后疫情时代的歌剧（上）

Joanna C.Lee

小琼：首先，祝贺广州大剧院成功在6月将歌剧《马可·波罗》搬上舞台，并向公众敞开了剧院的大门。这是国内疫情后的首部歌剧制作。唉，美国的歌剧院要开门还早着呢。

小薇：而在欧洲，西班牙马德里皇家歌剧院成为首个开门迎接观众的歌剧院。7月1日至29日，威尔第的《茶花女》在此上演，总共演出27场。

小琼：马德里皇家歌剧院想了不少巧妙的方法，来应对政府对疫情防控的严格要求。当然他们也理解公众无处抒发的文化需求，因此将先前定下的在29天里演出19场的计划，增加到了27场。首先，指挥的任务由两位指挥家共同分担，而演唱任务则由多人轮换完成：有5位女高音出演薇奥莱塔，4位男高音出演阿尔弗雷多，还有4位男中音饰演热尔蒙。

小薇：那乐團怎么办呢？在乐池里如何保持社交距离？

小琼：歌剧院把乐池设置为最大扩建面积的140平方米（平时是留给演奏瓦格纳或施特劳斯作品的大型乐团的）。而《茶花女》的乐队编制只需要56人，所以每个乐手都分配到了一个立式谱架，两人座位间距不小于1.5米。管乐区域也用了亚克力屏风隔开。连台上的乐队都有充足的空间。

小薇：合唱团跟主角怎么办？难道两位有情人都不与对方相互接触吗？

小琼：要知道艺术家都很有创造力！导演列奥·卡斯塔尔蒂为演出设计了半舞台制作版本，在保证大家安全的同时还保留了戏剧的特质，尤其是效果丰富的灯光设计。舞台的地板甚至墙面上都画上了长宽各两米的方格，一部分是为了确保演员不会乱走动，同时也在故事展开的过程中增添了色彩和质感。你说得没错，独唱演员确实没有接触对方，但这恰恰进一步突出了这个悲伤爱情故事里的隐隐苦痛。导演卡斯塔尔蒂甚至称这些格子为精神上“囚禁”的象征。

小薇：观众呢？我听说欧洲在防止人群聚集方面政策很严格。

小琼：跟亚洲的不少音乐厅一样，目前马德里皇家歌剧院允许的容纳人数被限制在原有座位数的二分之一。希望疫情能够好转，随后这一比例也会逐步提高。

Joan： First of all， congratulations to the Guangzhou Opera House for putting on Marco Polo in June and opening its doors to the audience. It marked the first Chinese opera production in the post-COVID era. Alas， American opera houses are lagging far behind.

Valery： But Madrids Teatro Real was the first in Europe to welcome the audience. Between July 1 and 29， Verdis La Traviata appears on stage for a total of 27 performances.

Joan： The Teatro Real has devised some ingenious ways to follow strict health protection measures mandated by the government. Yet they also understand the publics pent-up demand for culture， which is why they increased their planned run from 19 performances to 27 within the 29-day period. First of all， two conductors share the workload， with a large rotation of leading singers throughout the run： 5 sopranos playing Violetta， 4 tenors playing Alfredo and 4 baritones playing Germont.

Valery： What about the orchestra？ How can they maintain distance in the pit？

Joan： The opera house extended the size of the pit to its maximum （140 square meters， normally reserved for massive Wagner or Strauss orchestras）.With only 56 musicians required for Traviata， each person is assigned a music stand and everyone sits at a minimum distance of 1.5 meters from each other. Plexiglass dividers are also used in the wind section. Even the on-stage band has ample space.

Valery： What about the chorus and the main characters？ You mean our lovers never touch？

Joan： Always remember， artists are creative！ Director Leo Castaldi conceived a semi-staged production that keeps everyone safe， yet preserves some of the drama， especially with effective lighting design. The stage floor and even the walls are marked with square grids measuring 2 by 2 meters， partly to ensure that everyone stays in place， but also to add color and texture as the story unfolds. Youre right that the soloists dont touch， but that only further accentuates the latent anguish in this sad love story. Director Castaldi even refers to the grids as symbols of psychological “imprisonment.”

Valery： What about the audience？ I have heard that Europe was very strict regarding keeping people apart.

Joan： As in many Asian concert halls， seating capacity in Madrids Teatro Real is now restricted to 50 percent. Hopefully， the situation will improve， and gradually the percentage will increase.