與年輕藝術家的曼谷之約

小瓊：每次發現新歌劇作品、新星指揮家或是新秀歌手，總是令人興奮的。2024年年底在曼谷，我很高興同時遇見了這三者！

小薇：有時候，歌劇藝術的呈現富有創意。你是去看了暹羅協會在成立120周年之際制作的《1907：拉瑪五世歐洲歌劇之旅》吧。根據網上資料，這部作品中概述了朱拉隆功國王（拉瑪五世）在歐洲看過的歌劇，引用了他寫給女兒的信，更加上歐洲歌劇院的史料。

小瓊：暹羅協會的這場演出由27歲的指揮家黃國能領銜，他以無比的自信執棒暹羅小交響樂團。顯然，他對曲目和故事情節都非常熟悉。朱拉隆功國王信件中的描述，以及字里行間對歌劇情節、表演和觀眾的觀察，有一種非常個人化的感覺。在這次歐洲旅行中，拉瑪五世在5月至9月期間在倫敦、巴黎、佛羅倫薩和都靈共觀看了七部歌劇。除了《茶花女》和《歌女喬康達》，還有英文版的《風流寡婦》（當然是在倫敦）以及巴黎制作的《蝴蝶夫人》。在這部新作品的《風流寡婦》和《蝴蝶夫人》選段表演中，我遇到了一位年輕的中國歌手穆宇，她出演劇名主角。她的搭檔是新加坡男中音吳翰衛。

小薇：我聽說穆宇是曼谷著名的瑪希隆大學的博士生。

小瓊：是的，她畢業于中國音樂學院聲樂表演專業，2023年在瑪希隆大學開始攻讀音樂表演博士學位。該大學是一所擁有國際教師的學校，教學語言為英語。我們聊了聊她曼谷的求學生活，穆宇強調泰國是一個非常安全的地方，氣候非常宜人。

小薇：那課程設置呢？

小瓊：學生接受國際教師教授指導，深入地學習和研究音樂和戲劇詮釋。去年，穆宇在學校演了莫扎特的《劇院經理》，今年春天，她將在吉安·卡洛·梅諾蒂的《電話》中亮相。課程除了要求提交一篇研究論文（英文）外，還需要三場完整的獨唱會：其中的兩場由詠嘆調和藝術歌曲組成（用4種不同的語言演唱，但不包括她的母語中文），以及一場關于課題研究的獨唱會。

小薇：這真令人佩服。在一個離中國這么近的國家，在真正的國際環境中學習是多么好的機會啊！

Joan： It’s always exhilarating to make discoveries， whether it’s a new opera， a new conductor or new singers. Late last year， in Bangkok， I was delighted to encounter all three！

Valery： Sometimes the art of opera transpires in inventive ways. You went to see 1907： Rama V European Opera Journey presented by the Siam Society on the occasion of its 120th anniversary. According to the materials online， this show chronicles the operas seen by King Chulalongkorn （Rama V）， quoting letters to his daughter， supplemented by research in the archives of European opera houses.

Joan： The Siam Society performance was steered by the 27-year-old conductor Voraprach Wongsathapornpat， who led the Siam Sinfonietta with such assurance. Clearly， he knew the repertoire and the storyline very well. There is something very personal in quoting the King’s letters， with their description of operatic plots， performances， and audiences. During his trip， Rama V saw a total of seven operas in London， Paris， Florence and Turin between May and September. In addition to La Traviata and La Gioconda， there was the English version of The Merry Widow （in London， of course） as well as the Paris production of Madama Butterfly. For the performance of excerpts from The Merry Widow and Madama Butterfly， I came across a young Chinese singer， Mu Yu， playing the title roles. Opposite her is Singaporean baritone Martin Ng.

Valery： I hear Mu Yu’s a doctoral student at Bangkok’s famous Mahidol University.

Joan： A graduate of the China Conservatory of Music in vocal performance， she started her doctoral degree in music performance in 2023 at Mahidol， a school with an international faculty where the language of instruction is English. We chatted about student life in Bangkok， and she stressed that Thailand is a very safe place and the weather very agreeable.

Valery： But what of the curriculum？

Joan： Students delve deep into the music and dramatic interpretation taught by an international faculty. Mu performed in Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor last year， and this spring she’ll be featured in Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Telephone. Apart from a research dissertation （in English）， a total of three full-length recitals are required： two consisting of arias and art songs （sung in 4 different languages， but not her native Chinese） and a lecture-recital on a research topic.

Valery： This is impressive， and what great opportunities to study in a truly international environment in a country so close to China！