希望在天際：迪拜歌劇院首席執(zhí)行官賈斯帕·霍普的世界觀

文：司馬勤（Ken Smith） 編譯：李正欣

從職業(yè)生涯規(guī)劃的角度來看，離開一個已建立超過百年的、規(guī)模龐大且歷史悠久的機構，單憑直覺轉(zhuǎn)職至一個“文化沙漠”中的新設施，有點不可思議?？墒?，經(jīng)過三年的光景及六百多場演出，賈斯帕· 霍普（Jaspar Hope）對于離開倫敦皇家阿爾伯特音樂廳（Royal Albert Hall），走進新建成的兩千座的迪拜歌劇院擔任其首位行政執(zhí)行官的這個決定，完全不后悔。其實，皇家阿爾伯特音樂廳多年來一直是古典音樂與商業(yè)項目兼容并蓄，將這個備受英國人愛戴的運營方式套用到迪拜歌劇院上，也是再好不過。迪拜除了本地人以外，還有不少來自世界各國旅居當?shù)氐娜巳海部伤闶且粋€國際舞臺。

同樣，霍普也擁有勝任迪拜歌劇院領導者的背景與關系。他出生于南非，父親是著名小說家克里斯托弗· 霍普（Christopher Hope）。年少的賈斯帕跟隨父母移居歐洲，母親后來擔任傳奇小提琴家兼指揮家耶胡迪·梅紐因（Yehudi Menuhin）的私人經(jīng)紀人?；羝盏男值苁切√崆偌遥ㄗ罱矒V指揮一職）丹尼爾· 霍普，丹尼爾也曾登上迪拜歌劇院舞臺獻藝。自迪拜歌劇院開門迎客來，從多明戈擔任主角的開幕盛典，到《悲慘世界》進駐劇院作三周巡演秀的每一場演出，都是連接迪拜與世界的橋梁。

雖然迪拜歌劇院是一個純粹的商業(yè)機構，這一點不需任何辯解——整座劇院由伊瑪爾房地產(chǎn)公司（Emaar Properties）建造及營運，毗鄰迪拜購物中心（Dubai Mall）。但盡管歌劇院是作為商業(yè)架構來運營，卻一點都沒有減少它的國際精神。霍普一到迪拜，就引進了BBC 逍遙音樂會到這個中東據(jù)點——該項目與他之前在皇家阿爾伯特音樂廳的工作關系密切，因此引進工作易如反掌。當然，他也費盡心思，關注迪拜的其他族群。比如，請來了以倫敦為基地的西塔琴高手安諾舒卡·香卡（Anoushka Shankar，拉維·香卡的女兒）登臺，服務于當?shù)氐挠《茸逡?；還邀請了百老匯大明星麗婭·薩隆加（Lea Salonga），靈感應當是來自迪拜的菲律賓居民。

至于策劃歌劇方面，霍普深知他的觀眾群可能是第一次看那些經(jīng)典劇目，因此他懷著開放的心態(tài)與國際精神，把眼光投放于歐洲這個音樂中心以外的“遠方”。上海歌劇院在迪拜做客的日子里，霍普騰出一段安靜的空當，詳細談到他從中國邀請到歌劇團隊作迪拜《圖蘭朵》首演的緣由。

你為何邀請上海歌劇院到迪拜歌劇院演出？

三年前，迪拜歌劇院舉行開幕盛典之后，我就希望引進一個《圖蘭朵》的制作?？上?，這是一個十分復雜的議題。首先，這部歌劇需要眾多演職人員的參與。老實說，這部歌劇在全世界有很多不同版本的制作，但它們都達不到我所要求的、值得把《圖蘭朵》首次帶上迪拜歌劇院舞臺的質(zhì)量。我花了很多時間，最終在上海歌劇院找到了我理想的合作伙伴。上海歌劇院的制作很棒，為迪拜歌劇院的第四個演出季拉開帷幕，真的再合適不過。

我猜，對你來講，請一家中國歌劇院來搬演一個講述中國故事的作品，具有絕佳的優(yōu)勢吧。

是的，我們成功地邀請一家中國歌劇院演出《圖蘭朵》，這點非常重要。但是，雖然這講述了一個中國故事，作曲家卻來自西方，所以這部作品從誕生之初就在東西方之間建立起了連接。再者，世界上還有哪個地方能比迪拜更合適來呈獻這個制作呢？起碼我們是這樣想的。迪拜剛好位于東西方之間，在絲綢之路上也剛好連接起歐洲與亞洲。

首演那天，歌劇院座無虛席。你們一直以來都擁有這么熱情的觀眾嗎？

《圖蘭朵》三場演出的票房都十分理想，我覺得很欣喜。每當你啟動一個新項目時，都無法預料到最后關頭，觀眾會不會踴躍購票，演出會不會深受歡迎。在過去的三年里，我們不懈努力，成功地建立起熱衷于西方歌劇的觀眾群。倘若《圖蘭朵》的首演當晚不是座無虛席，我才一定會感到驚訝。

你曾經(jīng)帶領過搬演世界級水平歌劇演出的劇院。請問，上海歌劇院的制作包含了什么元素，令你確信這是最適合迪拜觀眾群的《圖蘭朵》制作？

當我第一次在迪拜歌劇院里看到上海歌劇院的團隊進行排練時，有很多東西令我印象深刻。首先，歌劇制作的規(guī)模之大令人贊嘆——舞臺上有很多演員。除了演職人員的數(shù)量外，我覺得上海歌劇院版《圖蘭朵》所用的布景既簡單又漂亮。轉(zhuǎn)換場景時所用的投影效果，也確實增強了戲劇的敘事性。這是一個很聰明的處理手法，把復雜的劇情用簡單的方式陳述出來。我敢肯定，當?shù)习莸挠^眾首次欣賞這部歌劇時，他們會被這個制作的很多方面所吸引，更容易將情感投入于其中。在整個演出過程中，我的眼球被舞臺上的不同事物所吸引：投映的影像、色彩奪目的服裝，以及聚焦于舞臺上人物與布景的燈光設計。當然，你還有機會欣賞到普契尼那具有魔力的音樂，并沉浸于洪亮的歌聲之中。從視覺效果上來說，這個歌劇制作壯觀至極——那是最令我興奮的一點。

上海歌劇院版《圖蘭朵》在迪拜歌劇院首演那天，劇院座無虛席（攝影：蔣海瑛）

很明顯，這個合作關系需要很長的準備時間。這個過程是怎樣推進的？

我們雙方都進行了的多方面的努力。上海方面的團隊很早就來迪拜歌劇院進行了考察，大家討論劇目、研究歌劇演出多少場次才更適當；接著，我們探討運作的細節(jié)問題。去年，我也到訪了上海，除了在世界城市文化論壇講演外，我還與上海歌劇院進一步探討了巡演的各種事宜。整個過程當然復雜，但我必須聲明，有機會與上海歌劇院這個專業(yè)且具有多年巡演經(jīng)驗的團隊合作，我覺得很興奮。因為每當問題出現(xiàn)，都需要很大的信心與多年累積的經(jīng)驗，才能將這些問題順利化解。此次雙方的合作過程非常順暢，我們也希望為將來的合作奠定良好的工作關系。

迪拜歌劇院所策劃的劇目，除古典音樂外，還涉及不少商演項目。迄今為止，你們呈獻過多少部西方歌劇制作？

到現(xiàn)在為止，我記得應該是10 套歌劇。開幕大戲是《采珠人》，然后——我不太記得順序了——有《塞維利亞理發(fā)師》、莫扎特—達· 蓬特的經(jīng)典三部曲（《費加羅的婚禮》《唐喬瓦尼》《女人心》），隨后是《蝴蝶夫人》《波希米亞人》《卡門》《阿依達》，今年則是《圖蘭朵》。到訪的歌劇院團方面——沒有特別順序——我們曾經(jīng)請來波蘭國家歌劇院、威爾士國家歌劇院等。2020 年3 月，來自基輔的烏克蘭國家歌劇院將搬演《茶花女》。

迪拜歌劇院每年度搬演不同種類的演出，“西方歌劇”在演出季中扮演什么樣的角色？

對我們來講，歌劇所擔當?shù)慕巧e足輕重，盡管我們不可能以總量作為衡量標準。這里的觀眾很棒，他們是迪拜歌劇院的擁躉，踴躍參與我們搬演的各種節(jié)目中——不只是歌劇，還有芭蕾舞與古典音樂?？墒牵习莸娜丝跀?shù)量不足以支撐歌劇院只搬演歌劇，甚至在演出季中策劃一系列的歌劇制作。因此，我們在一年里只能主辦兩輪歌劇演出，每輪安排一兩套劇目——通常在二三月份，還有九月份。根據(jù)制作規(guī)模大小，平常來訪的歌劇院團都會帶上兩套作品。上海歌劇院此次帶來了兩個制作，另外的一部是舞劇《早春二月》。

啊，我想起來了，我們也演過《葉甫蓋尼·奧涅金》，所以《圖蘭朵》是迪拜歌劇院呈獻的第11 套歌劇。我必須重申，這里沒有龐大的觀眾群。我盼望將來有機會在甄選劇目方面增加一點冒險性。但請你不要忘記，這里的一切都是從零開始的。在迪拜歌劇院建成之前，這里沒有任何的劇院。直到今天，除了迪拜歌劇院，也沒有其他劇院。因此，我們只能從經(jīng)典作品開始，一步一步前進，這點毋庸置疑。

迪拜歌劇院到現(xiàn)在為止搬演歌劇的名單中，唯一欠缺的“經(jīng)典”是《托斯卡》。這是有意為之嗎？我知道，阿曼蘇丹國那里對宗教相當敏感，《托斯卡》因為含有天主教意象，因此不能在馬斯喀特皇家歌劇院演出。

迪拜是個伊斯蘭國家，當然在宗教問題方面也是有所避諱的。但是，我們正在籌備亨德爾的《彌賽亞》今年年底在歌劇院的演出。這個地方對歐洲文化十分包容。我在這里雖然沒有住上很多年，但根據(jù)我有限的親身經(jīng)驗，無論什么類型的文化，在迪拜都同樣受歡迎。這個情況與中東的其他國家不一樣。在這里，演出一部具有普世文化、含有宗教意味、流傳幾百年的音樂經(jīng)典，完全不是問題。

誰會來演出亨德爾這部清唱劇？

我們將合并幾個團隊。這幾年，我們一直在支持迪拜本地的合唱團：當年BBC 逍遙音樂會到訪迪拜，我們便成立了迪拜歌劇院節(jié)日合唱團參與演出。合唱團曾兩次到訪倫敦，因為我們很想演唱更大規(guī)模的曲目。今年，我們再次參加了BBC 逍遙音樂會，演出貝多芬的《第九交響曲》。可以說，這里已經(jīng)有屬于我們自己的合唱團了。至于樂團方面，今年12月的第一周，歌劇院將請來圣彼得堡的《胡桃夾子》。芭蕾舞演罷，我們會先把舞者送回去，讓樂團留下來。今年，我們的觀眾有機會觀看亨德爾與柴可夫斯基兩位偉大作曲家的“節(jié)日經(jīng)典”。

你率先成立合唱團，這是一個頗費心思的策略。你有沒有考慮過，為迪拜歌劇院建立其他演出團隊？

沒有。這不是因為我不想建立其他團隊。你也明白，要建立演出團隊，需要很多成熟的外在因素，這些都是我無法控制的。比如說，迪拜沒有音樂學院——這里的音樂教育水平與其他國家不一樣，包括業(yè)余音樂活動。情況是否有機會改變？我當然希望有所改善；建立歌劇院是為了推動藝術生活嗎？絕對是；我們已經(jīng)開始著手改變了嗎？剛才我已經(jīng)提到過歌劇院的節(jié)日合唱團了；未來可以建立樂團嗎？我不知道，但這個過程只能循序漸進。如果有人創(chuàng)辦了音樂學校，我們就可以進一步推出我們的計劃。我不愿意刻意地“買”一個樂團，把它引進迪拜，因為這種情況對于本地所需的文化發(fā)展無法起到推動作用。我們或許可以建立與某些演出團隊的合作關系，這類合作的可行性當然值得探索。但對于我來說，讓一切有機地成長與發(fā)展才是最關鍵所在。

我們剛才討論到迪拜歌劇院觀眾群的數(shù)量。那么，觀眾的素質(zhì)又如何？

觀眾群的來源很廣。來看歌劇演出的觀眾，很有可能比看其他劇目的穿得更時髦，但都是同一批人。你會碰到企業(yè)管理層人士，還有很多專業(yè)人士，他們來自世界各地，都非常國際化。有些人是聽說了迪拜歌劇院，好奇這里所呈獻的演出，于是親自到來看個究竟。迪拜的人口流動性很大，新居民會陸續(xù)到來，因此我們從不欠缺有心參與迪拜文化節(jié)目的、眼光獨到的新觀眾群?？锤鑴〉臅r候，你會發(fā)覺人群中沒有那些經(jīng)驗豐富的歌劇迷。很多人——或者屬于大部分——未必熟知歌劇的故事情節(jié)。他們可能知道“今夜無人入睡”，但對于歌劇的其他細節(jié)比較陌生。有些人甚至不知道這部歌劇分為三幕，發(fā)現(xiàn)有兩次中場休息時會感到驚訝。但我不覺得這些是問題。我希望他們享受看歌劇的整個過程。如果這是他們的第一次，那就再好不過了。

迪拜歌劇院夜景

上海歌劇院此次到訪迪拜，還帶來了一部原創(chuàng)舞劇《早春二月》（攝影：蔣海瑛）

It was perhaps not the most intuitive career move,forsaking a long-established institution for a start-up in the cultural desert, but after three years and some 600 performances, Jasper Hope sill has no misgivings in leaving London’s Royal Albert Hall to become the inaugural CEO of the 2,000-seat Dubai Opera House.If anything, the mix of classical and populist offerings that made the RAH so beloved in British culture was precisely the right card to play in Dubai, where the territory’s particular mix of local residents and cosmopolitan work force is getting its first taste of the international stage.

Hope certainly came with the right background and connections for the job. Born in South Africa the son of novelist Christopher Hope, the young Jasper made his way to Europe with his family, his mother eventually becoming the personal manager of legendary violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin. His brother, the violinist (and recently turned conductor) Daniel Hope,has lately been known to grace the Dubai Opera stage.From its opening in 2016, each evening at the Dubai Opera, from Plácido Domingo’s opening gala to a three-week run ofLes Misérables, has become not just a performance but a way of linking Dubai with the rest of the world.

Though the Dubai Opera is an unapologetically commercial venture—the facility was built and managed by the real estate developer Emaar Properties and is located next to the Dubai Mall—its mercantilist nature in no way dilutes its internationalist spirit. For Hope, his early step in setting up an Arabian outpost of the BBC Proms—a key part of his old job at the RAH—was simply picking the proverbial lowhanging fruit. A more thoughtful look at Dubai’s population has led to such bookings as the Londonbased sitar virtuoso Anoushka Shankar (daughter of Ravi Shankar), giving a nod to the territory’s Indian residents, and Broadway star Lea Salonga, inspired by Dubai’s Filipino community.

When it comes to presenting opera, though, Hope iswell aware that much of his audience will be seeing the work for the first time. That openness, combined with Hope’s expanding internationalist spirit, has brought him to look well beyond the obvious European capitals. In a quiet moment during the Shanghai Opera House’s recent residency in Dubai, Hope explains why he looked to China for the territory’s first Turandot.

How did you come to invite the Shanghai Opera House to Dubai?

I’ve wanted to do a production of Turandot ever since opening Dubai Opera three years ago, but it’s a very complicated show. The opera requires a lot of people, and to be perfectly honest there are many productions around the world which aren’t of the right quality for me to bring Turandot to the stage in Dubai for the very first time. It took me a while, but eventually I found the right partners in the Shanghai Opera House. They had a fantastic production, which was also quite suitable to open our fourth season.

It is, I suppose, quite an advantage for you to be presenting a Chinese story done by a Chinese opera company.

Yes, I think it’s extremely important that we’re having a Chinese opera company do Turandot. But although the story is Chinese, the composer was Western, so the piece already has a link between East and West.And where better—at least we think—to present that production than in Dubai? Right in the middle,somewhere on the Silk Road between Europe and Asia.

There was a substantial turnout for opening night.Has the response here always been like that here?

I was delighted with the audience we had for all three nights of this production. You never know when you start out whether something will be popular or not, but for three years we’ve built a fabulous audience for Western opera. I would’ve been surprised on opening night to find an empty seat in the house.

迪拜歌劇院方面對此次上海歌劇院的演出劇目所做的宣傳

You’ve worked in many places where operatic standards are world-class. What was it about the Shanghai Opera House’s production that convinced you that this was the right Turandot for your audience?

When I first saw this production in rehearsal, many things struck me. First of all, the scale of it is fantastic:There are so many people on stage. But apart from the sheer numbers, what struck me was that the set itself is actually quite simple and beautiful. The use of projections to keep the scene visually interesting also helps in telling the story. It’s a very clever device that presents a complicated story in a simple way. I’m sure Dubai audiences, when they saw this opera forthe first time, were completely taken in. All the way through, my eyes kept being drawn to different things:the projections, the colors of the costumes, the way the lighting design works to illuminate everything on stage. Of course, you get Puccini’s magical music and the singing, but visually it’s just an enormous spectacle. That’s what I was most excited about.

Clearly it took a long time to plan a collaboration like this. What was the process like?

It took a great deal of effort on both sides. The Shanghai team conducted a very extensive visit a long time ago to discuss repertory and how many performances there should be. Then we began the logistical discussions. I visited Shanghai last year, not only to speak at the World Cities Culture Forum but also to continue discussions with the company. The process was complicated, but I have to say that it was a pleasure to work with such a professional company that had this much history with touring. Whenever you run into problems, you need a good deal of confidence and experience to solve them. It was a fantastic collaboration and we hope to have a successful relationship in the future

You have a very broad mix of classical music and commercial events at the Dubai Opera House. How many Western operas have you presented?

I believe it’s 10 so far. We opened withThe Pearl Fishers, and then—I don’t quite remember the order—there was alsoThe Barber of Seville, the three Mozart-Da Ponte operas [The Marriage of Figaro,Don GiovanniandCosì fan tutte],Madame Butterfly,La Bohème,Carmen, Aida, and nowTurandot. In terms of companies—again, in no particular order—we’ve had the Polish National Opera, the Welsh National Opera,and coming up in March we have a production ofLa Traviatafrom the Ukrainian National Opera in Kiev.

So in the mix of everything you present here, whatrole would you say Western opera holds?

We find it tremendously important, though not necessarily in terms of volume. The audience here is great and supportive. They come to see everything we offer—not just opera but also ballet and classical music.But there’s simply not enough of a population in Dubai for us to do only opera, or even a full opera series every season. So it tends to be one or two titles, a couple of times a year—usually in February or March, and again in September. Depending on the size of the production,we usually have two titles per company. The Shanghai Opera House did two productions, of course, but one of them was the dance pieceEarly Spring.

Ah, I just remembered—we’ve also doneEugene Onegin, soTurandotis our 11thopera. Again, I have a small audience. I hope we’ll all get more adventurous in time, but we started from nothing. There was no theatre here before, and there’s still nothing else now.The way we want to proceed, I make no bones about it, is to start with the classics.

The only big omission I see on your list so far is Tosca. Was that a conscious decision? I recall that the show’s Catholic imagery had been a barrier at the Royal Opera House in Muscat because of the religious sensitivities in Oman.

Of course, we’re in a Muslim country, and there are sensitivities. But that said, we have Handel’sMessiahcoming later this year. We have European standards of tolerance. In my limited experience here, I’ve found that Dubai welcomes everything. Other countries in the region are different, but here the idea that you can’t perform a famous piece of sacred music that’s been part of the broader culture around the world for hundreds of years is simply not an issue.

Who will you have performing Handel?

It’s a mix of forces. There’s a local chorus we’ve been supporting: the Dubai Opera Festival Chorus,that I started with the BBC Proms performances here.This year for the Proms we did Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. So we have the chorus already. For the orchestra, we have a production ofThe Nutcrackercoming from St. Petersburg in the first week of December. At the end of that run, I’m sending the dance company home but keeping the orchestra. So this year, our audiences will get the usual holiday double bill of Handel and Tchaikovsky.

霍普表示，上海歌劇院是一個專業(yè)且具有多年巡演經(jīng)驗的團隊（攝影：蔣海瑛）

It is interesting that you started with a chorus.Have you thought about developing other resident companies under Dubai Opera House?

No, but not because I wouldn’t want that to happen.As you know, in order to develop things like that we would need a lot of other things in place that are way beyond my control. We don’t have a conservatory in this country, for one thing. We don’t have the same standards of musical education, even at the amateur level. Will that change? Yes, I hope so. Is the purpose of an opera house here in part to inspire some of these things? Absolutely. Have we started? Yes, with the chorus I just mentioned. Can we eventually do an orchestra? I don’t know, but the process is one of stages. If someone establishes a music school then we can start to put more of our ideas in place. I don’t want to just buy an orchestra and import it. That would not be developing what we need locally. We could establish something like that as a partnership, and there are certainly some options in that regard we could look at. But for me, it’s important develop things like this organically.

We were discussing the size of the audience a few minutes ago, but what about the quality? What are they like?

We have all kinds. The opera audience is likely to dress a bit smarter, but it will largely be the same people. You have the usual corporate types,mostly professional people, and predominantly an international population. And then you have people who’ve heard about us and what’s going on here and think, well, let’s give it a go. In that way, the transient nature of Dubai often helps us, because you always have people coming in and looking with fresh eyes at what the city has to offer. What you willnotsee is a hugely experienced opera audience. Many of them—perhaps most—will not know the story. They might knowNessun Dorma, but they won’t know the rest of the music. Some of them might be surprised to find there are two intervals. But I don’t have a problem with that. I want them to enjoy the experience. And if it’s their first time…well, that’s even better.