高層人員的變動：后疫情時代藝術機構吸引一批生力軍

司馬勤

就算在一年前，當大家開始討論全球后疫情時代逐漸“恢復常態”時，我心里總是在疑惑，想要把世界還原，真的能辦得到嗎？事實上，一條文藝新聞說明了一切。那就是珍·莫斯（Jane Moss）退出林肯中心。

去年夏末，莫斯辭去了她的藝術總監一職——在過去的27年里，她在林肯中心的領導地位高高在上，剛好跟我從事音樂評論的年份相若。林肯中心是全球最龐大的文化機構，在她宣布離任之前，林肯中心旗下各家場館的大門已經關閉了6個月；與此同時，黑人喬治·弗洛伊德（George Floyd）之死所引發的公憤蔓延至全美的各個角落，當然也影響到各大文化機構。莫斯這一舉動所傳達的信息很明確：我們的世界無法走回頭路了。身為一位備受敬重、善于發掘藝術家以及孕育新項目的文化策展人，現年67歲的莫斯心里所憂慮的，是林肯中心前路茫茫。所以，是時候把權杖交給他人了。

在大西洋彼岸，古典音樂界最顯赫的夏季盛會——薩爾茨堡音樂節，也引發了類似的高層人事震動：擔任音樂節主席26年且一直負責處理外界公眾事務的赫爾加·拉貝-施塔德勒（Helga Rabl-Stadler）將于今年年底離任。在她多年的領導下，音樂節屢創佳績，包括2006年將當地最小型的劇院莫扎特劇院（Haus für Mozart）修繕一新，以紀念莫扎特誕生250周年，并展演了作曲家畢生創作的全部22部歌劇。但是，她最令人佩服的能力于去年展現得淋漓盡致：2020年恰逢薩爾茨堡音樂節成立100周年，這一紀念活動是當時疫情背景下全球最大型的演藝項目——或者應該說，是去年在國際樂壇舉行的寥寥無幾的演出項目中最成功例子。

兩位女士都能獨當一面，又截然不同：拉貝-施塔德勒比莫斯大6歲，她在歐洲的角色更接近一位公職人員。在美國，很少有文化領袖會擁有這種像拉貝-施塔德勒一樣的聲望。拉貝-施塔德勒辭任的決定也不令人驚訝：原本她的合約在2020年年底就已經到期，但因為疫情的關系，音樂節委員會特別請求她多留任一年。其實，疫情的影響形成了兩個極端的效果：拉貝-施塔德勒在困境下堅持舉辦音樂節獲得空前成功，而莫斯卻連自己的辦公室都無法出入自如。

然而，這兩則新聞背后傳達的信息同樣清晰：這是一個時代的正式結束。

幾周前，又傳來另一個“人事變動”的新聞。盡管新聞中涉及的職務交替將于幾年后才會實現，在我的心目中卻引發更大的共鳴。9月中旬，梵志登（Jaap van Zweden）宣布，他將會在2023–2024年演出季結束后，同時辭去他的兩個音樂總監的職務。

現任紐約愛樂樂團與香港管弦樂團音樂總監的梵志登——那正是我常住的兩個城市的樂團——他與我所累積的“萬里行”航程里數不相伯仲，因為大家都是“空中飛人”。很明顯，這就是問題所在。

差不多一年前，我與梵志登就“飛行”這個話題有過一次長時間的交談。當時，他滯留在阿姆斯特丹，無法前往香港或紐約工作。說真的，梵志登曾經飛往香港并且依據當地防疫措施，在酒店隔離多天。當他終于熬過了孤獨的日子后，很可惜，整個香港管弦樂團卻被送去隔離。演出全部取消，無可奈何的梵志登唯有返回歐洲。

其實，這位大師在疫情期間并沒有閑著。他指揮了數場音樂會，各個演出城市都位于歐洲，自己駕車就可以到達（因此避開了搭乘航空交通）。他也有充足的時間去經營帕帕基諾基金會（Papageno Foundation），這個他早年創辦的、協助自閉癥兒童的音樂治愈計劃。即便是在一年前，他的未來計劃已經有了雛形。

他告訴我，這種在一個城市待一周，然后飛到另一個城市待一周的日子將永不復返。“未來，最低限度是在一個地方逗留一個月，或者六周，為當地積極推進更具持續性的成果。”他堅決地說。我當時以為那是梵志登因為受疫情的種種限制而產生打破傳統的理念——想深一層，也的確如此。但是，當你要重拾“老規矩”時，這些想法卻揮之不去。

一方面，梵志登決定卸任的新聞登上了《紐約時報》頭版（指揮大師準備卸任香港管弦樂團的消息當時還未公布，所以這篇報道名副其實屬于新鮮出爐的“新聞”）。犬儒主義者或會在字里行間尋找梵志登暗示有意考慮其他樂團就職的意向，因為到了2024年左右，幾支具有領先地位的國際樂團將要聘任新總監。（梵志登在報紙訪談中曾提及，沒有興趣接管阿姆斯特丹皇家樂團，雖然他曾在那里擔任樂團首席。當然，這類聲明也沒有否認他不會考慮其他樂團。）

藝術世界的未來會是什么樣的呢？很明顯，這要取決于誰擔綱領導。莫斯公布離職一年后，林肯中心向外界發送消息，聘請了從前任職紐約公共劇院的珊塔·塔克（Shanta Thake）為“首席藝術官”（Chief Artistic Officer），連職務的頭銜都有所變動。她的工作范圍主要負責使林肯中心所演出的劇目更加多樣化，超越古典音樂與芭蕾等傳統領域，擴展至嘻哈、詩歌與原創歌曲等范疇。

薩爾茨堡音樂節主席是由音樂節委員會物色的，而委員會成員都是奧地利政治圈中不同層面的人士。因此，這個主席職位也可被歸納為“政治任務”。雖然要找一個像拉貝-施塔德勒那么出色的、25年來一直是音樂節代表人物的繼任者十分困難，但大多數觀察家一致認為，鑒于藝術節的現任藝術總監與財政總監都是男性，新任主席看起來也會繼續由女性擔任。

那么紐約愛樂樂團又如何呢？自從馬林·阿爾索普（Marin Alsop）于今年8月離開巴爾的摩交響樂團以來，很多人關注的焦點都圍繞在美國最大規模的25個樂團中沒有一位女指揮擔任音樂總監上。在過去的一段時間里，南半球傳出了好消息：女指揮西蒙·楊（Simone Young）離開漢堡歌劇院后重返家鄉，領導悉尼交響樂團大獲好評。紐約愛樂樂團總裁兼首席執行官黛博拉·博達（Deborah Borda）是一位無可非議的女權主義者，她也是女指揮家國際大賽（La Maestra）的主席。在《紐約時報》的訪談中，她強調必須“加快速度”為更多女指揮家提供就業機會。

我不敢百分百打賭，但我不看好從前那些“男性為主”的古舊關系網在未來的生存機遇。

Even back a year ago， when people were first talking about the world “returning to normal，” something told me things would never be the same. In fact， one bit of news said it all： Jane Moss left Lincoln Center.

Moss stepped down as artistic director—a position shes held in New York for 27 years， nearly as long as Ive been writing about music—at the end of last summer. Lincoln Center， the worlds largest cultural institution， had been dark for nearly six months； in the meantime， the furor over the death of George Floyd had resonated throughout the country， not least in Americas cultural institutions. Mosss message was clear： the world was not going back. And as an impresaria famous for cultivating artists and developing works that reflect the world around us， Moss—now 67—had no clear idea what that was anymore. It was time for someone else.

Across the Atlantic， a similar rumble shook the Salzburg Festival， the classical music worlds leading summer event. Helga Rabl-Stadler， the festivals president and public face for 26 years， will be stepping down from the job at the end of this year. Rabl-Stadler has seen a number of career accomplishments， not least of which was the renovation of the festivals smallest theater， the Haus für Mozart， as part of the composers 250th birthday in 2006， along with presenting all 22 of his operas. But she truly made her mark last year with the Salzburg Festivals centennial season—the largest performing arts event in 2020 and one of the few events that took place that year at all.

There are major differences between the two women； Rabl-Stadler is six years older and a public dignitary in Europe in a way that few cultural figures in America have ever been. Nor was the move as much of a surprise， since Rabl-Stadlers contract was set to expire at the end of 2020 before the festivals supervisory board asked to remain one more year. The two in fact represent opposite sides of the Covid spectrum， since the pandemic spurred Rabl-Stadlers greatest success while Moss remained locked out of her own office.

The message underneath， though， was just as clear： this is officially the end of an era.

A few weeks ago， yet another announcement came through with news of yet another change of employment. This one doesnt take place for another couple of years， but it resonates with me all the more for being so close to home. In mid-September， Jaap van Zweden declared that he would be stepping down from both of his music directorships at the end of the 2023-24 season.

As the artistic leader of both the New York Philharmonic and the Hong Kong Philharmonic—the hometown orchestras of both my home towns—Van Zweden is one of the few people whose air-mile status equals my own. And evidently， that was the problem.

I had a lengthy chat with Van Zweden nearly a year ago about this very situation. How did it feel to be stuck in Amsterdam， unable to travel to either of your professional work places？ Actually， Van Zweden had flown to Hong Kong and undergone a hotel quarantine. But when he got out， his entire orchestra had gone into quarantine and their concerts cancelled， so he flew back to Europe.

Van Zweden hasnt exactly been twiddling his thumbs. He managed to conduct several concerts， all within easy driving distance of Amsterdam（bypassing air travel entirely）. He also spent significant time working with the Papageno Foundation， an organization he founded to provide music therapy for autistic children. But even a year ago， he was clear about his future plans.

The days of spending a week in one city and then flying to the next are over， he claimed. “In the future it will be a month， maybe six weeks， in any city so we can really accomplish something in depth，” he insisted. I thought it was simply the Covid talking—and in a way it was. But it turned out not to be the kind of thing that you forget as soon as the old patterns return.

For one thing， the story made the front page of The New York Times （Van Zwedens plans hadnt been reported yet in Hong Kong， so it was literally news there， too）. Cynics might read this as a subtle announcement of his availability for some future choice positions， as a number of orchestras will be looking for new music directors by then. （The only thing Van Zweden ruled out was taking over the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra， where he was once concertmaster， but that leaves a lot of other orchestras out there.）

So what will the future of the arts look like？ Well， obviously it depends on whos in charge. Nearly a year after Moss declared she was stepping down， Lincoln Center announced her replacement. Shanta Thake， formerly of New Yorks Public Theater， has now been hired as chief artistic officer （even the title has changed）， charged with broadening the centers programming beyond classical music and ballet to include hip-hip， poetry and songwriting.

In Salzburg， where the president is selected by a board drawn from many levels of Austrian politics， the job is essentially a political appointment itself. Though it wont be easy to fill the shoes of a woman whose profile had been synonymous with the festival for more than 25 years， the one thing that most observers agree on is that， since both the artistic and financial directors are men， her replacement will also be a woman.

And what about the New York Philharmonic？ Since Marin Alsops departure from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in August， much public discussion has centered around the fact that none of the top 25 American ensembles are led by a woman. Favorable news keeps coming in from Down Under， where Simone Young， formerly of Hamburg State Opera， has returned to her hometown to lead the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The New York Philharmonics president and chief executive Deborah Borda—an unapologetic feminist whos also chair of La Maestra， an international conducting competition for women—has already told the Times about “an acceleration”underway of women on the podiums.

Its not exactly a sure bet， but I wouldnt put my money on the old boy network.