小瓊:在亞洲待了一段很長的時(shí)間后,我回到了紐約。我必須承認(rèn),這個(gè)夏天的亮點(diǎn)之一正是上海歌劇院聯(lián)合制作的《蝴蝶夫人》。那是一個(gè)多么輝煌的制作,有著如此有效的布景和燈光!
小薇:歌劇是一種在全球范圍內(nèi)傳播的藝術(shù)形式,盡管文化背景不同,但同樣的藝術(shù)作品對不同國家的觀眾都充滿了吸引力。
小瓊:現(xiàn)在,回到紐約的我們正為繁忙的音樂季開幕做好準(zhǔn)備!說到《蝴蝶夫人》,我認(rèn)識的藝術(shù)家中沒有比黃哲倫更忙的了,他的話劇《蝴蝶君》正是對普契尼歌劇的解構(gòu)。
小薇:在過去的20年里,黃哲倫去過上海很多次。我看到消息說,他與阿根廷-以色列作曲家奧斯瓦爾多·格利約夫合作的歌劇《艾娜達(dá)馬》將于10月在大都會(huì)歌劇院上演,這是大都會(huì)目前正在力推的現(xiàn)代歌劇之一。
小瓊:我曾于2003年在坦格伍德參加了該劇的世界首演?!栋冗_(dá)馬》(劇名Ainadamar為阿拉伯語,意為“眼淚之泉”)是用西班牙語演唱的,講述的是劇作家費(fèi)德里科·加西亞·洛爾迦和他的繆斯、加泰羅尼亞女演員瑪格麗塔·希爾古的故事。最初的獨(dú)幕劇時(shí)長延展了不少,更將佛拉明戈舞加入該版制作中。該劇將于10月15日至11月9日期間在大都會(huì)歌劇院搬演,共演9場。
小薇:我在網(wǎng)上看到黃哲倫現(xiàn)在在百老匯也有演出?環(huán)島劇院正在制作他的鬧劇《黃面孔》,主演是電視明星金大賢。
小瓊:事實(shí)上,《黃面孔》于2007年在洛杉磯首演,然后移師至外百老匯的紐約公共劇院。17年后,它終于登陸百老匯。經(jīng)過幾周的預(yù)演,該劇將于10月1日正式開演。可以想象得出,黃哲倫會(huì)有多忙!
小薇:在同一個(gè)城市同時(shí)有不同藝術(shù)形式的作品上演,一定很激動(dòng)人心。
小瓊:不僅是在紐約,10月25日,就在《艾娜達(dá)馬》出現(xiàn)在大都會(huì)歌劇院舞臺的同一個(gè)晚上,英國廣播公司交響樂團(tuán)和合唱團(tuán)將獻(xiàn)演歌劇版《蝴蝶君》的半舞臺版本,由黃若作曲,該制作于2022年夏季在圣達(dá)菲歌劇院舉行了全球首演。這場在倫敦巴比肯中心的演出還將錄制成唱片!
小薇:幾十年前,話劇《蝴蝶君》第一次登上百老匯的舞臺,贏得了1988年托尼獎(jiǎng)最佳戲劇獎(jiǎng)。真是歲月如梭呀!
Joan: I’m back in New York after a long stay in Asia. I must admit, one of my summer highlights was the Shanghai Opera House’s co-production of Madama Butterfly. What a glorious production, with such effective sets and lighting!
Valery: Opera is an artform that travels across the globe, and the same artistic excellence appeals to audiences of different countries, despite different cultural backgrounds.
Joan: Now back in New York, we’re preparing for a busy opening of the performance season! And speaking of Madama Butterfly, no other artist I know is busier than David Henry Hwang, whose hit play M. Butterfly was a deconstruction of Puccini’s opera.
Valery: David has been in Shanghai many times in the past two decades. I see that Ainadamar, his opera with the Argentine-Israeli composer Osvaldo Golijov, will appear at the Metropolitan Opera in October, as one of the modern operas that the Met is now championing.
Joan: I remember attending the world premiere at Tanglewood in 2003. Ainadamar (Arabic for “Fountain of Tears”) is sung in Spanish and is about the playwright Federico García Lorca and his muse, the Catalan actress Margarita Xirgu. The original one-act was later expanded, and there are even flamenco dance performance in the production. The Met Opera has nine performances between October 15 and November 9.
Valery: I read online that David also has a Broadway show running right now? The Roundabout Theatre is producing Yellow Face, a farce featuring the television star Daniel Dae Kim.
Joan: Actually, Yellow Face premiered in Los Angeles in 2007, then moved off-Broadway to New York’s Public Theater. Now, 17 years later, it lands on Broadway. After a few weeks of previews, the show officially opens on October 1. As you can imagine, David is a busy man!
Valery: It must be thrilling having shows running concurrently in different artforms in the same city.
Joan: And it’s not only in New York. On October 25—the same night Ainadamar appears at the Met—the BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus will perform a semi-staged version of the opera M. Butterfly with music by Huang Ruo that had its world premiere in Santa Fe Opera in the summer of 2022. This performance at London’s Barbican Centre will also lead to a recording!
Valery: M. Butterfly first came on Broadway stage many decades ago. It won the Tony award as Best Play in 1988. Wow, how time flies!