最难忘的一次采访

When people ask me about my most memorable interview of the perhaps thousands I have done at China Daily there is usually little hesitation in my response.

作为一名中国日报的记者，我进行过上千次采访，但每当人们问起我最难忘的一次，我回答起来都毫不犹豫。

Although there are others that stand out also the one I did with the great Russian pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy is the one I most fondly recollect.

虽然还有其他难忘的采访经历，但我最怀念的，是采访伟大的俄罗斯钢琴家弗拉基米尔·阿什肯纳齐（Vladimir Ashkenazy）。

Even the way it was set up was slightly bizarre. I happened to be listening to one of his trademark performances of Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto while cooking dinner one evening when the phone rang.

这次采访甚至连安排方式也有点奇怪。某天晚上，我正一边做晚饭，一边听拉赫玛尼诺夫的第三钢琴协奏曲，这是阿什肯纳齐的经典演出。这时，电话铃响了。

“Ashkenazy here,” said the deep voice on the line. Of course, I had been in contact with his agent but the last thing I expected was to be telephoned directly by the great man himself.

“我是阿什肯纳齐，”电话里传来一个低沉的声音。虽然我一直在联系他的经纪人，但我万万没想到这位伟大的音乐家会直接与我通话。

We agreed to do the interview in the Hilton Beijing Wangfujing on the eve of him performing at the National Center for Performing Arts.

我们商量好在北京王府井的希尔顿酒店进行采访，当晚他将在国家大剧院进行演出。

He could not have been more amenable. He even agreed to play the hotel’s piano (out of bounds for ordinary guests) in honky-tonk fashion for our photographer.

他简直有求必应。他甚至同意用酒吧钢琴乐的风格，在摄像机前弹奏酒店（为普通客人提供的）钢琴。

I was reminded of the encounter after recently catching up with Wray Armstrong, the Beijing-based classical music promoter behind the recent successful production in China of “Dream of the Red Chamber”, the opera based on the classical novel.

最近我与瑞·阿姆斯特朗（Wray Armstrong）交谈一番之后，又回想起了那次会面。阿姆斯特朗目前在北京工作，日前成功上演的歌剧《红楼梦》中的古典音乐便由他的经纪公司代理。

Classical music returning to China after the “cultural revolution” (1966-76) was among the subjects we discussed.

交谈中，我们探讨了“文化大革命”之后古典音乐在中国的回归。

Ashkenazy, now 80 and a regular performer in China for many years, played a significant role in this.

阿什肯纳齐现年80岁，多年来常常来到中国演出，在中国古典音乐重建方面发挥了重要作用。

When he worked in London Armstrong represented the late Isaac Stern, who made the film “Mao to Mozart” and perhaps did more than anyone from the West in re-establishing this musical form in China.

阿姆斯特朗还在伦敦工作时，曾是已故的艾萨克·斯特恩（Isaac Stern）的经纪人。纪录电影《从毛泽东到莫扎特》（From Mao to Mozart）便是以斯特恩为主角，而且在中国重建这种音乐形式的时候，斯特恩算是贡献最大的西方人。

The progress in this area often goes under the radar. For one, China’s classical music audiences themselves often come in for criticism. People noisily eating, mobile phones going off during performances and bored embassy officials on the front row wishing there were somewhere else are among the usual stereotypes.

这一领域的进展并不引人注目。首先，中国的古典音乐听众经常受人指摘。常见的刻板印象包括大声吃东西、演出期间手机铃声大作、大使馆官员百无聊赖又不情不愿地坐在前排。

As anyone who regularly goes to concerts here knows, there is, however, a real hard core of very knowledgeable enthusiasts.

然而，在中国，经常去听音乐会的人都知道，这里也有真正的铁杆爱好者，他们见识广博、几近狂热。

There are also more imaginative and less conservative programs being performed here. It is no longer just about serving up an endless diet of Tchaikovsky and Beethoven symphonies to bring in the numbers.

演奏的曲目也更加新颖，不再老派。演出不再为了赚的盆满钵盈而只表演老一套的柴可夫斯基和贝多芬交响乐。

The standard of China’s musicians has improved. Many of the world’s best orchestras now have Chinese players.

中国音乐家的水平也已经提高了。许多世界顶级乐团都有来自中国的成员。

According to Armstrong we are now only about two decades away from China having a number of world-class Chinese orchestras.

阿姆斯特朗认为，只需再等二十年的时间，中国将产生一批世界级的交响乐团。

He says the playing talent is already there but what is lacking is the “interpretation and the traditions of interpretation.”

他表示，中国并不缺少演奏人才，但缺少“演绎与对演绎的传承”。

If so, Chinese orchestras would have made the same journey as those of Japan over the past 30 years with a number of them now considered elite.

若是这样，许多中国交响乐团将会像过去三十年的日本乐团一样，历经发展之后变得出类拔萃。

Chinese orchestras going round the world would certainly chime with one of the messages of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s report to the CPC 19th National Congress about exporting Chinese cultural soft power.

中国国家主席习近平在中国共产党第十九次全国代表大会上的报告中也谈及中国要输出文化软实力，中国交响乐团的国际化也响应了这一号召。

Armstrong, himself, plans to take the “Dream”opera on a European tour in 2019 when it may feature in the Proms season in London.

歌剧版《红楼梦》将于2019年进行欧洲巡演，由阿姆斯特朗亲自率团，届时还将在伦敦的逍遥音乐会（The Proms）中亮相。

Although it is a San Francisco Opera production, many of the performers will be from China.

尽管这部歌剧为旧金山歌剧院出品，但剧中许多演员都来自中国。

What we appear to be seeing is a culmination of the work over many decades of Stern, Ashkenazy and not forgetting others such as Yu Long, founder of the Beijing Music Festival and chief conductor of the China Philharmonic, finally producing results.

在中国，斯特恩、阿什肯纳齐等人几十年来的作品达到了极盛期，同时北京音乐节的创始人、中国爱乐乐团首席指挥余隆等音乐家也势头正劲，我们似乎正见证中国古典乐的开花结果。

Although it has yet to grab the headlines, music might be one of the surprising areas where China becomes center stage. A full circle may have turned.

尽管这一现象还登不上头版头条，但中国将出人意料地成为音乐领域的中心舞台。这大抵又是新一轮的循环往复。

译者：张思琦