后疫情時代的歌劇（五）

Joanna C.Lee

小瓊：自全球爆發新冠肺炎疫情以來，在這段特殊時期里中國可謂是上演完整規格歌劇制作的先鋒。我也很高興地向大家分享：日本最近也把一部完整規格的歌劇《末日之夢》搬上舞臺。這部歌劇由藤倉大（日本作曲家，現居倫敦）作曲，哈里·羅斯作詞；此次世界首演則由琳達·施泰爾導演，東京新國立劇場歌劇藝術總監大野和士指揮。

小薇：樂團、合唱團、獨唱家這么多人同時參加排練，加上佩戴口罩、保持社交距離以及隔離等種種防疫政策，排練期一定漫長而又復雜。我看到照片上大家在排練的時候都戴著口罩——無論是指揮家、獨唱家還是樂團、合唱團成員，或是后臺工作人員，皆如此。

小瓊：《末日之夢》是在赫伯特·喬治·威爾斯1901年所作故事的基礎上創作的，故事講述了人性與戰爭、危險與逃離、夢境與真實中的種種不確定性。盡管威爾斯創作這部小說的時間是一個多世紀以前，但其中所蘊含的現代性——衍生自兩位陌生人在列車上一小時旅途期間的對話——顯然與今天的世界相關。

小薇：新冠疫情以前，陌生人尚且有可能在列車上講話，但目前情況下我就不敢保證了。之前在東京新國立劇場的網站上看到，藤倉和羅斯是長期合作伙伴，合作超過20年，而他們一直以來都夢想著創作一部有著列車場景的歌劇。

小瓊：確實。哈里·羅斯從小就閱讀威爾斯的作品，但直到藤倉和他提起，他才知道這個故事。藤倉在接到東京新國立劇場的委約的時候（早在2017年），他立刻想到了《末日之夢》，正是因為這個列車上的場景！

小薇：將小說改編成歌劇需要極強大的功力。資料寫道，兩位創作者將開幕設計為一段阿卡貝拉合唱。實際上合唱團成員不單單扮演了（前幾幕當中）乘客的角色，之后也充當了軍隊中的士兵。

小瓊：歌劇制作始終是復雜的。正如我先前提到的，美國、英國、澳大利亞、德國的許多藝術家遠道而來，與日本本土的音樂家合作。琳達·施泰爾導演也召集了出色的制作團隊——他們都是當代歌劇的資深行家，2016年在巴塞爾合作制作了卡爾海因茲·施托克豪森的史詩《光》之《星期四》，贏得了當年《歌劇世界》雜志的“年度制作”獎項。

Joan： China has been leading the world in fullystaged productions， and Im so glad to share the news that Japan just presented a new fully-staged opera， A Dream of Armageddon. Composed by Dai Fujikura （a Japanese composer now living in London） with libretto by Harry Ross， this world premiere was directed by Linda Steier and conducted by the New National Theater Tokyos Artistic Director of Opera， Kazushi ōno.

Valery： With an orchestra， chorus and soloists， the rehearsal period must have been long and complicated， given all the policies on mask-wearing， social distancing and quarantines. I see from photos that everyone was wearing a mask in rehearsal—from conductor to soloists， orchestra to chorus， as well as backstage personnel.

Joan： A Dream of Armageddon is based on a 1901 story by H.G. Wells touching on the uncertainties of humanity and war， of danger and escape， of dream and reality. Although Wells wrote this story more than a century ago， the sense of modernity—deriving from a conversation between two strangers on an hourlong train ride—is clearly relevant to todays world.

Valery： Before the COVID pandemic， it was possible that strangers would speak on a train. I doubt this could happen today. However， I read on the New National Theatre Tokyos website that Fujikura and Ross have been longtime collaborators for two decades， and theyve always dreamt of setting an opera on a train.

Joan： Indeed， Harry Ross read H.G. Wells from a young age. But he wasnt aware of this story until Fujikura mentioned it to him. When Fujikura received the commission from the New National Theatre Tokyo （as early as 2017）， he immediately thought of A Dream of Armageddon because of the train scene！

Valery： Adaptation requires tremendous skill. I read that the composer and librettist open the opera with a cappella chorus. In fact， members of the chorus not only play the roles of train commuters （in the early scenes） but also later on， as soldiers in an army.

Joan： Opera productions are always complex. As I mentioned earlier， musicians normally resident in Japan are joined by artists flying in from America， England， Australia and Germany. Director Linda Steier assembled an amazing production team too—veterans of contemporary opera who worked together in Basel in 2016， in Karlheinz Stockhausens epic Donnerstag aus Licht， which won Opernwelts Production of the Year.