我在巴黎的24小時 天堂到地獄

第145期|端木震宇 782

我在巴黎的24小時  天堂到地獄

端木震宇 782

 

十多年前，我在巴黎出差，經曆了一個至今難忘的24小時。

 

那天從戴高樂機場到達酒店後，我問前台接待人員是否可以幫我搞到一張歌劇門票。很快，服務周到的接待人員就幫我弄來一張巴黎大歌劇院（Opera Garnier，加尼葉歌劇院）的門票，簡直把我高興壞了。

加尼葉歌劇院坐落在巴黎歌劇大街（Avenue de l’Opéra）的盡頭，歌劇院外部氣勢雄偉，裏麵金碧輝煌，如同一個宮殿一樣，讓人流連忘返，光是參觀這座殿堂，就大大超值門票了。

加尼葉歌劇院 (803許讚華提供)

 

但進入歌劇院後，我大吃一驚——我的正式商務西服太不正式了，可以說是完全不合時宜。這也難怪，除了在影視片中見過一些豪華的場麵，我之前從未出席過這樣隆重的場合。

 

幸運的是，我的座位很好，盡管完全聽不懂演唱的內容（沒有字幕），我還是很享受坐在這裏看表演的，音樂是如此的優美，歌聲也是如此的動聽，可以說是一場視聽盛宴。

加尼葉歌劇院 (803許讚華提供)

直到演出落幕後，我鄰座的一位美國老婦人告訴我歌劇的名字，我才知道這是莫紮特的《鐵托的仁慈》（編者注：這是莫紮特為慶祝利奧波德二世登基而創作的二幕歌劇）。我還發現，這是本季的最後一場演出，這就是為什麽觀眾們的著裝如此正規。

回到酒店以後，帶著無比激動的心情，以及一份沒有字幕也可以照樣欣賞歌劇的自信，在完全不了解詳情的情況下，我又購買了一張第二天晚上的歌劇票。這次的演出地點是巴士歌劇院（Opera Bastille)。

 

巴士?歌劇院與古色古香的加尼葉爾歌劇院相反，是巴黎的一個現代歌劇院，1989年才落成，是從著名的巴士底監獄改建而成的，是巴黎僅次於加尼葉歌劇院的第二大歌劇院。巴士?歌劇院是已故總統密特朗任內的建築大作，就建在巴士底平民階層區。八十年代初，也是這位密特朗總統，從眾多的羅浮宮入口整修競標方案中，選中美籍華人建築師貝聿銘的金字塔建築群設計。今天，這個頗具爭議的金字塔已經成了羅浮宮博物館著名的參觀景點和象征物之一了。

那天，我特意購買了一條深色領帶，以確保我的著裝更適合那晚的觀賞規格。我的座位比前一晚的更棒，就在劇場的中心，離樂隊隻有幾排座位的距離。我很興奮，迫不及待地早早就到了，感覺我是第一個進入劇院的人。

 

然而僅十分鍾後，我的心就開始往下沉——我意識到自己是唯一穿著正規西服的人，大部分觀眾都穿著暑假戶外休閑服，我的著裝與大家格格不入，太尷尬了。更糟糕的是，那是五月中旬，巴黎的天氣又悶又熱，巴士底歌劇院大廳內卻沒有開空調，我開始出汗了！終於，期待的演出在韓裔指揮家鄭明勳的指揮下開始了，然而真正的恐怖此時也拉開了序幕。

 

這部歌劇的音樂是如此的不和諧，如此吵鬧，簡直不堪入耳，我真希望我閉上雙眼的同時也能塞上雙耳！當歌手加入樂隊後，我的情緒達到了最低點，這是令我最痛苦的時刻。他們哪裏像是在唱歌？分明在胡言亂語！如此不和諧，如此煩人，又如此悶熱，我大汗淋漓……但是，我仍然不得不強迫自己坐穩，生怕打擾我的鄰座。

就在這時，我突然意識到，盡管這座歌劇院具有宏偉的建築和新穎漂亮的室內裝飾，但它對我而言，仍然是一座名副其實的監獄！我實在受不了了，每隔一會兒就看一下手表，每次我都預計中場休息即將到來，可它卻沒有，沒有，台上的演出永無休止地進行著……這部歌劇居然沒有中場休息！

 

經過近兩個小時的折磨，我終於從“監獄”裏獲釋了！

 

一回到酒店，我就向一位酒店接待人員展示了這部歌劇的節目資料，向他了解這部歌劇作品。原來，這是捷克現代作曲家賈納切克的《亡者之家》，其劇本是根據陀思妥耶夫斯基的同名小說改編的，碰巧我在康奈爾大學念書時讀過這本書，是關於西伯利亞監獄中政治犯的生活經曆。天啊！今晚，還會有任何其它歌劇更能給我帶來這樣名副其實的監獄體驗嗎？ 

 

這些年來，我心裏一直有一個念頭。那一周我在巴黎24小時之內的兩次歌劇觀賞經曆，也許可以成為一部歌劇主題的好素材，標題就叫“我在巴黎的24小時，天堂到地獄”。

 

作者發表的英語原文：

 

More than a decade ago, I had an interesting encounter when I was on a business trip in Paris. Once arrived at hotel, I asked if the concierge could help me find an opera ticket, which they did by securing one at the Paris grand opera house “Opera Garnier”.

 

Upon entering the opera house, I was shocked to see that my formal business attire was completely out of place. I had never been in such a formal occasion before and AFTERWARDS, and I had only seen similar scenes in movies and operas. Luckily, my seat was very good, and I really enjoyed the performance without understanding anything that had been sung (no subtitles anywhere). The music was so beautiful, and so was the singing. Only after the curtain had fallen, an old lady next to me, an American, told me that it was Mozart’s “Clemency of Tito.” I learned that this was the last show for the season, which explained why it was so formal.

 

With excitement and confidence that I could enjoy an opera without subtitles, I immediately bought a ticket for another show for the following night, without knowing anything about the production. The ticket only said that it would be at Opera Bastille, the newly renovated project that converted the infamous prison into an opera house. To better align my dress code with this event, I purposely bought a dark-colored tie. This time my seat was even better. It was right at the center, just a few rows behind the orchestra pit. I was so excited. I arrived so early that I was probably the first one to enter the house. However, only 10 minutes later my heart started to sink. It occurred to me that I was the ONLY ONE in full business attire. The vast majority of the audience sported summer-outdoor outfit. It was in the middle of May, and the weather has already turned stifling in Paris. Yet, there were no air-conditioning in the theater. I was sweating!

 

Eventually, the music started with Myung-whun Chung (編者注：著名南韓指揮家）conducting, and so did the real horror! The music was so dissonant that I wished I could close my ears as I shut my eyes. When the singers joined the orchestra, the evening reached its lowest point, or the most painful point for me. Were the actors singing? No! They were merely gibberish-talking! So dissonant, so irritating, and so much sweating ... but I still had to force myself to sit tight fearing that any body movement might disturb my neighbors. At this point I came to realize that, despite its magnificent architecture and its new and beautiful interior decoration, this building was still a prison! I checked my watch every minute or so hoping for a break during the intermission. Alas, it never came! There was no intermission for this opera! 

 

After nearly two hours of torture, I eventually got out of the prison. When I got into the hotel, I showed the program brochure, which cost 5 EURO, to a staff, and asked what this opera was about. It was Janacek’s “From the House of the Dead.” Its libretto was based on Dostoevsky’s novel of the same title, which I happened to have read when I was at Cornell University. The story was about the life experience of a political prisoner in a Siberia jail!!! Aha! Could any other operas have brought such fitting experience tonight?

 

Since then, I have been wondering if my experience with these two live opera performances in Paris could be good material for an opera theme, i.e., “Life goes from heaven to hell within 24 hours. "

 

注1：本文根據作者在古典音樂群的聊天記錄整理而成，中文翻譯版本有增補。

注2：圖片除注明外，均來自網絡，版權歸原作者所有。

 

翻譯：許讚華

文圖編輯：許讚華，葉碧蕙

 

排版編輯：俞霄