來自遠方的老朋友

小瓊：有時候，當你在演出現場打開節目單，一個熟悉的名字映入眼簾，你立刻就會有一種“他鄉遇故知”的感覺。

小薇：你是指在不同的制作中看到同一個歌劇演員嗎？

小瓊：嗯，差不多算是吧。今年5月，我在肯尼迪中心觀看了《圖蘭朵》，作曲家田志仁為其譜寫了新結尾，蘇珊·斯坦頓也在原劇本的基礎上進行了創新，讓卡拉夫和圖蘭朵最終調和了他們之間的分歧。演員的國際陣容給我留下了深刻的印象——柳兒這個角色是由南非女高音歌唱家馬薩巴內·西西里亞·讓瓦納沙飾演的。

小薇：久聞大名。她是2021年英國廣播公司卡迪夫世界歌手獎的歌曲獎獲得者和決賽入圍者。這個比賽誕生了不少令人驚嘆的業界新星，包括已故的德米特里·赫沃羅斯托夫斯基，而來自中國的獲獎者包括沈洋和楊光。

小瓊：在華盛頓國家歌劇院的舞臺上，馬薩巴內·西西里亞展現了非凡的魅力。盡管她身材較豐滿，但她在舞臺上表現得如此輕盈，將柳兒死亡的場景演繹得如此令人心酸。我很少在演出中感受到這種舞臺上下的共鳴！

小薇：接下來你又在哪里見到了她？

小瓊：上個月在紐約，卡內基音樂廳推出了一項非同尋常的項目，名為“世界管弦樂周”，整個活動舉辦了七場音樂會。來自南美洲、北美洲、歐洲、亞洲、非洲和中東的青年管弦樂團齊聚一堂。

小薇：確實，我在新聞上看到過，中國的國家大劇院組織了北京青年交響樂團參加這一活動。

小瓊：8月3日，我在卡內基音樂廳坐下來翻開節目單，就看到了馬薩巴內·西西里亞的名字！在非洲聯合青年交響樂團音樂會上，她作為兩位獨唱歌手之一，用祖魯語演唱了南非作曲家庫瑪羅（1932—2021）的歌劇《瑪格格公主》中的一段詠嘆調，并用南非語演唱了吳多大那-布林（生于1975年）根據南非女詩人英格麗·瓊寇的詩作改編的管弦樂歌曲。對于紐約的觀眾來說，能了解來自歐洲和美國以外的作曲家及作品真是太好了！

小薇：在她職業生涯的早期，馬薩巴內·西西里亞是開普敦歌劇院的一名年輕藝術家。下個月，開普敦歌劇院將訪問中國，參加今年的北京國際音樂節！

Joan： Sometimes when you turn up to a performance and open the program book， a familiar name pops up. You can quickly be overcome by the feeling of“seeing an old friend.”

Valery： Do you mean seeing the same opera performer in different productions？

Joan： Well， sort of. In May， I was at the Kennedy Center to see Turandot （with a new ending by composer Christopher Tin， complete with a new twist in the libretto by Susan Soon He Stanton where Calaf and Turandot eventually reconcile their differences）. I was so impressed by the international cast—the role of Liu was sung by South African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha.

Valery： I’ve heard her name before. She was the winner of the Song Prize and Finalist at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World in 2021. This competition has generated amazing new stars， including the late Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Winners from China have included Shen Yang and Yang Guang.

Joan： Masabane Cecilia had tremendous charisma at the Washington National Opera， and despite her towering figure， she moved on stage with such lightness. The scene of her death was so poignant. Rarely do I feel such empathy on and offf4bc1708fdf0d34c5234f496f74058b42e49e14d6724274f930d965bf6cc2a21 stage！

Valery： Where did you see her next？

Joan： Last month in New York， when Carnegie Hall launched a truly unusual program entitled “World Orchestra Week” featuring seven concerts. Youth orchestras gathered from North and South America， Europe， Asia， Africa and the Middle East.

Valery： I did read in the news that the China National Centre for the Performing Arts organized the Beijing Youth Orchestra to participate.

Joan： On August 3， I sat down and opened the Carnegie Hall program book and saw Masabane Cecilia’s name！ In the concert presented by the African United Youth Orchestra， she appeared as one of two vocal soloists， singing an aria from the opera Princess Magogo by South African composer Mzilikazi Khumalo （1932？2021） in the Zulu language， as well as an orchestral song based on poems of Ingrid Jonker by Bongani Ndodana-Breen （b. 1975） in Afrikaan. It was so good for the New York audience to learn about composers who hail from places other than Europe and America！

Valery： Early in her career， Masabane Cecilia was a Young Artist with Cape Town Opera. Next month， Cape Town Opera will visit China as part of this year’s Beijing Music Festival！