Tuesday, March 27, 2018

少年派漂流中的生命奧祕

李安再次超越了他自己,他的《少年派漂流记》(Life of Pi)也大大超过了我的预期。电影经过李安的诠释,比书更清晰地将隐含在故事中的灵性层次显现出来:一个少年在一个未知的世界寻求幸存的挣扎中,通过与老虎的互动,将恐惧化为生存的勇气和力量,让冲突浇灌生命之花,结出成长和升华的硕果。


故事情节:从小在动物园长大的印度少年派,在与全家远渡重洋移民加拿大的途中遭遇沉船,除了派之外全船人遇难。派的救生艇上还有几个幸存的动物:受伤的斑马、凶恶的鬣狗、猴子和老虎,这些动物都是派爸爸将动物园中的动物托运在船上准备带到加拿大去出售的。经过动物间的厮杀,最后只剩下派和那只名叫李查德。帕克的老虎。在恶劣和未知的环境中,少年和老虎从你死我活的关系中,磨合出相辅相存的共同目标:幸存。最后船漂流到了墨西哥海岸,老虎钻进丛林,少年获救。保险公司来向派调查沉船一事,调查人员不相信少年与虎同船的这段经历,无奈中,少年派编造了另外一个幸存版本:他与船上一个受伤的水手、派妈妈、船上的厨师一起上了救生艇。途中厨师杀死了水手和派妈妈,并用两人的尸体来钓鱼,愤怒的派随即杀死了厨师。

这部电影好就好在每个人看了都会有不同的感受,想像的层次和空间非常广。

那你到底相信哪一种解释?人是不是需要“相信”这个概念?是不是相信这个故事的存在,是不是相信可知世界中的其他东西,是不是对未知世界也充满信念,这些都是有点玄的问题。我是和老公以及两位朋友一起去看的,看完大家谈感想,每个人都在分析,每个人的理解都差别很大,这其中有东西文化的差别,也有地域和时代的差别,但有一点是共同的,每个人都已经入戏了,为了一部电影中的故事来讨论这是现实还是幻想这两个命题,这本身已经说明大家早已忘记了这仅仅是一个电影故事。

故事中交织了好几条并行的线索:科学与宗教,现实与幻想,恐惧和勇气,苦难和智慧,风格有点象巴洛克时期的帕萨卡利亚(Passacaglia)式的作曲风格,“袖子”上的和声发展变化出主题的各个层面,但“全曲”自始自终贯串著同一条基线:生命在未知世界中探求挣扎和成长这一主题。

电影开始时,各项代表了全球性不同理念的冲突在中年派的回忆叙述中一一登场:

此片的看点很多,除了精湛的演技、摄影和视觉特技(所有动物都是电脑合成)外,故事本身的看点也很多,对我来说故事情节中最耐人寻味的是食肉岛和老虎回归森林前的那段。


该电影的象征意味很浓,电影中两次出现同样的花形象征标记。第一次是少童派在接触印度教时女祭司指点他看宇宙,这时夜空中出现流星般划过的图案,既象犹太教中的生命之花的标记,又象印度教中象征未知的标记。 第二次类式标记出现时,派和老虎在海上,老虎伏在船边似乎陷入沉思,派问老虎:“李查德。帕克,你在看什么?” 此时海面上突然艳光四射,可以一眼望尽海底,派看到了这标记,也看到了让他失去全家的沉船。 可惜两处的象征画面闪得快了一些,看那象征标记看得不太清楚,也似乎没引起同观者的注意,以后看来还要再看一遍电影。
另外有趣的画面是派自制的橡皮筏。


该电影对每个平常人都有意义,因为它讨论的是生命的成长。成长是痛苦的,或许派的故事仅仅是一种幻想,但其中传达的讯息却能应用到日常生活,即使是最平常的人也会有恐惧和担忧,即使置身于我们最熟悉的环境,也还有我们所未知的世界如生老病死,如何去面对,如何从恐惧和挣扎中去发现勇气和力量,是我们每个人都要学习的人生课题。苦难能够摧毁人,也能锻炼人,少年派那种永不放弃的执著,是一种坚不可摧的精神力量,在唯物主义世界观中长大的我们,或许对那种无形无权的精神力很难理解,这就是有信念和没有信念的区别,信念可以化无为有,化腐朽为神奇。

对我个人来说,这部电影刻在我心中的关键词有两个:探寻与信念。在未知的世界中探寻一种激发生命的精神力量,是我试图与更高阶之灵连接的愿望。每个人的灵性连接方式不同,有些人需要探寻,在不断探索和批评的否定之否定中修成正果;有些人需要用身心去顶礼膜拜来净化自己;有些人用服务社会行善来积德 ⋯⋯大千世界,既然造物主造出了不同的人,也一定会允许人用不同的方式去连接神灵,这就是信念,相信真善美,相信连接,相信奇迹!但又不是盲信,而是用知识和经验陶冶性情以后的坚信。©H.L.Glennie 

博文中所有图片来自网络,称谢摄影师!





Friday, March 16, 2018

John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, A Passion Oratorio

A few days ago, I saw Oratorio the first time in my life.  When I think of the word "oratorio", I think of Bach.  As much as an avid fan of Bach, my first oratorio was composed by contemporary musician John Adams.  It was a very interesting experience.

As a genre, I like oratorio for its religious theme, singing and instrument ensemble.  The music was modern, complex, rich and powerful.  Because of its modern roots, the music was darker than I thought, full of dissonance.  Peter Sellar's libretto was beautiful and imaginative, telling the bible story from both biblical and modern-day women's perspective: the sisters Mary and Martha from bible, and Dorothy Day of our time.  This was aimed at having bible story alive reflecting the modern day life.

I enjoyed all the singers.  Mary played by Kelley O'Connor was dynamic and passionate; Martha played by Tamara Mumford was deep and reflective; I particularly like Lazarus played by Zach Borichevsky.  This tenor got a beautiful timbre and high register in his effortless brightly mellow voice.  It was so bright that I felt it got Pavarotti's timbre.  The three countertenors and University of Maryland choir were all great!

The orchestra was very rich with lots of instruments new to my ears.  I enjoyed hearing a couple of Japanese string instrument, one of them looking like a fancy grill:).  I love the Chinese gong!  The brass instruments at times were too loud, overpowering the singing, a drawback probably can easily be fixed with conducting.

The score as a standing-alone piece would be really good to convey the theme of the oratorio.  When singing with English lyrics, it sounds a little uncomfortable.  The first song by O'Connor was very good, the rhythm going well with the syncopated pronouciation, but lots of other songs sounded awkward, as if music notes suited for legato singing being used for syncopated lyrics.   Hubby asked whether English was a bad language for music.  I said it didn't have to be.  For example, Rogers and Hammerstein's Sound of Music flows beautifully with lyrics and score in perfect harmony.

We went to a pre-show lecturer where John Adams was one of five speakers.  Along with him were theologians and Sister Helen Prejean.  It was an inspirational talk.  Adams was a very good speaker. He appears sincere, modest, and sophisticated.  Speakers talked about the oratorio from their own perspective: death penalty and suffering, homelessness, womanhood, etc.  Particularly interesting was Adam's description about how he created this oratorio.

Overall, I gave the oratorio a very good rating.

Thursday, March 8, 2018

聊聊音乐剧《廊桥遗梦》Review Musical: The Bridges of Madison County



聊聊音乐剧《廊桥遗梦》
文/牛娃娃 ©H.L.Glennie

看了音乐剧《廊桥遗梦》,觉得是一部失败之作。我为什么要写剧评?因其失败的原因值得聊聊。此剧失败的原因大致可以归结如下:

 ©H.L.Glennie


这多品种音乐的汇集本身应该是好事,很有创意,但问题是各品种之间缺乏音乐的过渡,观众一直在充满割裂感的音乐中打滚,一点也进不了角色。好像是小孩子说话,前言不搭后语。作曲家因此剧荣获2014年东尼奖,这我就一点也不懂了,我向来很尊敬东尼奖得主,可这位我实在不敢苟同。或许将每首歌分开来听还算好听吧,可音乐剧的音乐还是应该以表现剧情为主,否则就是喧宾夺主了。

整出剧情好像是完全由歌词和台词来陈述,音乐成了背景,这完全是反音乐剧初衷的。它的表现力与同名电影相比,后者是天,前者是地。梅丽尔。史翠普和克林特。伊斯特伍德的同名电影之所以感人一是演员演技高,二是电影语言本身丰富,记得电影中罗伯特汽车上的左拐灯在拐弯处久久不愿离去,这个镜头令人肝肠寸断,一点也不输于大卫。李恩的电影语言,绝对是经典!
©H.L.Glennie


还有就是两个孩子吵架尖叫的对白太多,这里完全可以用音乐中的主导动机来表达,只要这俩孩子的主导动机一响,观众就可以知道他们在吵架。这样可以将省下的时间用于发展男女主角的性格。

此音乐剧对剧情的诠释搞得观众不明白罗伯特和弗朗切斯卡干嘛会相爱、弗朗切斯卡为啥要“牺牲”自己的爱情,这是我走出剧场时听到的观众交谈内容,我是一边听一边摇头。还有就是剧中对白有不少搞笑的段子,整出剧成了喜剧,这也有悖于此剧原作的基调。

音乐剧本该以歌舞和音乐为主,白话太多,还不如演话剧,何苦搞什么音乐剧。象这出音乐剧半白话半音乐,结果是两边都不到岸,话没说明白,音乐也不动人。

这部剧的剧本作者是大名鼎鼎的普利策剧奖得主玛夏。诺曼(Marsha Norman),作曲家本人也是东尼奖得主,只是名家不一定每部作品都是珍珠。搞不懂此剧是剧作家还是导演占了上风,按照她(他)的意愿来诠释此剧,最荒唐的一幕就是弗朗切斯卡和罗伯特共进晚餐时的浪漫时光是由罗伯特的前妻玛丽安来演唱述说的,台上一边是两人晚餐的背景,一边是前妻搬来一张椅子,拿起吉他在唱,唱得倒不错,可对剧情来说实在是煞风景。

第三,最令我反感的莫过于剧中的“邻居们”自始自终坐在台上“观看”,或许此剧导演想搞现代派的离间效果,我并不反对剧中有离间效果,可离间效果在此内容和形式上都不适合剧情。

 ©H.L.Glennie

最后,演员的演出还算不错,男主角罗伯特嗓音和扮相都好,女主角弗朗切斯卡由伊丽莎白。斯丹利演,她表演不错,但她的歌喉不到家,低音部好的,高音部上不去了,从低处往高走时真嗓和假嗓之间没有过渡,音色突然变暗,音质突然变薄,简直跟跳崖没啥两样。话又说回来,或许也不全是她的问题,她的歌谱难唱,音域广,高低之间缺乏过渡,从百老汇的真嗓唱法一下子要跳到歌剧中的美声唱法,这需要莎拉。布莱曼这样的本事,斯丹利显然没这能力胜任。

每年要看几部音乐剧,这部大概是我所看到的音乐剧中最糟的一部,但此剧多个单项又获得不少东尼奖的提名,我也看不懂,不知业内人士是喜欢割裂感强的东西呢还是追求名人效应。尽管此剧从恋爱的主题来看是一种割裂感,可这并不意味剧中每个元素都需要割裂,这是我不明白之处。至于评论界对此剧的看法,差不多是对半开,支持派大赞,反对派大批,我这人从来不爱做极端的事,可这回没选择,只好跟反对派站一起。写出来,算是给音乐剧百花园中的一朵留个思想记录吧。 ©H.L.Glennie

本文所有图片均来自网络,诚谢作者!所附音乐为此剧中几个插曲,请点击播放器欣赏。该剧主题乐还未开禁,暂且不能上传。


我的其他剧评博文:


1,Who we are and who we want to be




2,One second and a million miles



3, Before and after you





4, Always better





5, Home before you know it





6,When I'm gone

Friday, March 2, 2018

Don Carlo

Saw Verdi's Don Carlo on Wednesday.  It was a large ensemble.  Singers all performed well in various degrees.

My favorite was Princess Eboli performed by Jamie Barton.  She did a fantastic job in singing and performed with a total passion.  Leah Crocetto played Elisabeth of Valois.  She did as well as what I expected. Eric Owens played Philip II.  As always, he did a great job in singing with all the nuances of passion flowing through his mellow voice.  Quinn Kelsey did a decent job in interpreting the role of Marquis of Posa.  The Grand Inquisitor played by Andrea Silvestrelli was fun.  I did not particularly care about the quality of his voice but he got a great stage presence.  His voice quality matched well with the role.  Russel Thomas who played Don Carlo was rather weak in both singing and performing. His voice was a bit thin on that night.  He performed in a rather detached way so that I felt a bit distance from his supposed emotion for the role.


It was a full house because the whole theatre complex was full of lines/people for getting the ticket of Hamilton.  This was the ticket sale for members only, imagining what would be like if it opens sale for the general public!  I never saw any mob scene like this.  People started to wait outside at 4AM before the door opened at 10AM.  The lady sitting next to my seat told me she came at 8:00AM.  After eight hours' waiting, the only tickets left were those with the price tag of $600+.  I'm glad I decided early on to pass this one.  With all the effort going into getting the ticket, the expectation gets to be sky high, a perfect condition for a huge disappointment.