艱巨的任務：把巴赫《咖啡清唱劇》磨成歌劇

司馬勤

您曾在看歌劇時打瞌睡嗎？我在紐約最鐘愛的小歌劇團之一似乎找到了解決這個問題的訣竅：演出期間，何不找個借口為觀眾送上含有咖啡因的飲料？

當然，這個案例比較特別：（1）演出的作品是巴赫的《咖啡清唱劇》（Coffee Cantata）；（2）整部作品時長只有半個小時；（3）現(xiàn)場歌劇院（On Site Opera）是個到處“游蕩”的歌劇團，沒有固定演出場所；（4）這場演出是在一家咖啡館里舉行。

很多事情醞釀許久。讓我們先單一地溯源這個項目吧。我們早前已經(jīng)討論過巴赫究竟有沒有創(chuàng)作過歌劇這個議題。傳統(tǒng)音樂學界肯定會給出否定的觀點，因為“受難曲”（巴赫聲樂作品中最富有“歌劇性”的作品）這一體裁的基礎(chǔ)是宗教主題，實質(zhì)上是為教會所創(chuàng)作的。但是，去年11月在香港舞臺上搬演的、具有戲劇元素的《圣約翰受難曲》（St. John Passion），卻讓事情變得復雜起來。

而《咖啡清唱劇》的出現(xiàn)，則讓局面變得更為復雜。這部作品（創(chuàng)作年代大約是1732年到1735年之間）沒有宗教意味，也不是為了教會所作。沒有人可以確定其首演的年份與地點。但我們知道，巴赫除了在萊比錫圣托馬斯教堂任職外，還在一家名叫齊默爾曼的咖啡館領(lǐng)導過一個小樂團（樂團的創(chuàng)始人是同期作曲家泰勒曼）。

這部清唱劇可以說正是一杯泡沫多多的調(diào)制飲料。一開始，敘事者向觀眾介紹故事中的兩位主角：父親，以及嗜咖啡如命的女兒。父親擔心女兒喝太多咖啡，二人發(fā)生了爭執(zhí)，女兒唱出一首歌頌咖啡的詠嘆調(diào)。父親威脅女兒，如果她不戒掉咖啡，那么將切斷她的經(jīng)濟來源，他甚至不允許她結(jié)婚。可是，女兒卻警告所有她的愛慕者，想要追求她，就必須要接納她對咖啡的嗜好。

以德國歌劇的普遍風格來衡量，這部作品相當滑稽。作品的正式曲名是《安靜點，別講話》（Schweigt stille， plaudert nicht），聽上去非常嚴肅——但唱出這一句的并不是父親而是敘述者，顯然他是希望那些喝了不少咖啡的顧客停止喧嘩——這部清唱劇把喝咖啡當成一件舉足輕重的大事件。女兒把咖啡比作一千個熱吻：要是戒掉它，她就會變成一只“干涸的山羊”。或者音樂學家們的看法是對的：其實這部作品跟歌劇無關(guān)，它只是個推銷咖啡的廣告。

然而，隱藏在文本之下的是一種有趣的社會動態(tài)。當年，像齊默爾曼咖啡館這種地方是不允許女士進入的——除了觀看演出或參加公開的活動以外。巴赫與編劇家兼詩人克里斯蒂安·弗里德里希·亨里奇（Christian Friedrich Henrici）利用女士可以參與咖啡館活動的場合，巧妙地探討兩性之間角力的話題。

無論我們用什么標準來看，《咖啡清唱劇》都是一部喜歌劇，盡管它更像是幕間曲——位于更龐大、更嚴肅、寓意更“重要的”的作品幕休間的小品。眾所周知，音樂學家與喜劇或社會活動沒什么直接關(guān)系，我不肯定為什么他們抗拒重新定義《咖啡清唱劇》，是因為一個路德教會中德高望重的人物竟然挑戰(zhàn)傳統(tǒng)道德標準，還是因為這位大家都公認為縝密嚴格的作曲家會創(chuàng)作出一部那么有趣的作品？

你必須承認，要把那位看起來十分嚴肅、帶著灰色假發(fā)的作曲家與《咖啡清唱劇》聯(lián)系在一起，的確有點困難。我個人認為，全都是咖啡惹的禍。

現(xiàn)場歌劇院將這個制作的推廣賣點定位為“沉浸式體驗”——這個描述或者更適合于下午茶，盡管它成功地捕捉到這場演出獨特的“風味”。最重要的是，歌劇院選擇了一個貨真價實的咖啡館當演出場地——這家名為“Lost Draft”的咖啡店位于曼哈頓下城區(qū)，環(huán)境可謂合適之極。想光顧的顧客就算沒有留意到大門口擺放著“私人活動，謝絕光臨”的告示而誤入其中，他們也不會覺得詫異。

在演出前，四位樂手（分別演奏小提琴、長笛、大提琴和吉他）已經(jīng)坐在剛好位于大門入口附近的小桌邊聊天。進來的顧客——他們很快就會變成“觀眾”——被安排坐在一列位于墻邊的桌椅，大家一律面向咖啡吧臺。要是有人試圖坐在前面的小桌或是在吧臺旁的高椅上，服務員很快就會把他請走。

為什么？答案很快就揭曉。貝爾納德·赫爾庫姆（Bernard Holcomb）飾演的敘述者——在這里，角色設定為咖啡師——站在吧臺后演唱。當菲利普·科克里諾斯（Philip Kokorinos）飾演的父親與克里斯汀·里昂斯（Christine Lyons）飾演的女兒在吧臺前的椅子上坐定，演出正式開始。（劇透警告：咖啡師最終贏得了女兒的芳心。）

演出期間還穿插了三種咖啡的品嘗環(huán)節(jié)：Moma Mina（來自尼加拉瓜，帶有水果芬芳、味道濃郁的咖啡）、Kahawa Chungu（含有玉桂、豆蔻與丁香的低因咖啡）與“女王之杯”（Queens Cup，埃塞俄比亞咖啡與伯爵女王茶的混合飲料）。出演咖啡師的敘事者負責介紹，咖啡館服務員把杯子送到每一位觀眾面前。因此，《咖啡清唱劇》中的“咖啡”部分把原來時長25分鐘的“清唱劇”延長至45分鐘的現(xiàn)場體驗。

要是深層次思考一下，我們就會發(fā)現(xiàn)，這場演出剛好把最初的商業(yè)模式反了一反：在18世紀，只要顧客愿意點上一兩杯咖啡，咖啡館里的演出全部免費；而在今天，當你買了歌劇門票后，便可品嘗到免費咖啡。極具現(xiàn)代自由度的處理手法也出現(xiàn)在縮小的樂隊編制以及充滿俚語的英文唱詞中。父親唱的第一句唱詞是“要養(yǎng)大女兒，絕不是野餐”（注：“野餐”這個詞的俚語寓意是“愉快的時間，輕松的工作”）。無論是樂隊改編還是唱詞翻譯，都要歸功于杰弗里·麥克唐納（Geoffrey McDonald）。

導演莎拉·梅耶斯（Sarah Meyers）富有創(chuàng)意，她善用吧臺前后極為狹窄的有限空間。麥克唐納的歌詞字幕也可以傳送至每位觀眾的手機——每張桌子上更配有小小的手機支架，讓演出環(huán)境與真實情況相吻合。但是，大部分時間我都不需要看手機，因為演員近在咫尺，咬字發(fā)音也十分到位。

自從去年2月整個制作問世以來，我不僅在音樂界與戲劇界看到了對這部作品的評論——這兩者的關(guān)注都在情理之中，而且在飲食界的行業(yè)出版物上也看到了相關(guān)報道，評論家們對于場地的使用感到好奇。如果現(xiàn)場歌劇院的宗旨是要拓展新觀眾，那他們成績斐然，簡直超出預期。

盡管如此，我認為這個概念仍有不少可拓展的空間。只要找來相宜的餐飲合作伙伴，一個有進取心的歌劇院甚至可以編排出整個演出季——或者，如果他們真的很有野心，還能構(gòu)建出一個涵蓋吃喝玩樂的漫長夜晚。喝罷咖啡，觀眾可以品嘗甜品并觀看李·霍伊比（Lee Hoiby）的歌劇《祝你好胃口》（Bon Appetit）：那是傳奇廚神茱莉亞·切爾德（Julia Child）教人烤巧克力蛋糕的電視烹飪節(jié)目的歌劇版。最后，大家再喝點烈酒并欣賞亨利·莫利科內(nèi)（Henry Mollicone）的歌劇《酒吧地板上的面孔》（The Face on the Barroom Floor）：酒徒即席揮毫，以繪畫抵償欠下的賬單。這幾部歌劇都是時長30分鐘左右。你甚至可以在同一個街區(qū)里就找到適合這三臺劇目的不同場地。

只是我的一個念頭而已……

Ever have trouble staying awake at the opera？ I think one of my favorite little companies in New York has solved the problem： keep audiences caffeinated during the show.

Of course， it helped in this case that （1） the work in question is Bachs Coffee Cantata， （2） the show itself is only 30 minutes， （3） On Site Opera is a nomadic， free-range troupe with no central venue， and （4） they actually staged this production in a coffee house.

Theres a lot brewing here， so lets go back to the source （single origin）. I know weve already discussed whether or not Bach wrote any operas. Conventional musicology offers a hard no， since the Passions （the most “operatic” of his vocal works） were based on religious themes and actually written for the church. But staging them in a theater with all the dramatic trimmings， as the St. John Passion was in Hong Kong last November， rather complicates things.

The Coffee Cantata makes it even murkier. The piece （written sometime between 1732 and 1735） is neither religious nor written with the church in mind. No one is sure exactly when or where it was first performed， but we do know that Bach， in addition to his musical duties at St. Thomas Church， also directed an ensemble originally founded by Telemann at Zimmermans Coffeehouse in Leipzig.

The piece itself is a rather frothy concoction. A Narrator introduces the audience to a Father wor- ried about his Daughters coffee consumption. The Daughter， amidst their arguments， sings a love aria to coffee. The Father threatens to cut her off financially and even forbids her to marry unless she gives up coffee， but the Daughter warns all her suitors that if they really want her， the coffee comes along.

Particularly given the standards of German opera， the show is quite charming. Once past the severity of its official title， Schweigt stille， plaudert nicht（“Be quiet， stop chattering”）—sung not by the Father but rather the Narrator to hush the caffeinated audience—the show makes coffee-drinking a high-stakes endeavor. The Daughter compares coffee to a thousand kisses； giving it up would turn her into “a shriveled-up goat.” Maybe the musicologists have a point： this isnt an opera， its a coffee commercial.

Lying beneath the text， though， is an intriguing social dynamic. At that time， coffeehouses like Zimmermans forbade woman from entering the premises—except during performances and public events. Bach and his librettist， the poet Christian Friedrich Henrici， turned one of the few moments that women could be in the audience into a musical discourse on gender politics.

By nearly any standards， the Coffee Cantata is a comic opera， if only a brief intermezzo to fit between the acts of larger， more serious—and therefore more“important”—works. Since musicologists are not exactly known for either comedy or social activism， Im not sure if their resistance came from disbelief that such a distinguished figure in the Lutheran establish- ment would challenge moral conventions， or that a composer of such disciplined intellectual rigor could write something so genuinely funny？

You have to admit， its rather hard to reconcile the work itself with the stern， gray-wigged composer in the portrait. Personally， I think it was the coffee.

***

On Site Opera called their production an “immersive experience”—a description probably more appropriate for tea， though it did capture the evenings general， um， flavor. The point was to stage the piece in a real café—this one was called the Lost Draft， in downtown Manhattan—in as natural a setting as possible. If potential customers didnt see the sign outside warning that the place was closed for a private event， very little wouldve suggested anything out of the ordinary.

Before the show， a quartet of musicians （violin，flute， cello and guitar） were already sitting and chatting around a table near the entrance. Customers—soon to be audience members—were seated at in a row of tables near the side wall facing the bar. Anyone trying to sit at the bar or the table in front was quickly ushered away.

The reason soon became obvious when the Narrator （Bernard Holcomb）—or in this case， the Barista—calls people to attention from behind the bar. Once the Father （Philip Kokorinos） and Daughter （Christine Lyons） took their seats in front， the show was underway. （Spoiler alert： in this version， the Barista finally gets the girl.）

Interspersed during the performance were tastings of three different beverages： Moma Mina （a fruity， full-bodied coffee of Nicaraguan origin）， Kahawa Chungu （a decaffeinated coffee with hints of cinnamon， cardamon and clove） and the Queens Cup （a mix of Ethiopian coffee with Queen of Earl tea）， each introduced by the Barista and served by the cafés real baristas. The “coffee” portion of the evening expanded the “cantata” from 25 minutes of music to a 45-minute experience.

The presentation， if you think about it， was a quirky inverse of the original business model： In the 1700s， the performance wouldve been free for the price of a coffee or two； today， the coffee was free with the purchase of a concert ticket. Modern liberties also surfaced both in the clever reduction of the score and a highly vernacular English translation of the text （the Fathers first line was rendered as “Raising daughters in no picnic”）， both of which were credited to Geoffrey McDonald.

Sarah Meyerss inventive staging made efficient use of limited space both in front of and behind the bar. McDonalds translation was streamable on mobile phones—phone racks on every table being yet another component of the shows realistic setting—but remained mostly unneeded， given the fine articulation and close proximity of the cast.

Since this production appeared last February， Ive seen reviews not only in music and theatre outlets—both of which would be expected—but also in food and beverage publications， which were intrigued by the creative use of the venues. If On Site Operas goal was to reach new audiences， the company outdid itself.

Still， though， I think the idea has plenty of room to grow. With the right restaurant partners， an enterprising opera company could plan a full season—or if theyre really ambitious， a long night out. After cof- fee， audiences could head for dessert with Lee Hoibys Bon Appetit （an operatic setting of a Julia Child cooking show on how to bake a chocolate cake）， then end with drinks at Henry Mollicones The Face on the Barroom Floor （where a customer pays his bar tab by painting a womans face on the premises）. Each opera is about 30 minutes long， and in the right neighborhood you could probably find three suitable venues on the same block.

Just a thought….