The Adventuresome Soprano1

By Norman Gilliland

∷李麦逊 译

Anna Riviere was one of the most admired of 19th-century English sopranos. She was also one of the most adventuresome.

She was born in London on January 9th, 1810.She entered the Royal Academy of Music at the age of 14. Seven years later, just after her professional debut2. debut: 首演。, Anna married Sir Henry Bishop, who was 24 years her senior. Her reputation as a singer grew rapidly, based largely on her tours with Sir Henry and harpist3. harpist: 竖琴表演家。Nicholas Bochsa. After a tour of Dublin, Edinburgh, and London, Anna Bishop deserted her husband and three children and eloped4. elope: 私奔。with Bochsa—who was reputed to be a forger and bigamist.5. forger: 伪造者，欺骗者；bigamist: 重婚者。

From then on, Madame Bishop—as she continued to be known—traveled and sang as if her life depended on it. Between 1839 and 1843 she traveled to every major town in Europe, where she sang in 260 concerts. In the course of two years in Naples,she performed in 20 operas. In 1855 she and Bochsa sailed for Sydney, Australia. He died there the following year, and Anna went on to tour South America before returning to New York, where she married a diamond merchant.

Then she began what proved her most dangerous adventure. After another American tour in 1866,she and her husband set sail across the Paci fic.They were shipwrecked6. shipwreck: 海难，船只失事。on a small coral reef, and for more than a month they drifted in a small boat before they finally reaching Guam. She had lost her music, her wardrobe, and her jewelry, but Madame Bishop was not to be stopped. She went on to Manila and began a concert tour that led to Hong Kong, Singapore, and India before she went back to England. After another two-year world tour she returned eventually to New York, where she gave her last public performance in 1883—at age 73.

Meanwhile the husband she left behind, Sir Henry, had become famous for writing the music to lyrics that might eventually have been meaningful to Anna Bishop—“Home, Sweet Home.”

安娜·瑞维尔是19世纪英国最杰出的女高音之一。同时，她也是最为“胆大妄为”的一位艺术家。

安娜1810年1月9日出生于伦敦，14岁时进入皇家音乐学院。7年后（就在她首演后不久），她嫁给了年长她24岁的亨利·比肖爵士。当然，安娜能够在演唱事业上蒸蒸日上，在很大程度上得益于她和亨利爵士、竖琴师尼古拉斯·波奇萨的巡回演出。在都柏林、爱丁堡、伦敦的巡演后，安娜·比肖抛弃了她的丈夫和三个孩子，和波奇萨私奔了。波奇萨因为撒谎和重婚臭名昭著。

从那时起，比肖夫人人气不减。她旅行、演出，似乎她的生活理应如此。从1839年到1843年，她走遍了欧洲的每一个城市，举办了260场音乐会。其中在那不勒斯的两年间，她就出演了20场歌剧。1855年，她和波奇萨远航澳大利亚的悉尼。次年，波奇萨死在那里。安娜继续她的南美巡演，后来返回纽约，在那里，她下嫁于一个钻石商人。

随后，安娜开始了她最危险的举动。在1866年另一轮美洲巡演之后，她和她丈夫开始横跨太平洋的航行。他们的船因触礁失事，他们在一个小船上整整漂流了一个月才到达关岛。她的乐器、演出行头以及珠宝首饰全部都弄丢了，但比肖夫人并没有被吓倒，在返回英国之前，她继续前往马尼拉、香港、新加坡和印度巡演。在另一次为期两年的世界巡演之后，她终于返回纽约。1883年，在纽约，安娜以73岁高龄举办了她一生中最后一次公开演出。

而被他抛弃的前夫——亨利·比肖爵士，因为给一首抒情诗《家，甜蜜的家》谱曲而一举成名。这首歌曲对于安娜·比肖而言，可能终归还有点意义。