与年轻艺术家的曼谷之约

小琼：每次发现新歌剧作品、新星指挥家或是新秀歌手，总是令人兴奋的。2024年年底在曼谷，我很高兴同时遇见了这三者！

小薇：有时候，歌剧艺术的呈现富有创意。你是去看了暹罗协会在成立120周年之际制作的《1907：拉玛五世欧洲歌剧之旅》吧。根据网上资料，这部作品中概述了朱拉隆功国王（拉玛五世）在欧洲看过的歌剧，引用了他写给女儿的信，更加上欧洲歌剧院的史料。

小琼：暹罗协会的这场演出由27岁的指挥家黄国能领衔，他以无比的自信执棒暹罗小交响乐团。显然，他对曲目和故事情节都非常熟悉。朱拉隆功国王信件中的描述，以及字里行间对歌剧情节、表演和观众的观察，有一种非常个人化的感觉。在这次欧洲旅行中，拉玛五世在5月至9月期间在伦敦、巴黎、佛罗伦萨和都灵共观看了七部歌剧。除了《茶花女》和《歌女乔康达》，还有英文版的《风流寡妇》（当然是在伦敦）以及巴黎制作的《蝴蝶夫人》。在这部新作品的《风流寡妇》和《蝴蝶夫人》选段表演中，我遇到了一位年轻的中国歌手穆宇，她出演剧名主角。她的搭档是新加坡男中音吴翰卫。

小薇：我听说穆宇是曼谷著名的玛希隆大学的博士生。

小琼：是的，她毕业于中国音乐学院声乐表演专业，2023年在玛希隆大学开始攻读音乐表演博士学位。该大学是一所拥有国际教师的学校，教学语言为英语。我们聊了聊她曼谷的求学生活，穆宇强调泰国是一个非常安全的地方，气候非常宜人。

小薇：那课程设置呢？

小琼：学生接受国际教师教授指导，深入地学习和研究音乐和戏剧诠释。去年，穆宇在学校演了莫扎特的《剧院经理》，今年春天，她将在吉安·卡洛·梅诺蒂的《电话》中亮相。课程除了要求提交一篇研究论文（英文）外，还需要三场完整的独唱会：其中的两场由咏叹调和艺术歌曲组成（用4种不同的语言演唱，但不包括她的母语中文），以及一场关于课题研究的独唱会。

小薇：这真令人佩服。在一个离中国这么近的国家，在真正的国际环境中学习是多么好的机会啊！

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！