自瑪格麗特·阿特伍德（Margaret Atwood）的作品］——是的，還有《蒼蠅》——這些故事通常都是令人不安的、寓意灰暗的、反烏托邦的。那么，為什么歌劇進入科幻小說的次數(shù)很少，且營造出來的效果往往都很“太空歌劇”呢？

I have to admit, I was getting pretty engrossed inBlack Opera, Mary Gentle's 680-page epic of“alternative history.” An English librettist in 19thcentury Naples receives a commission from King Ferdinand for very a special opera, one that would cancel out the effects of a “black opera” about to be staged by a secret society to provoke an eruption from Mt. Vesuvius and summon the devil into the world.

上：第一部克林貢語歌劇《u》劇照

There's plenty of off-stage drama in the “white opera” as well, not least because the librettist's chief collaborator, an Italian aristocrat and dilettante composer, is now married to a soprano who once had a year-long affair with the librettist and, of course, is to star in their new production. What could go wrong?Actually, it all sounds suitably operatic until she turns out to be a zombie.

Yes, a zombie.

Once the novel shifts genres from alt-history to fantasy-horror the narrative never quite recovers.One book critic has even questioned how a novel that features “volcanoes, zombies, ghosts, love triangles,secret societies, the inquisition, cross-dressers, and a guest appearance by Napoleon Bonaparte could be so singularly devoid of tension.”

Maybe the writer should've left out Napoleon. But it did get me thinking, how often does opera really mix with zombies—or ghosts, ghouls and vampires,for that matter? Anne Rice, the writer who infamously injected the horror genre with new blood in her 1976 novelInterview with a Vampire, shifted gears a few years later withCry to Heaven, an “opera” novel that recreated the world of 18th-century castrati with nary a vampire in sight.

Nor, strangely enough, will you find many sopranos in the subgenre of science fiction known as “space opera.” Much as westerns were once derided as“horse operas,” and episodic afternoon television sponsored by detergent companies was labeled “soap opera,” these melodramatic tales of war, romance and interplanetary travel are rarely taken seriously by serious devotes.Flash Gordon?Star Wars? The genre snob is already sneering, “Those are just space operas…”

To get to real sopranos you have to go hardcore—and then almost entirely on the bookshelves. Anne McCaffrey, whose literary oeuvre did for dragons what Rice did for vampires, also wrote herCrystal Singertrilogy about a failed opera singer who finds herself recruited to another planet to mine crystals, using her perfect pitch to operate high-risk machinery. Philip K. Dick's post-apocalyptic taleDo Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?follows a San Francisco bounty hunter who makes a living by tracking down androids posing as humans. He finds himself at the opera house and figures out that a soprano is an android. How?He's heard a recording of the same music by Christa Ludwig, and the android doesn't sing with enough emotion. (By the time Dick's 1968 novel became the 1982 filmBlade Runner, the story shifted to Los Angeles and the opera singer became a stripper, which pretty much says it all.)

Getting back to vampires, though, perhaps the most satisfying example of opera in speculative fiction comes from Somtow Sucharitkul. Before he founded the Bangkok Opera, the composer-conductor also wrote in various prose genres under the name S.P.Somtow. His novelVampire Junctionintroduces a 12-year-old rock star who turns out to be a 2000-yearold vampire. His nemesis is an aging conductor who instantly recognizes the voice as the same boy soprano he auditioned decades earlier.

Though Somtow wroteVampire Junctionlong before Rice'sInterview, his novel wasn't published until the mid-1980s. It eventually made the Horror Writers Association's list of “40 Best Horror Novels,”but publishers had long thought it far too weird—and probably too violent—to foist on an unsuspecting public (the writing style matches the visuals of horror films with the pacing of music videos in a subgenre dubbed “splatterpunk”). Really, though, I think it was all the opera references.

A few years ago, after his production ofDas Rheingoldin Bangkok, I asked Somtow whether he really thought the horror-reading public would understand his allusions toThe Magic FluteandBluebeard's Castle, or see that the final destruction of the vampires' lair was a fiery tribute toG?tterd?mmerung. “No,” he admitted mischievously. “But the two or three percent who do will think it's really cool.”

Before we dismiss the movies completely, though,let's give due credit to Luc Besson's filmThe Fifth Element, which despite fitting most people's definition of “space opera” does actually feature an opera singer. Seeing a black-tied Bruce Willis listening to a blue-skinned diva launch from a melancholy moment inLucia di Lammermoorinto a literally inhuman barrage of vocal technique was the film's most memorable moment.

Just as I was thinking that performance was probably still echoing somewhere in the world,I heard aboutPermaDeath. Billed as the world's first “videogame opera,” its premiere in Boston last September had audiences participating through a phone app. With music by Dan Visconti, the story was written by Cerise Lim Jacobs and inspired by her son,Pirate Epstein. When Jacobs had asked her son what would make him excited about opera, he answered immediately: “If it could be as thrilling as the opera scene inThe Fifth Element.”

＊＊＊

歌劇《永久死亡》劇照

For some reason,The Phantom of the Operanotwithstanding, elements of fantasy and horror have not made a big impact on the opera stage. Vampires,ghosts and even Frankenstein's monster may have made brief appearances, but they quickly vanish without a trace. Science fiction, though has had a bit more traction.

Tod Machover's 1987 stage workValis(based on another Philip K. Dick story) was the first music-theatre piece I encountered specifically billed as “sciencefiction opera.” Machover, who by day is a professor of music and media at the MIT Media Lab, was later a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize withDeath and the Powers, which featured robots and was labeled “an opera for the future.”

But the roots of science fiction as operatic material go much deeper. Leo? Janá?ek'sMakropulos Case, as I've mentioned before, concerns a 300-year-old opera diva who drinks an elixir of immortality in her youth,which falls somewhere between science fiction and fantasy. But Janá?ek's earlier operaThe Excursions of Mr. Brou?ek to the Moon and to the 15th Century—true to its title—is essentially about outer space and time travel, two classic elements of science fiction.

Lest we think living on the moon is a strictly modern idea, let me introduce you to Haydn's 1777 operaIl mondo della luna, with a text by the 18thcentury Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni. And keep in mind that six other composers had already set Goldoni's libretto to music before Haydn got around to it.

None of this was called “science fiction,” of course,till the mid-20thcentury once the literary genre had become firmly established. Sometimes those elements are simply incidental—or mere plot devices—such as the time travel and interplanetary notions of Michael Tippett'sNew Yearor Philip Glass's operaThe Voyage.Sometimes they provide essentially the entire setting,as with Glass'sMaking of the Representative for Planet 8andThe Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five(both based on books by Doris Lessing). Come to think of it, there was also Glass'sEinstein on the Beach, which at least was fiction and had a scientist.

Funnily enough, despite the plethora of films being turned into operas these days, “science-fiction opera” tends to keep to the books. There was, of course, Howard Shore'sThe Fly. Generally, the less said about that opera the better, but it does prove the point. Much was made about its connection to David Cronenberg's 1986 film—it helped that Cronenberg also directed the opera—but few people realized that many key elements in libretto were taken from the original 1950s story.

And though it's technically not an adaptation,I suppose we should include Eef van Breen's‘u',an opera composed entirely in Klingon (a fictional language from the TV and movie seriesStar Trek).‘U'has been a huge hit with audiences, though I'm not sure that performances atStar Trekconventions are an accurate barometer of the opera world.

But after a while, you start to notice something.When true science fiction makes it to the opera stage,such as Lorin Maazel's1984(after George Orwell) or Poul Ruder'sThe Handmaid's Tale(after Margaret Atwood)—or, yes, evenThe Fly—the stories are usually dark, disturbing, dystopian. Why is it, then, that the few times that opera has made its way into science fiction, the results are usually, well, space opera?

歌劇《永久死亡》劇照