黑與“藍”：槍管里的兩部讓人沉思的歌劇

司馬勤

當涉及大眾關注的熱門話題時，歌劇往往不及其他藝術門類。常規(guī)歌劇劇目大多改編自早已存在的小說或話劇劇本（盡管近幾十年來范疇有所擴大，包含電影甚至電視劇劇本），但你要知道，歌劇最原始素材的根源，都是大家熟悉的故事。古希臘神話就是早期歌劇的最愛。

所以，倘若我提議，要了解最近美國各地掀起的反對警察暴力執(zhí)法的示威活動，你只要去看看歌劇就會找到時事熱點，你肯定會感到驚訝。

去年7月中旬至8月中旬，紐約州北部的格里莫格拉斯歌劇節(jié)（Glimmerglass Festival）呈獻了一部由珍妮·特索里（Jeanine Tesori）與塔茲韋爾·湯普森（Tazewell Thompson）創(chuàng)作的新歌劇《藍》（Blue）。多年來，呈現(xiàn)在歌劇舞臺上聚焦美國黑人社群的代表作品中，《波吉與貝絲》（Porgy and Bess）是唯一一部需要規(guī)定，必須在常規(guī)制作中聘請黑人演員的劇目，而黑人群體長期以來也不斷批評《波吉與貝絲》中的情節(jié)其實跟他們的日常生活經歷毫不相干。

格里莫格拉斯歌劇節(jié)的出發(fā)點，就是改變這個狀況。接到委約的特索里與湯普森肩負使命，致力挖掘出黑人生活中最大的焦慮點，他們找到的主題就是——死亡。故事發(fā)生在紐約市哈林區(qū)，焦點放在一宗警察槍殺手無寸鐵的黑人少年的案件上。

特索里與湯普森兩位都是戲劇界的資深藝術家，兩人所編排出的故事絕不會簡單。劇中呈現(xiàn)的情節(jié)十分鮮明：被害者的父親是一名黑人警察（他穿著藍色警服，歌劇題目正取自于此），開槍的警員是父親的同僚（我們猜他是白種人）。故事中描述的場景細膩之至，令人驚嘆。

格什溫兄弟當年準備《波吉》，專門跑到查爾斯頓（Charleston）實地考察，汲取富有當?shù)厣实纳钆c方言等養(yǎng)分。畢竟，查爾斯頓這個地方跟格什溫兄弟的生活背景沒有任何連接點?！端{》的編劇湯普森同樣花了很多時間，接觸自己平常生活中沒有遇到過的群體——尤其是黑人警察。在廣大的黑人群體中，某些黑人警察幾經辛苦贏得信任，卻又有某些人會引起自己族群的猜疑?！端{》的大部分橋段源自創(chuàng)作者的個人經驗，包括湯普森曾經被警察誤以為是疑犯（他們將湯普森誤認為另一個黑人）所惹來的麻煩。

歌劇中有一個場次牽涉重要“談話”——正是父親教導兒子在公眾場合要檢點自己的行為，尤其是當有警察在場時。（“我應該做什么？”到處都看到社會不公正的兒子問道?！盎钪蔷褪悄阋龅摹?，父親脫口而出。）其他文獻中也曾經描述過這類場景，包括詹姆斯·鮑德溫（James Baldwin）撰寫的《給侄兒的信》（Letter to My Nephew）與塔尼希西·科茨（Ta-Nehisi Coates）近年出版的《在世界與我之間》（Between the World and Me），同樣的橋段都經過精心磨光、帶有文學氣質。湯普森訪問過很多黑人家長，他們每一個人都曾經歷過這類重要“談話”。湯普森自己年少時候，跟他“談話”的長輩，是巴爾的摩修道院學校的老師。

《藍》里面的角色，沒有一個人可以簡單地歸納為某種典型。兒子是一位優(yōu)秀的學生，有藝術天賦，才華橫溢，洞悉社會里的不公，對政治有熱誠，卻又因為疼愛他的父親代表著壓迫族群的社會力量而心里覺得慚愧。在父母的眼中，宗教領袖一方面是解決問題的人選，但也是惹起麻煩的部分原因（我在此要特別強調一下，特索里與湯普森在天主教氛圍中長大）。

很不幸，歌劇中展示道德上的模棱兩可的不確定性，與歌劇的未來演出同樣前途未卜?！端{》在格里莫格拉斯歌劇節(jié)的世界首演大獲成功，被譽為“出色的音樂作品”，社會評論引發(fā)熱議，還贏得了北美樂評論家協(xié)會“最佳新歌劇”大獎。然而，原本定好在華盛頓、紐約市與芝加哥——爆發(fā)抗議警察暴力執(zhí)法示威游行的重點城市——的演出場次，因新冠疫情全都取消了。

目前，公眾只可以在格里莫格拉斯歌劇節(jié)的官網上觀賞《藍》的一些片段，或者參考古根海姆博物館“作品與過程”（Works and Process）講座的視頻（包括主創(chuàng)的一些具有啟發(fā)性的精彩討論）。這部歌劇在今天的社會最為及時，真的盼望有機會在網絡上播放。

***

《藍》這部歌劇仔細地探索了很多無法找到確定答案的問題。我擔心的是一個凌駕于一切之上的更大問題——美國俚語稱之為“房間里的大象”（the elephant in the room，意思是一些非常顯而易見的可卻一直被忽略的問題）——好像被忽視了：美國人對于槍械與暴力所抱有的執(zhí)念從何而來？我們現(xiàn)在可能無法在歌劇院找到答案，幸好，我們還有陸續(xù)發(fā)行的歌劇錄音新唱片。

最近，我在家里的郵箱翻出了《溫徹斯特》（Inheritance）的錄音。這是中國出生的作曲家梁雷與美國編劇馬特·多諾萬（Matt Donovan）的室內歌劇。故事主角是莎拉·溫徹斯特（Sarah Winchester，1839～1922），美國顯赫一時的槍械商的后裔。溫徹斯特家族的大宅位于加州圣何塞，到了今天，還有很多人好奇地到那里游覽。溫徹斯特女士[由作曲家梁雷任職的加州大學圣迭戈分校的同事，女高音蘇珊·納魯基（Susan Narucki）扮演]在公眾的眼中富有傳奇性，當年盛傳她深信因家族槍支生意的興起而帶來了因果報應。在這部歌劇里，經常有一個“鬼魂三重唱組”徘徊在她身邊。

如果說《藍》的故事與現(xiàn)實相關聯(lián)，《溫徹斯特》發(fā)展的方向就超越了人世間，因為女主人公時時刻刻都要避開那些用她的姓氏命名的槍械弄死的“亡魂”?！端{》的時間線循序漸進，盡管有時候會跳躍得很快；《溫徹斯特》的不同場景卻在過去和現(xiàn)在之間自由地切換。《藍》的劇本是以一連串精心設計的具有戲劇性的對話展開；而《溫徹斯特》的文本卻在模糊敘事背景的同時，種下了富有詩意、耐人尋味的種子（尤其當女主人公問道：“當你的姓氏就是你想躲避的武器的名字，你該如何去贖罪？”）。

從音樂角度來看，特索里譜寫的樂段顯然是從性格和情境的交集中萌生出來的，即使在最棘手的戲劇沖突中，其不斷的抒情也讓人聯(lián)想到音樂劇。相比之下，梁雷的風格很不同，他把焦點放在了節(jié)奏上，也許他利用節(jié)奏來借喻重復的槍聲。整部歌劇的音樂架構跟溫徹斯特大宅有關：13這個數(shù)字隱喻著大宅的13個圓屋頂以及13個臺階（基本上跟中國人因迷信而避開第四層樓相同）。偶爾的微調傳達出一種明顯的超凡脫俗感，時不時會有一段即興性的旋律從某種走向突然轉向另一個方向，這或許反映了溫徹斯特大宅里為了“迷惑鬼魂”而設計的假樓梯與蜿蜒的走廊有關。

雖然兩部歌劇的戲劇與音樂語言有著明顯的差異，但《藍》和《溫徹斯特》都有著共同之處，就是神話般的底蘊。梁雷或許更明顯地運用了形而上學；特索里在古根海姆的講座里承認，她跟湯普森創(chuàng)作《藍》的時候，刻意借鑒了古希臘悲劇中那些命運女神的故事：從每一個人出生時起，命運女神就主宰了他的命運。這兩部歌劇還有一個雷同的地方，它們都受古典戲劇的影響：兩部歌劇都將死亡保持在舞臺之外。

歸根結底，《溫徹斯特》并沒有提供解決槍械與暴力的方案，如同《藍》在最后也沒有找到化解種族沖突的靈藥。但是，兩部歌劇都讓我們更深層地考慮那些潛在問題。還記得約翰·亞當斯（John Adams）與彼得·塞拉斯（Peter Sellars）創(chuàng)作的《原子博士》（Doctor Atomic）——一部描述原子彈研發(fā)的歌劇嗎？科技發(fā)展促使《原子博士》里的人物被心中的陰影所纏繞——甚至質疑自己有沒有失去最基本的人性——《藍》與《溫徹斯特》劇中人所面對的心魔同樣引起我們的憐憫。

也許莎拉·溫徹斯特認為自己被“鬼魂”困擾的問題并非是她失去了理智，而是因為整個世界對于她的家族制造的、具有殺傷力的產品越來越瘋狂癡迷。而她，是唯一剩下理智的人。

When it comes to hot topics， opera is rarely ahead of the curve. Most shows in the repertory were adapted either from pre-existing novels or spoken drama （works in recent decades have added films and even TV shows to the list）. The very roots of opera， in fact， lay in adapting stories people already knew. Greek myths were an early favorite.

So it may surprise those who were blindsided by the recent protests against police violence across the United States that all they had to do to see the problem coming was to go to the opera.

Last year from mid-July through mid-August， the Glimmerglass Festival in upstate New York presented the world premiere of Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompsons opera Blue. Americas black community has long been represented on the opera stage primarily by Porgy and Bess， the only show in standard repertory that specifically mandates a black cast and yet one that black Americans have long claimed has little to do with their daily lives.

Glimmerglass set out to change that. Charged with their mission， Tesori and Thompson began exploring the deepest concerns of black life and found…death. Setting their story in Harlem， they focused on an unarmed black teenager killed by a police officer.

Of course， since Tesori and Thompson both have impeccable theatrical credentials， the story isnt that simple. Rarely have the stakes been painted so starkly： The victims father is a black police officer （his uniform being the “blue” of the title）， his killer a colleague of his fathers （we assume he is white）. And yet， rarely has the rest of picture been so finely shaded.

As with Porgy， which brought the Gershwins to Charleston to absorb the flavor of a life and verbal dialect much removed from their own， Thompson spent time with people he didnt usually encounter—particularly black policemen， whose standing in the greater black community variously ran from hard-earned trust to active mistrust. Much of Blue， though， came from personal experience， not least of which being Thompsons own run-in with policemen whod confused him with another black man.

The opera also has “the talk”—a scene where the father tells his son how to act in public， especially where policemen are concerned. （“What am I supposed to do？” the son asks， seeing injustice everywhere. “Stay alive， thats what youre supposed to do，” the father erupts.） Thompson had a fine array of literary precedents， from James Baldwins“Letter to My Nephew” to Ta-Nehisi Coatess more recent Between the World and Me. But those were just nicely polished versions of the discussions that every black parent Thompson interviewed had with their kids. Thompson himself got “the talk” from teachers at his convent school in Baltimore.

Appropriately enough， none of the characters in Blue fits into convenient categories. The son is a fine student and talented artist， yet socially conscious and politically motivated， tremendously embarrassed that his loving father also represents the forces of oppression. For his parents， religious leaders become not just part of the solution but also much of the problem （for the record， both Tesori and Thompson were raised as Roman Catholics）.

Unfortunately， the operas moral ambiguity also mirrors its murky future. Despite being heralded at Glimmerglass as both a fine musical work and a striking piece of social commentary， handily winning Best New Opera from the Music Critics Association of North America in June， subsequent runs in Washington DC， New York and Chicago—all prominent centers of anti-police protests—were cancelled because of the Covid pandemic.

Currently， Blue exists only in brief excerpts on the Glimmerglass website and in a preview event recorded at the Guggenheim Museums Works and Process series， which also includes illuminating discussions with the creators. At a time when this opera has become more timely than ever， the best we can hope for is to find it somewhere available for streaming.

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So many questions in Blue were deftly explored with no definitive answer that it made me realize that the biggest issue of all—the elephant in the room， as we say in America—was barely mentioned： Where did America get its fundamental obsession with guns and violence？ We might not find the answer right now in the opera house， but fortunately new recordings continue unabated.

Recently I found in my mailbox a copy of Inheritance， a new chamber opera by the Chineseborn composer Lei Liang and American librettist Matt Donovan. It concerns Sarah Winchester（1839–1922）， the real-life firearms heiress whose mansion in San Jose， California remains a popular if quirky tourist attraction. Winchester （played here by soprano Susan Narucki， a colleague of the composer at the University of California， San Diego） also loomed large in the public imagination， famously believing she was cursed by bad karma from source of the family fortune. In the opera， she is often flanked by a trio of ghosts.

If Blue traffics in palpable reality， Inheritance ventures in unearthly directions， with Winchester constantly trying to elude the spirits of those killed by the rifles that bear her family name. Where Blue follows a conventional timeframe， albeit with significant leaps in time， Inheritance freely alternates scenes between past and present. The libretto of Blue unfolds as a series of well-calibrated dramatic conversations， whereas the text of Inheritance plants poetically evocative seeds （“How to atone，” the heiress asks， “when your name is the same as the weapon you hide from？”） while blurring the narrative ground.

Musically， Tesoris score clearly germinates from an intersection of character and situation， its constant lyricism reminiscent of musical theatre even during its thorniest dramatic moments. Liangs score， by contrast， concerns itself primarily with rhythm， inspired perhaps by repeating rifle shots. Much of musics structure derives from the Winchester mansion itself， with a recurring use of the number 13 representing the mansions 13 cupolas and 13 steps（making it essentially the American equivalent of a Chinese four-story house）. Occasional microtones convey a palpable otherworldliness， and every so often a melodic riff will point one way and veer another， perhaps reflecting the Winchester mansions false staircases and winding corridors designed “to confuse the spirits.”

Despite their stark differences in dramatic and musical language， Blue and Inheritance both share a certain mythic underpinning. Liang may wield his metaphysics more overtly， but even Tesori admitted in her Guggenheim talk that she and Thompson fashioned Blue in the spirit of the Fates， the goddesses of Greek tragedy who predetermined a persons destiny at birth. And regarding another classic theatrical influence， both operas keep their deaths off stage.

Ultimately， Inheritance doesnt answer questions about guns and violence any better than Blue solves racial conflicts， but both make you ponder the underlying problems in greater depth. Not since Doctor Atomic， John Adams and Peter Sellarsoperatic account of the making and testing of the first atomic bomb， have operatic characters been so haunted—or had their humanity so called into question—by technological advancement.

Perhaps Sarah Winchesters underlying problem in thinking shes haunted by ghosts is not that shes going mad but rather， in a world that becomes so obsessed with her familys products， shes the only sane one left.