半舞臺(tái)歌劇制作：最大限度地運(yùn)用音樂(lè)會(huì)舞臺(tái)

文：司馬勤（Ken Smith） 編譯：李正欣

我身處樂(lè)團(tuán)后方，坐在樂(lè)手后面那些合唱隊(duì)平時(shí)占用的座位上，雙眼凝望著勒內(nèi)·雅各布斯（René Jacobs）的正臉。我看看手上的門(mén)票，票面上的確印著“VIP”字樣。通常買(mǎi)票入場(chǎng)的觀眾，不會(huì)花大價(jià)錢(qián)看60人樂(lè)團(tuán)的背影。我不是不尊敬雅各布斯大師或者無(wú)視他在音樂(lè)上的卓越成就，但我寧愿觀賞兩位女高音——波麗娜·帕茲蒂斯卡（Polina Pasztircsák）與奧利維亞·維莫倫（Olivia Vermeulen）的正面，她們分別飾演唐娜·安娜與唐娜·埃爾維拉。

弗萊堡巴洛克古樂(lè)團(tuán)在深圳音樂(lè)廳演出音樂(lè)會(huì)版《唐喬瓦尼》期間，飾演萊波雷洛的男中音羅伯特·格萊多（Robert Gleadow）突然跑到舞臺(tái)后方，對(duì)著我鄰座的一位女觀眾演唱，讓她也成了演出的一部分——這是名副其實(shí)的VIP待遇無(wú)疑。

討論音樂(lè)會(huì)版歌劇的文章已屢見(jiàn)不鮮，我也曾經(jīng)貢獻(xiàn)了不少。時(shí)至今日，大部分有頭有臉的交響樂(lè)團(tuán)在自己的演出季里都會(huì)在歌劇這個(gè)“大水池”里“踩踩水”。原因顯而易見(jiàn)，或者說(shuō)太淺顯了。在沒(méi)有布景或服裝分散注意力的情況下，大家能夠聚精會(huì)神地專(zhuān)注于音樂(lè)里蘊(yùn)藏的奧妙。因此，當(dāng)“萊波雷洛”突然沖過(guò)來(lái)，在觀眾席里隨機(jī)挑選下一位唐喬瓦尼要勾引的美女時(shí)，這個(gè)引人入勝的故事又讓你有了新的體驗(yàn)。

我決定在深圳看本年度“一帶一路”國(guó)際音樂(lè)季里弗萊堡古樂(lè)團(tuán)的演出，原是一時(shí)沖動(dòng)之舉。其實(shí)，這幾年來(lái)我都渴望有機(jī)會(huì)看看這個(gè)古樂(lè)團(tuán)是怎樣演繹莫扎特的。早在2016年，雅各布斯在紐約莫扎特音樂(lè)節(jié)（Mostly Mozart Festival）演出《伊多梅紐》（Idomeneo），當(dāng)時(shí)業(yè)界內(nèi)外都雀躍不已。除了常住歐洲大陸的觀眾，大部分樂(lè)迷僅能通過(guò)唱片了解過(guò)雅各布斯與弗萊堡巴洛克古樂(lè)團(tuán)的藝術(shù)造詣（把歌劇唱片界定為“音樂(lè)會(huì)版歌劇”，沒(méi)有人會(huì)有異議吧）。

弗萊堡巴洛克古樂(lè)團(tuán)演出的音樂(lè)會(huì)版《唐喬瓦尼》劇照

雅各布斯過(guò)去是一位假聲男高音，理所當(dāng)然地會(huì)聚焦在聲樂(lè)演出上，這不足為奇。我也預(yù)料得到，因?yàn)樗€是位古樂(lè)專(zhuān)家，自然而然地會(huì)很尊重作曲家原本的創(chuàng)作意圖。我們平時(shí)習(xí)以為常的莫扎特——尤其是演奏速度——在雅各布斯的指揮棒下，都被動(dòng)搖了。演奏速度雖然像是在賽馬一樣，但唱詞還是聽(tīng)得一清二楚。有時(shí)候，甚至?xí)X(jué)得旋律故意停了下來(lái)，讓我們好好享受聲樂(lè)的美妙時(shí)刻。飾演唐喬瓦尼的約翰尼斯·威瑟爾（Johannes Weisser）演唱那首著名的“香檳詠嘆調(diào)”時(shí)，就顯得深思熟慮，而少了平常的那種喧鬧。

雅各布斯選擇的演奏速度要是真的配上布景服裝，肯定會(huì)被它們拖累。我認(rèn)為深圳的演出最讓人刮目相看的是：觀眾接觸了一批在大歌劇院無(wú)法充分發(fā)揮才華的歐洲演員。年輕美貌的他們演出時(shí)使出渾身解數(shù)、行動(dòng)敏捷——無(wú)論是純熟的嗓音技巧（能追得上雅各布斯帶領(lǐng)的輕快節(jié)奏），還是他們的肢體動(dòng)作，經(jīng)常要從舞臺(tái)的一端奔跑到另一端。

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2月底，一版截然不同的“歌劇音樂(lè)會(huì)”在新加坡上演。濱海藝術(shù)中心的華藝藝術(shù)節(jié)搬演了歌劇《畫(huà)皮》（Painted Skin）。這部作品去年10月在上海的首演更像是一臺(tái)多媒體劇場(chǎng)演出。導(dǎo)演易立明這次為新加坡的制作被定義為“歌劇音樂(lè)會(huì)”——舞臺(tái)上只有一個(gè)投影屏幕。

別的不說(shuō)，這次的經(jīng)驗(yàn)讓我們領(lǐng)略到在不同音樂(lè)文化背景下，“歌劇音樂(lè)會(huì)”的定義也有很大的差別?！懂?huà)皮》的服裝十分講究，但道具不多。要說(shuō)真有什么的話，郝維亞創(chuàng)作的這一部聯(lián)篇?jiǎng)?chuàng)作曲式歌劇與傳統(tǒng)戲曲有不少雷同，《畫(huà)皮》讓人聯(lián)想起京劇“一桌二椅”那種簡(jiǎn)潔的美學(xué)觀。

新加坡華樂(lè)團(tuán)也強(qiáng)調(diào)了其他的共鳴點(diǎn)。樂(lè)團(tuán)在舞臺(tái)上沒(méi)有依據(jù)西方的樂(lè)團(tuán)編制來(lái)排位。個(gè)別小組被編排在舞臺(tái)不同區(qū)域，看起來(lái)有點(diǎn)像中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)戲院的格局。郝維亞在配器方面凸現(xiàn)了傳統(tǒng)樂(lè)器的演奏法，卻又把它們獨(dú)特的音色延展出來(lái)，所營(yíng)造出的音樂(lè)世界就像阿爾班·貝爾格（Berg）與安東·韋伯恩（Webern）（添加了一絲西方恐怖電影效果）。

左頁(yè)、下：香港藝術(shù)節(jié)歌劇《白蛇傳》劇照

要是跟弗萊堡的《唐喬瓦尼》比較，《畫(huà)皮》的第四堵墻①第四堵墻（fourth wall），戲劇術(shù)語(yǔ)。在鏡框式舞臺(tái)上，通過(guò)人們的想象位于舞臺(tái)臺(tái)口的一道實(shí)際上并不存在的“墻”。它是由對(duì)舞臺(tái)“三向度”空間實(shí)體聯(lián)想而產(chǎn)生，并與箱式布景的“三面墻”相聯(lián)系而言的。它的作用是試圖將演員與觀眾隔開(kāi)，使演員忘記觀眾的存在，而只在想象中承認(rèn)“第四堵墻”的存在。相對(duì)牢固，到了最后才被打破。女中音董芳（飾王生）、女高音李晶晶（飾王夫人）與京劇乾旦劉錚（飾女鬼媯嫣）在他們固定的舞臺(tái)區(qū)域演出，他們之間的互動(dòng)只限于故事或音樂(lè)的需要。劉錚也有幾個(gè)像是前文中提到的萊波雷洛與觀眾交流的段落。這些行為主要為了展現(xiàn)《畫(huà)皮》編劇王爰飛劇本里對(duì)女鬼裝模作樣的描述與反諷，與羅伯特·格萊多的故意搶?xiě)蛴悬c(diǎn)不同。和《唐喬瓦尼》一樣，到了尾聲，《畫(huà)皮》的演員消失于臺(tái)下，融入了觀眾席中。

但這真的是我們通常定義的“歌劇音樂(lè)會(huì)”嗎？我猜，當(dāng)晚在濱海藝術(shù)中心的觀眾完全抓得到這場(chǎng)“音樂(lè)會(huì)”的戲劇性要點(diǎn)。

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數(shù)周后，《畫(huà)皮》找到了一個(gè)可謂是志同道合的伙伴：香港藝術(shù)節(jié)搬演了歌劇《白蛇傳》（Madame White Snake）。這兩部作品都源于中國(guó)古代的奇幻傳說(shuō)，如今為了當(dāng)代觀眾而更新了展現(xiàn)的形式。兩者都嘗試融合中國(guó)與西方的聲樂(lè)方式：歌唱方面注入了像勛伯格式誦唱（Sprechstimme），從某種程度上模仿京劇念白的效果。（《白蛇傳》的例子更為復(fù)雜，因?yàn)榱謺杂?xiě)的是英語(yǔ)劇本，并用英語(yǔ)演唱。）

這兩部歌劇都用了四幕劇的結(jié)構(gòu)，連貫演出，沒(méi)有中場(chǎng)休息。兩部作品都有借鑒演員反串的傳統(tǒng)，無(wú)論是男扮女或者女扮男——《白蛇傳》最明顯的案例，是用了假聲男高音邁克爾·馬尼亞奇（Michael Maniaci，他本人自稱(chēng)為“男性女高音”）扮演小青（青蛇），旋律風(fēng)格偏向無(wú)調(diào)性。

說(shuō)實(shí)在的，“音樂(lè)會(huì)”版《畫(huà)皮》一幕里的舞臺(tái)動(dòng)作要比整套《白蛇傳》的更多?！栋咨邆鳌反蟛糠值母泄俅碳?lái)自導(dǎo)演邁克爾·考茲（Michael Counts）的視覺(jué)設(shè)計(jì)——燈光與動(dòng)畫(huà)投影深化了舞臺(tái)動(dòng)感以及感情表現(xiàn)力。林曉英把古老的民間故事現(xiàn)代化，削弱了批判妖精的成分，變成一個(gè)跨越種族的愛(ài)情故事。周龍譜寫(xiě)的四幕音樂(lè)都具有令人佩服的風(fēng)格對(duì)比——這部作品于2011年贏得普列策音樂(lè)大獎(jiǎng)，周龍也是首位獲得該獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)的中國(guó)出生的作曲家，但是真正把音樂(lè)與唱詞融合起來(lái)的是考茲的視覺(jué)設(shè)計(jì)。

可惜，《白蛇傳》在香港亮相前一周，由卡里希托·比埃托（Calixto Bieito）導(dǎo)演的《湯豪舍》不如人意：瓦格納的音樂(lè)與舞臺(tái)上所發(fā)生的一切沒(méi)有任何“融合”可言。這位經(jīng)常引起評(píng)論分歧的導(dǎo)演竟然讓香港的歌劇界各類(lèi)群體團(tuán)結(jié)一致了：評(píng)論家、電臺(tái)名嘴、互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上的討論立場(chǎng)一致，清一色地批評(píng)比埃托徹底漠視了瓦格納的劇本與音樂(lè)。有人更致信《南華早報(bào)》，呼吁香港藝術(shù)節(jié)在節(jié)目選擇方面需要加倍謹(jǐn)慎。觀眾們做何反映？他們用行動(dòng)說(shuō)話：中場(chǎng)休息后，觀眾席頓時(shí)空了很多。

左頁(yè)、下：香港藝術(shù)節(jié)歌劇《白蛇傳》劇照

這種狀況真令人扼腕嘆息！因?yàn)闉鯛柗颉は癄柲║lf Schirmer）率領(lǐng)的萊比錫布業(yè)大廳樂(lè)團(tuán)與萊比錫歌劇院合唱團(tuán)帶來(lái)了不但細(xì)膩，更是原汁原味的瓦格納式演繹，在亞洲地區(qū)實(shí)屬罕見(jiàn)。他們3月2日的演出一氣呵成，簡(jiǎn)直可謂是天衣無(wú)縫。樂(lè)團(tuán)把焦點(diǎn)歸于音樂(lè)織體藏著的旋律而不只是表面的光鮮。樂(lè)手簡(jiǎn)直是跟歌唱家同頻率呼吸，同步配合樂(lè)句的線條。

丹尼爾·弗蘭克（Daniel Frank）演繹湯豪舍，他駕馭舞臺(tái)的秘訣，不只靠音量而是憑他那聽(tīng)起來(lái)舒服但響亮的聲線。馬庫(kù)斯·埃沙（Markus Eiche）是一位剛毅、靠譜的沃夫拉姆。而女演員方面，要在凱特林·格靈（Kathrin G?ring）飾演的紅發(fā)維納斯與伊麗莎白·斯特里德（Elisabet Strid）飾演的形象健康的金發(fā)伊麗莎白二人之間挑選其一——標(biāo)準(zhǔn)純粹在于她們的嗓音。斯特里德明顯是贏家，她的演出豐富而立體；格靈本應(yīng)是個(gè)妖婦，卻顯得過(guò)分貞潔。

如果在神圣和褻瀆之間做出選擇是一種典型的困境，為什么這個(gè)抉擇顯得這么容易？維納斯的巢穴本應(yīng)代表著肉體的誘惑，但看起來(lái)卻無(wú)精打采。湯豪舍回歸至“純真”的場(chǎng)景中，一班兄弟用鮮紅的血液涂在他胸膛上，勾畫(huà)了一個(gè)十字架。這看起來(lái)有點(diǎn)像單身漢派對(duì)的玩意，也像異教徒的狩獵祭禮。真的，哪一方更有樂(lè)趣？

倘若比埃托營(yíng)造的景象——與瓦格納背道而馳的導(dǎo)演手法，令你懷疑他有沒(méi)有搞明白故事情節(jié)，這個(gè)制作中視覺(jué)轉(zhuǎn)換的節(jié)奏與現(xiàn)場(chǎng)音樂(lè)的演出從頭到尾都脫了節(jié)。無(wú)論如何，他有意無(wú)意地給了我一個(gè)念頭。我很少很少看罷一個(gè)歌劇制作后，寧愿它是一場(chǎng)“歌劇音樂(lè)會(huì)”。

So I'm behind the orchestra—really behind, sitting in the choir stalls—looking at the face of René Jacobs.I glance down at the tickets to remind myself that they really say “VIP seats.” People don't usually pay big bucks to look at the backs of 60 musicians. And nothing against Maestro Jacobs or his prowess on the podium, but I'd rather be facing Polina Pasztircsák and Olivia Vermeulen, the sopranos singing Donnas Anna and Elvira.

But at some point at the Shenzhen Concert Hall during the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra's concert performance ofDon Giovanni, the baritone Robert Gleadow (playing Leporello) runs to the back of the stage and starts directly addressing a woman a few seats over from me, making her part of the show.VIP seating, indeed.

Much has been written about opera in the concert hall—some of it by me—and by now few symphony orchestras of any stature will get through an entire season without dipping their toes at least once in the operatic pool. The reasons should be obvious. Too, obvious, perhaps. We're all so focused on listening to the music with such intensity,undistracted by sets and costumes, that if Leporello comes around and singles out someone in the audience who might be the Don's next conquest,it shocks you back into thinking what the story is really about.

Though I attended the Freiburg's appearance at Shenzhen's Belt and Road Festival on a last-minute impulse, I'd been hankering to see what they do with Mozart for some time. Back in 2016, Jacobs had generated some excitement in New York withIdomeneoat Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival.Most people outside of Europe, though, know his work with the Freiburg mostly from CD recordings(which pretty much by definition, fall under “concert opera”).

It's not surprising that Jacobs, a former countertenor, focuses so heavily on the singing. Nor is it a shock that, given his experience in early music,he's concerned with a piece's original intentions.Much of what we expect from Mozart—particularly tempos—is shaken under Jacobs's baton. The music often races at a clip, but never at the expense of the text. Sometimes it even seems to bask in the moment. When Johannes Weisser's Giovanni sang his “Champagne Aria,” the performance was more reflective that riotous.

At these tempos, sets and costumes would simply get in the way. If nothing else, the evening introduced the audience to a roster of European singers whose particular gifts would never be fully utilized in the largest opera houses. They were,throughout the cast, young, attractive and limber—both vocally, from Jacobs's musical pacing, and physically, from having to run frequently from one side of the stage to the other.

左、右：新加坡濱海藝術(shù)中心搬演的歌劇《畫(huà)皮》劇照

左、右：新加坡濱海藝術(shù)中心搬演的歌劇《畫(huà)皮》劇照

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A much different venture into “concert opera”took place in Singapore in late February whenPainted Skinappeared at the Esplanade's Huayi Festival of Chinese Arts. As a marked contrast to the opera's premiere last October in Shanghai, where director Yi Liming's production was something of a multimedia showcase, the Singapore performance was billed as “an opera in concert,” its projections limited to a single screen.

If nothing else, the experience brought home the idea that “concert opera” means different things in different musical cultures. InPainted Skin, costumes were certainly elaborate, props suitably minimal.If anything, Hao Weiya's through-composed opera seemed remarkably akin to traditionalxiqu, evoking the “one-table-two-chairs” aesthetic of Peking opera.

Further connections were enhanced by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, which instead of its usual placement in Western symphonic formation was spread across the concert stage in various stations much like musicians in traditional Chinese theatre. So too did Hao's score draw its own associations, delving into the playing techniques of traditional instruments while extending their distinctive timbres into the sound world of Berg and Webern (with echoes of Western horror films).

Compared with the Freiburg'sGiovanni, however,the fourth wall remained intact much longer. Mezzosoprano Dong Fang (as Scholar Wang), soprano Li Jingjing (as his wife) and the Peking opera performer Liu Zheng (as the ghost Gui Yan) generally stayed in their respective spaces, mingling even among themselves as little as the story and score required. Liu did have a few Leporello-like moments,reaching into the ironies of Wang Yuanfei's text with more obvious camp than Gleadow's hammy scene-stealing. And as inGiovanni, characters do eventually disappear into the seating area and interact with the audience.

But was this really a “concert opera” as we normally define it? I suspect that few people at the Esplanade felt that they were missing anything by merely attending a musical performance.

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A few weeks laterPainted Skinfound a kindred spirit, so to speak, inMadame White Snakeat the Hong Kong Arts Festival. Both operas were old fantasies of Chinese imagination modernized for contemporary audiences. Both tried to negotiate differences between Western and Chinese vocalism with extended passages of Schoenberg-likeSprechstimmeto simulate the effect of stylized Peking opera oration. (This was rather more complicated inMadame White Snake, given that Cerise Lim Jacobs's text was written and performed in English).

Both operas maintained a four-act structure,running about 100 minutes without intermission.And both made reference to gender-bending casting in both theatrical cultures, where men often play women's roles and vice-versa—the chief example here being countertenor (or as he prefers to be called, “male soprano”) Michael Maniaci as the green snake Xiao Qing, who bore the brunt of the atonal vocal lines as well.

歌劇《湯豪舍》第二幕，伊麗莎白·斯特里德的飾演伊麗莎白

There was, truth be told, much more stage movement in a single act of the “concert”P(pán)ainted Skinthan the whole ofMadame White Snake. Most of the stimulation came from director Michael Counts's visual design, an amalgam of lighting and animated projections that unfolded with great physical and expressive depth. While Jacobs modernizes the folk legend into a less judgmental interspecies romance, and Zhou's score moves from act to act with remarkable musical contrast—the opera was awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Music,making Zhou the first Chinese-born composer to win the award—it is Counts's visual design that truly merge music and text together.

左頁(yè)：歌劇《湯豪舍》第二幕場(chǎng)景

Would that we could say the same for Calixto Bieito's production ofTannh?user, which appeared in Hong Kong the week before. In his own way, the divisive director actually brought Hong Kong's opera community together. Critics, radio commentators and internet chatter alike united against Bieito's blatant disregard for Wagner's text and score. A letter to theSouth China Morning Postcalled for greater due diligence from the Hong Kong Arts Festival in its selections. Audiences voted with their feet, with a notable exodus at the interval.

This was a pity, not least because Ulf Schirmer led the Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Oper Leipzig Chorus in one of the most subtly idiomatic Wagner performances yet to reach this part of the world. On March 2 the performance reached nearseamless cohesion, with the orchestra focusing less on the shimmering surface than on the music's inner threads. Players practically breathed with the singers in matching the musical line.

As Tannh?user, Daniel Frank filled the stage less with sheer power than in pleasantly bright tone colour. Markus Eiche was a suitably sturdy and dependable Wolfram. As for the women, the choice between Kathrin G?ring's brunette Venus and Elisabet Strid's wholesomely blonde Elisabeth—both clad in near-identical spaghetti-strap dresses—became a purely vocal affair. Strid was the clear winner, with a rich, rounded performance in stark contrast to G?ring's surprisingly chaste temptress.

If choosing between the sacred and profane was such an archetypical dilemma, why did it seem so easy? Venus's lair, representing carnal temptation,was nearly lifeless, while Tannh?user's return to “purity” involved hanging out with the boys,smearing his chest with simulated blood in a cross between bachelor-party revelry and a pagan hunting ritual. Really, which side was having more fun?

If Bieito's images—so counter to Wagner's intentions—came across as having no grasp of the story, the visual pacing never connected to the evening's musical flow. The director did, however unintentionally, make a point. Rarely have I seen a staged production make such a clear case for opera in concert.

下：歌劇《湯豪舍》第二幕大合唱場(chǎng)景