圣達菲瓦格納協(xié)會：一條承載著偉大作曲家的小船

司馬勤

從2013 年起，我就知道圣達菲歌劇院“瓦格納協(xié)會”的存在。當年我聽說這個組織正籌備委托制作《指環(huán)》的續(xù)集。事實上，他們只招攬作者提供一個100 字左右的場景描述，以構(gòu)想出尼伯龍根家族的首領(lǐng)、指環(huán)的名義守護者、瓦格納傳奇上：圣達菲歌劇院上演的《特里斯坦與伊索爾德》劇照右頁：湯姆和洋子成立了圣達菲瓦格納協(xié)會，夫婦二人2022 年7 月在圣達菲歌劇院（圖片由亞瑟洋子提供）四部曲結(jié)尾最后一個角色——阿爾貝里希（Alberich）在《指環(huán)》故事結(jié)束之后的遭遇。提交的作品將由一個專業(yè)的歌劇團隊進行評判。我輸了這場比稿，但在比賽過程中我遇上了一對可愛的“怪人”。

大約十年前，湯姆· 亞瑟（Tom Arthur）和妻子洋子（Yoko）搬到圣達菲后不久，成立了瓦格納協(xié)會的圣達菲分會。盡管新墨西哥州氣候干旱，但這里博物館眾多，室內(nèi)音樂節(jié)舉世聞名，還擁有世界級的歌劇院，在文化上可不是一片“沙漠”。然而，圣達菲歌劇院長期以來一直追捧著理查· 施特勞斯的作品，瓦格納作品的上演卻明顯不足。亞瑟夫婦的目標，就是糾正這一狀況。

在成立的初期，該協(xié)會將大部分時間用于放映來自世界各地的瓦格納作品的視頻，并吸引知名的專業(yè)研究瓦格納的人士進行公開演講。不久之后，湯姆和洋子——他們自己也是慕尼黑、柏林和維也納的?？汀烷_始帶著小旅游團前往歐洲著名的歌劇院進行現(xiàn)場觀摩。當世界各地的大部分演出場所因新冠疫情關(guān)閉時，他們也開始著手自己制作小型音樂會。

但當圣達菲歌劇院宣布他們將推出《特里斯坦與伊索爾德》——這是30 年以來該歌劇院自己的第一部瓦格納歌劇制作，也是其歷史上上演的第二部瓦格納作品——亞瑟夫婦幾乎沒時間為此慶祝。相反，因為要把這個家庭式的運營模式提升至瓦格納協(xié)會為瓦格納作品演出籌集資金的傳統(tǒng)，他們的工作比以往任何時候都多。

8 月，我在圣達菲時，唯一有空檔的日子是《特里斯坦》演出的第二天的白天。洋子邀請我與一位特別嘉賓共進午餐——男低音埃里克· 歐文斯（EricOwens），他前一晚在臺上飾演了馬克國王。很多演員在下一場演出之前已經(jīng)逃離了圣達菲這個小鎮(zhèn)，但由于埃里克花了很長時間才適應了山區(qū)的海拔和高原反應，為了不影響之后的演出，他只得乖乖地留在那里。

《特里斯坦》顯然在一開始的討論中占據(jù)了主導地位，不僅是其卓越的演員陣容，還包括交響樂團的表演?！拔覔臉肥謧儠X得很吃力，”洋子說，“他們不習慣連續(xù)演奏超過三個小時。但我注意到，在幕間休息時，有些人會練習下一幕的音樂片段。他們一定已經(jīng)筋疲力盡了，但他們難掩激動之情?！?/p>

埃里克則從歌手的角度稱贊了樂隊，認為他們?yōu)檠莩龅某晒﹀\上添花。他承認，有一次一位演員同伴錯過了一次聲樂的過門，但由于交響樂團的演奏十拿九穩(wěn)令人佩服，除了熟知該制作的人外，很少有觀眾注意到這一點。

這一切都很好，但我想更深入地研究協(xié)會的早期歷史，特別是關(guān)于亞瑟夫婦如何以及何時決定將他們對瓦格納的熱情公之于眾。埃里克認識他們倆十多年了，想必他以前應該聽過這一段往事，他對再次聽到這一切興致盎然。

湯姆和洋子從華盛頓特區(qū)遷居后不久就成立了他們的圣達菲組織，洋子曾在華盛頓特區(qū)與專門從事古樂風格的法拉耶特歌劇院（Opera Lafayette）合作。“我負責運營，所以我總是那個必須解決問題的人，”她說，“而湯姆曾是華盛頓特區(qū)的瓦格納協(xié)會成員……”

“所以，我學會了不該做什么?！睖凡逶挼溃笆紫?，這意味著他們不會邀請音樂學家去照本宣科地朗讀學術(shù)論文。從一開始，我們就決定只邀請演員、指揮家和那些積極參與瓦格納作品中的人來跟我們分享他們的心得。我們首次請來一位學者發(fā)言，效果令人遺憾?！彼芙^透露這位教授的名字，“但是，本年夏季一位已退休的公爵大學教授，布萊恩 · 基里恩（Bryan Gilliam） 為我們的講演精彩之極?！?/p>

然而，洋子很高興地詳細討論了她早期的冒險經(jīng)歷?？催^西蒙· 拉特爾（Simon Rattle）在維也納國家歌劇院（Vienna State Opera）指揮的《指環(huán)》之后，她駐足在劇院的數(shù)字媒體辦公室外，直到遇到了相關(guān)負責人。“他不僅立即答應我們的請求，更給我們通過聯(lián)邦快遞寄送了相關(guān)視頻，還在單獨的閃存驅(qū)動器中提供了該制作的德文和英文字幕。”

雖然他們已經(jīng)與當?shù)匾凰髮W的一家小型電影院做好了放映該視頻的準備，但當電腦系統(tǒng)無法讀取文件時，亞瑟夫婦陷入了困境?！笆聦嵶C明，蘋果電腦的相關(guān)軟件無法處理日耳曼語的元音變音符號?！毖笞诱f，“《萊茵的黃金》和《齊格弗里德》都很好，但《女武神》和《眾神的黃昏》完全不行，我不得不四處打聽，尋找能夠放映的設備?！?/p>

“洋子，為什么只談論出了差錯的事情呢？”湯姆困惑地問道。

“因為那些都是我必須解決的問題，”洋子笑著說，“總而言之，圣達菲歌劇院的字幕組真是太棒了?！毖笞诱宫F(xiàn)了她強大的說服力，技術(shù)人員們將字幕與樂譜同步，并將文本投射到字幕屏幕上。她補充道：“他們在遮光簾后面坐了15 個小時，其間手動操作運行每一條字幕?！?/p>

雖然圣達菲瓦格納協(xié)會不能收取觀看制作錄像的入場費——這是維也納國家歌劇院的一項規(guī)定——但他們可以接受捐款。洋子仔細觀察了現(xiàn)場觀眾的反應。“有些人帶著他們的孩子，”她回憶道，“幾個十幾歲的女孩迷上了男中音托馬斯· 科尼奇尼（Tomasz Konieczny）。原本我們預計這些少女會在《女武神》某段過后便離開，但她們說：‘他太可愛了！并一直留在了那里?！?/p>

盡管他們的瓦格納協(xié)會活動開始吸引越來越多的人，但亞瑟夫婦從未將他們的社交圈納入一個正式的架構(gòu)——這在世界各地的瓦格納協(xié)會中是罕見的。“這個鎮(zhèn)上到處都是非營利組織，”洋子解釋道，“而我的理論一直是‘永遠不要變成它們其中的一員?！彼麄儌z選擇了讓瓦格納協(xié)會與當?shù)匾粋€名為“圣達菲演藝”（Performance Santa Fe）的組織（音樂和舞蹈表演機構(gòu)）達成協(xié)議，由圣達菲演藝處理瓦格納協(xié)會的財政事務，只收取少量管理費。

“這讓我們省去了很多額外的工作，”洋子說，尤其是當他們開始在所居住社區(qū)的私人會所舉辦小型室內(nèi)演出時，“我們的小音樂會可以容納100 個人，但我們自己負擔不起責任保險。這樣我們就可以專注于項目本身。”

就在亞瑟夫婦開始落實與瓦格納有關(guān)的小型室內(nèi)節(jié)目時，圣達菲歌劇院構(gòu)想了一個很大的計劃。歌劇院為2020 年演出季規(guī)劃制作《特里斯坦》時，亞瑟夫婦毛遂自薦協(xié)助劇院集資籌款?！叭绻ミ_菲歌劇院需要籌集900 萬美元，那么他們會聚焦于每筆5 萬或10 萬美元的大額募捐，”洋子說，“他們無法處理500 美元的小額捐款，所以我們?yōu)榇顺闪⒘俗约旱馁澲攬F?！?/p>

圣達菲歌劇院原本預計這樣的社區(qū)募捐可能會籌得5 萬美元。然而，瓦格納協(xié)會在兩周內(nèi)籌集了超過12 萬美元的捐款?！拔視诔杏錾吓笥眩缓笳埶麄兙柚?，”洋子說，“毫不夸張地說，我向某位推著購物車的善心人士籌得了2 萬美元。”《特里斯坦》的制作推遲到2022 年后，亞瑟夫婦又籌集了10 萬美元。在節(jié)目冊中，圣達菲瓦格納協(xié)會被注明贊助了指揮家詹姆斯· 加菲根（James Gaffigan）和男高音西蒙· 奧尼爾（Simon ONeill）的演出費。

洋子轉(zhuǎn)向埃里克：“我們本來想贊助你的，但另一個組織卻捷足先登?！惫?jié)目冊里顯示，埃里克· 歐文斯是由約瑟夫和羅伯特·康奈爾紀念基金會贊助的。

基于這一點上，我不得提出疑問：“埃里克，你在這里做過什么活動嗎？”

“是呀，”洋子立馬接過了話題，“你在8 月17日之前沒有其他的演出安排，你會很無聊的?！蔽覀兌夹α耍笞映脽岽蜩F?！罢娴模液苋菀子喌綀龅?，你可以談談唱瓦格納的心得?！?/p>

“所以從理論上說，”我問埃里克， “你會聊些什么？”

意識到他得現(xiàn)場回答這個問題，埃里克沉思了片刻：“當我想到瓦格納時，他的藝術(shù)性會讓我聯(lián)想到巴赫?！?/p>

還有呢？

“這么說吧，這里面有一種美，但這種美學的背后的那位天才卻不容易辨析。巴赫的天才在藝術(shù)和科學領(lǐng)域都給人們留下了深刻的印象——我認為瓦格納的作品也是如此，只要你細細閱讀樂譜，解開所有的主導動機，以及他通常隱藏它們的方式。然后你會看到一個你單獨聽音樂時不一定能聽到的天才。”

顯然，這樣的討論必須牽涉到音樂實例——甚至可能會深入到學術(shù)領(lǐng)域。

“你要花多長時間才能剖析完一部歌劇并學會它？”洋子問道。

“這就如同學海無涯，無邊無際。”

“那么，像馬克國王這樣的角色，大概只在舞臺上演出20 分鐘，假設你是從五年或十年前開始學習這個角色的。今年你再次翻開樂譜，又會有一些不同的發(fā)現(xiàn)嗎？”

“當然?！?/p>

“好吧，為什么不從這個點開始聊聊呢？我可以把它命名為‘我的瓦格納時刻，你可以談論任何你感興趣的事情。”

“壓力已夠大的了，”埃里克笑著說，“比起個人講演，我們能做個訪談嗎？”

“得有個人引導話題。”湯姆提議道。

“好吧，”洋子拍板道，“我們先從三個你提前準備好的問題開始，然后觀眾可以加入更多的現(xiàn)場提問?！?/p>

“觀眾沒有問題的話，”湯姆補充說，“那么，會場有一個免費開放式酒吧，大家可以暢飲。”

事到如今，埃里克已經(jīng)屈服了。任何抵抗都是徒勞的。

四天后，我收到了一封電子郵件：“最新消息！與男低音埃里克· 歐文斯公開的面對面對話。下午4點開放預約。名額僅限14 人?！?/p>

我放聲大笑起來。

Ive known about the Wagner Society of SantaFe since 2013， when I heard the organization wascommissioning a sequel to the Ring Cycle. Actually，it turned out they were only asking for 100-wordscenarios imagining what happens to Alberich， chiefNibelung， nominal guardian of the Ring and the lastcharacter standing at the end of Wagners tetralogy.Submissions would be judged by a team of operaprofessionals. I lost the competition， but I managed tomeet a couple of quirky people in the process.

Tom and Yoko Arthur formed their local chapterof the Wagner Society shortly after moving to SantaFe around a decade ago. New Mexico may have anarid climate， but with a wide range of museums， arenowned chamber music festival and a world-classopera company， the place is hardly a cultural desert.There is， however， despite the Santa Fe Operaslong history with the works of Richard Strauss， aconspicuous dearth of Wagner. The Arthurs set out torectify that condition.

In its early days， the Society devoted much of itstime to screening videos of Wagner productionsfrom around the world and luring noted Wagnerprofessionals to give public talks. Before long， Tomand Yoko—themselves regular operagoers in Munich，Berlin and Vienna—were taking small groups toEuropes prominent opera houses. When the Covidpandemic closed most venues around the world， theyalso began producing small concerts themselves.

But when Santa Fe Opera announced they wouldpresent Tristan und Isolde ， the companys firstWagner opera in 30 years and only the second Wagnerproduction in its history， the Arthurs had little timeto celebrate. Rather， they had more work than ever，bringing their mom-and-pop operation fully in linewith the Wagner Societys history of raising funds forWagner stagings.

When I was in Santa Fe in August， the only time we allhad free was the day after a Tristan performance. Yokoinvited me to lunch with a special guest—the bass-baritoneEric Owens， who had sung the role of King Marke the nightbefore. Much of the cast had already fled town until thenext performance， but Eric， having taken so long to getused to the mountainous altitudes， was going nowhere.

Tristan obviously dominated the discussion early，not just its superb cast but also the orchestrasplaying. “I was worried that the musicians would havea hard time，” Yoko said. “Theyre not used to playingmore than three hours. But I noticed that duringintermission some of them would be practicing musicfrom the next act. They had to have been exhausted，but they were so keyed up.”

Eric， for his part， added kudos for the orchestra froma singers perspective. One of his fellow cast membersmissed a vocal entrance， he admitted， but because theorchestra played with such command， few listenersoutside the production noticed.

This was all fine， but I wanted to delve further intothe past， particularly about how and when the Arthursdecided to take their passion for Wagner so public. IfEric， whos known the Arthurs for more than a decade，had heard this all before， he seemed happy to hear itall again.

Tom and Yoko had started their organizationshortly after relocating from Washington， D.C.， whereYoko had worked with Opera Lafayette， a companyspecializing in period-instrument productions. “I wasin operations， so I was always the one who had tosolve problems，” she said. “Tom had been affiliatedwith the Wagner Society of Washington， D.C….”

“…So Id learned what not to do，” he chimed in. Fora start， that meant no musicologists reading scholarlypapers. “From the beginning we decided to invite onlysingers， conductors and people who actively practiceWagner. The first time we asked an academic to speak，we regretted it. But this summer we actually had aterrific talk by Bryan Gilliam， a retired Strauss scholarfrom Duke University.”

Yoko， however， happily discussed her early venturesin great detail. After seeing Simon Rattle conductthe Ring Cycle at the Vienna State Opera， she parkedherself outside the companys digital media officeuntil she met the man in charge. “He not only gaveus the video—he FedExd it immediately—but alsothe companys subtitles in German and English in aseparate flash drive.”

Although theyd already made arrangements witha small movie theatre at a local college， the Arthursran into complications when their computers couldntread the files. “It turned out Apple software couldnthandle umlauts，” she said. “Rheingold and Siegfriedwere fine but for Die Walküre and G?tterd?mmerung Ihad to ask around.”

“Yoko， why are you only talking about things thatwent wrong？” Tom asked， bemused.

“Because those were problems I had to solve，”she laughed. “Anyway， the subtitle staff from SantaFe Opera were absolutely wonderful.” Such wereYokos powers of persuasion that the technicianssynchronized the subtitles with the musical score andprojected the text on a split screen. “They sat behinda blackout curtain for 15 hours and ran the titlesmanually，” she added.

Though they couldnt charge admission—one ofViennas stipulations—they could accept contributions.Yoko carefully monitored the local reaction. “Somepeople brought their kids，” she recalled. “A coupleof teenage girls fell in love with baritone TomaszKonieczny. We expected them to leave sometimeduring Die Walküre ， but they said， ‘Hes so cute” andstayed for the whole thing.”

Though their Wagner Society events began attractingmore and more people， the Arthurs never incorporatedtheir social circle into a formal structure—a rarityamong Wagner Societies around the world. “This townis full of non-profit organizations，” Yoko explained，“and my theory has always been ‘never become likeone of them. ” Rather， the Wagner Society entered anarrangement with Performance Santa Fe， a local musicand dance presenter， to handle financial matters for asmall management fee.

“That relieves us of a lot of extra work，” Yoko said，particularly once they began producing small chamberevents in the Clubhouse of their residence complex.“We can accommodate a hundred people， but wecouldnt afford the liability insurance ourselves. Thisway we can focus on the programs.”

But just as the Arthurs started putting Wagnerrelatedchamber programs in place， Santa Fe Operabegan thinking really big. When the companyoriginally envisioned Tristan for the 2020 season， theWagner Society offered to help with fundraising. “IfSanta Fe Opera needs to raise $9 million， they needto focus on $50，000 or $100，000 at a time，” Yoko said.“They cant deal with $500 gifts， so we founded ourown consortium.”

Santa Fe Opera had expected such grassrootsefforts to net perhaps $50，000. Instead， the WagnerSociety raised more than $120，000 in two weeks. “Iwas cornering people in the grocery store，” Yoko said.“Literally， I asked someone for $20，000 as she waspushing a grocery cart.” After the Tristan productionwas postponed until 2022， the Arthurs raised another$100，000. In the program book， the Wagner Society ofSanta Fe is credited with sponsoring the appearancesof conductor James Gaffigan and tenor Simon ONeill.

Yoko turned to Eric， “We wouldve sponsored you，but someone else got to you first.” Eric Owens， theprogram book said， was sponsored by the Joseph andRobert Cornell Memorial Foundation.

At this point， I had to ask. “Eric， have you ever doneany events here？”

“Right，” Yoko jumped in without dropping a beat.“You have no other bookings till August 17， youll bebored.” As we all laughed， Yoko pushed on. “Really， itsvery easy for me to book the place， and you can justtalk about singing Wagner.”

“So theoretically，” I asked him， “what would you talkabout？”

Realizing he was now on the spot， Eric contemplatedfor a moment. “When I think of Wagner， his artistrymakes me think of Bach.”

And？

“Well， theres a beauty there， but its not necessarilyobvious that theres this genius underneath. Bachsgenius impresses people both in the arts andsciences—and I think Wagners does the same thingonce you look at the score and unpack all the motifsand the way he often buries them. Then you see agenius that you dont necessarily hear when yourelistening to the music alone.”

Clearly， this was something that was going to takesome musical examples—maybe even delve intoscholarly territory.

“How long does it take you to unpack a piece andlearn it？” Yoko asked.

“You never stop unpacking.”

“So a role like King Marke， which is maybe 20minutes of singing， lets say you first started learning itfive or ten years ago. Youd crack open the score againthis year and find something different？”

“Absolutely.”

“Well， why not start with that？ I can entitle it ‘MyWagner Moment and you can talk about anythingyou want.”

“No pressure there，” Eric laughed. “Can we just do aQ&A？”

“Somebody has to start the Q&A，” Tom offered.

“Okay，” Yoko said with a touch of finality， “well havethree questions youll know about in advance， thenthe audience can jump in.”

“And if they dont，” Tom added， “well， we have anopen bar.”

By now， Eric had succumbed. Resistance was futile.

Four days later， I received an email： “Late-breakingEvents！ Open-mic with Bass-Baritone Eric Owens.Doors open at 4pm. Reservations limited to 14.”

I laughed out loud.