從門外漢到歌劇通

主持：Joanna C. Lee 編譯：辛時雨

今日世界的新視野

New Visions of our world today

小瓊：

歌劇的世界在不斷演化著。11月初在香港，我很幸運地趕上了生于上海的作曲家杜韻的新近作品。

小薇：

我聽說過她，她因室內歌劇作品《天使之骨》而斬獲2017年的普利策獎，現在生活在美國。

小瓊：

香港的新視野藝術節實在是有先見之明，帶來了《天使之骨》的亞洲首演。藝術節不單安排了兩場演出，還在一周之內組織了兩場與主創的對話（一場以普通話對話，另一場則使用英語），甚至開展了一次大規模的教育項目，為高中學生介紹觀賞歌劇藝術的新體驗。

小薇：

我確實有了解過這部歌劇。該作品揭示了人口販賣和剝削的社會問題——不僅是關于性工作者，還更廣泛、深入地探討了自戀的權力游戲。導演富有創意，更用上了現場視頻及投影技術。

Joan:

The world of opera is constantly evolving. Early in November in Hong Kong, I was so lucky to catch Shanghai-born Du Yun’s recent masterpiece.

Valery:

I remember hearing about her. She was the winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for her chamber opera

Angel’s Bone

. She currently lives in the United States.

Joan

: Hong Kong’s New Vision Arts Festival had the bold foresight to present

Angels Bone

’s Asia premiere.Not only did the festival present two performances of the work, but they also organized talks with the creators in Chinese and English that week, even devising an extensive educational program to introduce high school students to a new artistic experience.

Valery:

I did read about the opera. It’s about human trafficking and exploitation—not just about sex workers, but radiating wider and deeper into narcissistic power-play. The presentation includes live video, projections and inventive direction.

Joan:

Basically, two angels fall from Heaven and end up in the garden of a middle-class couple, who take advantage of the situation, selling the angels’service to anyone willing to pay. This is a parable of our materialistic world where morals can easily be corrupted. To prepare high school students to understand this story (and its use of many musical styles), a Hong Kong music critic and conductor Leon Chu gave lectures to three different school groups,guiding more than 500 students as they attended the final dress rehearsal.

Valery:

This must have been a real treat for the students. And since they weren’t “classical music lovers” they probably didn’t have any preconceptions as to what “opera” should sound like.

Joan:

According to both Leon and Du Yun, the

上、左頁：《天使之骨》劇照

小瓊

：作品大致講述了兩個天使從天堂墜落到了一對中產階級夫婦家的后院里，后者利用此窘境，出售天使的服務來牟利。這可謂是反映當今世界物質至上的一個寓言。在這樣的世界里，太容易墮入道德敗壞的局面。為了讓高中生得以理解這個故事（及其對多種音樂風格的運用），香港樂評家及指揮家朱振威為三所中學開設了講座，更帶領500余名學生觀看了該劇的帶妝彩排。

小薇：

學生們從中必定受益良多。他們不是“古典音樂愛好者”，所以自然不會對“歌劇”的音樂形式有先入為主的偏見。

小瓊

：朱振威和杜韻都說，這些學生很能接受多種多樣的音樂風格（歌劇中包括一首富有節奏感的朋克搖滾歌曲），并積極地投入戲劇體驗當中。我必須補充一句，我很樂見于這次九人編制的香港本土合唱團：他們富有感染力，并以最高的水平與來訪的四位獨唱家一同表演和演唱。

小薇：

樂團的表現又如何呢？

圖片提供： 新視野藝術節 / 香港康樂及文化事務署

小瓊：

演出的是香港創樂團，這是香港樂界的幸事，這群堅定的音樂家愿意積極應對這種具有難度的作品。香港有如此才華橫溢且勇敢無畏的音樂家，藝術節沒有理由不帶來更多這樣的作品。students were very open to the wide-ranging musical styles (there is a rhythmically driving punk-rock song in the middle) and engaged in the theatrical experience.And I must also add how delighted I was to see the 9-person chorus made up Hong Kong’s own singers：they were totally convincing, acting and singing at the highest level along with the four visiting soloists.

Valery

: What about the instrumental ensemble?

Joan:

Hong Kong is lucky to have the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, a committed group of musicians willing and open to tackle a score this difficult. With musicians this talented and fearless living right in Hong Kong, the festival has no excuse for not presenting more shows like this in the future.