為英格蘭之夏做好準備！

左：南希·卡羅爾和羅杰·阿拉姆在《溫和的女高音》中飾演克里斯蒂夫婦

右：雅各布·福瓊-勞埃德在《溫和的女高音》中飾演魯道夫·賓格

小瓊：我很確定許多人正在安排夏天的計劃，而歌劇迷們自然期待著夏日的歌劇節！

小薇：對準備去英格蘭的人來說，最著名的夏日歌劇節就是格林德伯恩。它創立于1934年，而地點是東薩克塞斯的路易斯鎮。

小瓊：有多少人真正知道格林德伯恩的歷史呢？最近，英國著名編劇大衛?黑爾撰寫了名為《溫和的女高音》的話劇，講述喬治?克里斯蒂上尉同妻子奧德麗?米爾德梅是如何在兩位德國人和一位奧地利人的幫助下，創辦格林德伯恩歌劇節的。克里斯蒂先結識了指揮弗里茨?布施，隨后布施又介紹了導演卡爾?艾伯特和歌劇策劃人魯道夫?賓格加入團隊中來。

小薇：克里斯蒂創立歌劇節的原始動機與其妻子——“一位溫和的女高音”——大有關系。為心愛的妻子奧德麗提供展示才華的舞臺才是他的主要目的。真是浪漫！

小瓊：確實如此。這部話劇中最觸動我的，是第二次世界大戰陰影蔓延的時代，夫妻之間強烈的羈絆。

Valery: For those visiting England, the most famous of all summer opera festivals is Glyndebourne, which was founded in 1934 in Lewes, East Sussex.

Joan: How many people really know the history of Glyndebourne? Most recently a new play by David Hare, entitled

The Moderate Soprano

, highlighted how this whole idea began, and how Captain George Christie and his wife Audrey Mildmay enlisted help from two Germans and an Austrian. Christie first met with conductor Fritz Busch, who then introduced director Carl Ebert and impresario Rudolf Bing to the group.

Valery: Christie's primary motivation to start the opera festival had to do with his wife, “a moderate soprano.” In his mind, creating a platform for his beloved Audrey to display her talents was his primary goal. What a romantic!Joan: Indeed. What I found so entrancing in

The Moderate Soprano

was the strong bond between husband and wife set against the looming clouds of the Second World War.

小薇：三位受邀的、來自歐洲大陸的藝術家都是“難民”。他們都不為納粹政權所接納，來到英格蘭不只是為了歌劇事業，亦是出于政治避難的需要。在這部話劇開篇的場景中，布施講述了他如何突然被德累斯頓國家歌劇院解雇，甚至還在《弄臣》的演出現場被坐在第一排的納粹分子起哄攻擊。

Valery: All three continental Europeans they enlisted were “refugees” because they were not welcome under the Nazi regime. Moving to England was not merely a matter of artistic choice but also a political necessity. In one of the early scenes in the play, Busch recounted how he was unceremoniously sacked by Dresden State Opera, having been heckled by Nazis sitting in the front row at a performance of

Rigoletto

.

《溫和的女高音》劇照

小瓊：布施邀請導演卡爾?艾伯特加入格林德伯恩團隊，是因為兩人于1932年已在薩爾茨堡合作過莫扎特的《后宮誘逃》。同時，他們早期在格林德伯恩共同制作的莫扎特作品，打造了歌劇節至今的“品牌＂。

小薇：1934年的魯道夫?賓格還是個年輕小伙（他生于1902年），在格林德伯恩的經歷則成了他的敲門磚，之后助他擔任紐約大都會歌劇院的總經理一職（1950～1972）。

小瓊：魯道夫?賓格爵士是猶太裔，因此他離開納粹德國實是萬幸。每當我翻閱歐洲史便感到由衷的悲傷：許多富有才華的藝術家當年未能逃脫魔爪，斷送了生命。1946年，賓格加入了英國籍，在1971年更被授予了爵位。Joan: Busch introduced director Carl Ebert to the group because the two had already collaborated in Salzburg in Mozart's

Die Entführung aus dem Serail

two years prior. Together, their early Mozart productions helped make Glyndebourne the celebrated “brand” that it is now.

Valery: Rudolf Bing was only a young man in 1934(he was born in 1902) and yet the experience of Glyndebourne catapulted him to great heights later when he became General Manager of New York's Metropolitan Opera House (1950–1972).