戴着口罩的合唱

小瓊：在美国，虽然各个城市正在以不同的速度从全球疫情中复苏，现场的室内音乐会仍然非常罕见。不过上个月底，我参加了一个合唱节，这让我感到既惊讶又高兴。

小薇：因为新冠病毒是通过飞沫传播的，所以大多数国家对开口唱歌，尤其是一群人一齐唱歌，难道还不够谨慎吗？我很高兴中国的疫情控制是卓有成效的。

小琼：美国的许多城市已经放宽了对疫情防控的限制，因此人们可以在做好充分预防措施的情况下在室内聚集。但这通常意味着对上座率的限制。为了确保音乐会能够顺利举行，表演者在排练和表演时都佩戴口罩，以减低传染病毒的风险。我参加的是辛辛那提以五月节合唱团为特色的演出，辛辛那提是美国中部的一个城市，由于地处连接东海岸的一条主要河流沿岸，19世纪初因贸易和工业而迅速崛起。许多德国移民在那里定居并参与建造这座城市。你可能已经猜到了，德国人喜欢音乐！

小薇：因此，除了歌剧和交响乐团在那里成立，古老的德国合唱传统也被移植到了辛辛那提？

小琼：的确如此。合唱是市民生活的一部分。辛辛那提交响乐团和辛辛那提歌剧院是作为专业院团成立的，而五月节合唱团则是一个业余团体。五月标志着春天的到来，德国各地的人们用音乐和活动来庆祝万物复苏。当然，辛辛那提的德国移民们在1873年创立了音乐节，这实际上促成了辛辛那提音乐厅的建设，这是一座于1878年落成的建筑地标，至今仍是该市的旅游景点之一。

小薇：所以虽然该合唱团有着悠久的历史，成员们参加演出却没有报酬，只因他们对音乐的热爱而表演！从照片中我们可以看出，歌手们使用的是更舒适的特制口罩，让嘴唇有更大的活动空间。

小琼：今年五月节合唱团的节目清晰地反映出新冠疫情对艺术的影响。以往，合唱团通常有120多名歌手表演大型的交响合唱或清唱剧，观众座位多达2300个；这次，只有一个由24名女性歌手组成的室内合唱团为同样数量锐减的观众表演（24人的男声室内合唱团在一周前刚有机会表演）。

Joan： Indoor concerts are still few and far between in America， as cities are recovering from the global pandemic at their own pace. But late last month， I was surprised and delighted to attend a festival of choral singing.

Valery： Arent most countries still wary of singing， especially in large groups， since the virus spreads through droplets？ Im glad Chinas situation is so much better.

Joan： Many cities in America have relaxed their COVID restrictions， so people can gather indoors with sufficient precaution. This usually means limiting seating capacity. To ensure that concerts can take place， performers wear masks both in rehearsal and performance to reduce the risk of exposure to the public and themselves. The performance I attended featured the May Festival Chorus in Cincinnati， a city in the middle of America that rose in prominence in the early 19th century from both trading and industry because it is located along a major river connecting with the East Coast. Many German immigrants settled there and built the city. As you might have guessed， Germans love music！

Valery： So along with the opera and symphony orchestra， the old German traditions of choral singing were also transplanted to Cincinnati？

Joan： Indeed. Choral singing is part of civic life. While the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Opera were founded as professional organizations， the May Festival Chorus is an avocational group. The month of May marks the arrival of spring， and people all over Germany celebrate with music and events. Naturally， the German immigrants in Cincinnati founded a music festival （in 1873）， which actually led to the building of Cincinnatis Music Hall， an architectural landmark completed in 1878. It is still one of the citys tourist attractions today.

Valery： So theres a long history of choral singing， where members dont get paid but perform solely because of their love of music！ I could see from the photographs that the singers were using special masks that were more comfortable and allowed more space for their lips to move.

Joan： The program for this years May Festival clearly reflected the impact of COVID. The chorus usually features more than 120 singers performing largescale choral symphonies or oratorios， with audience seating of nearly 2，300. This time around， only a chamber choir of 24 women performed for a similarly reduced audience. （The 24-men chamber choir had their chance to perform the week before.）