http://www.grandhotels.com.cn/eWebEditor_V280_Free_sp1/UploadFile/200722161629538.jpgVoigt triumphs in 'Salome'" TITLE="沃伊特成功饰演“莎乐美” Voigt triumphs in 'Salome'" />

     沃伊特成功饰演“莎乐美”  Voigt triumphs in 'Salome'
当人们谈论起芝加哥歌剧院的新制作《莎乐美》时，可以津津乐道于美国著名女高音黛博拉"沃伊特当初因为穿不下导演为角色设想的“小黑裙”而被科文特花园皇家歌剧院除名，也可以调侃一下现代减肥手术的好处和弊端。

     沃伊特在成功减肥手术后恢复了健康的体态，却演绎了一位拥有极端不健康思想的年轻女士。1905年《莎乐美》的首演震惊了世界；而10月21日晚上，它仍然令世界为之疯狂。

     歌剧《莎乐美》在德累斯顿的首演距今已有101年，然而理查"施特劳斯的旋律至今仍馥郁且动人心魄。

     众所周知，人们说起“莎乐美”这个角色时，首先会想到特里萨"斯特拉塔斯或者卡丽塔"玛蒂拉，而且后者也许还是当今唯一一位能在完全遵循乐谱得前提下，还能用令人惊讶的精度、力度和美感来诠释那些频繁出现的超高难度唱段的歌唱家。

     女高音德博拉"沃伊特可谓当今的“施特劳斯专家”，她的好嗓音可以说是与生俱来的。在当晚的演出中，她更展示了惊人的演唱技巧。当然，还有那“七层面纱舞”。当然，沃伊特的歌喉远比她的舞蹈来得出彩，但她仍然跳得相当卖力。当她绕着扮演希律王的英国男高音金"贝格利忘我地旋转时，沃伊特是如此性感。虽然有时这种性感表现得不够细腻，她还是完美地演绎了那幕场景。

     尽管新制作中没有放在银盘上的血淋淋的头颅，沃伊特饰演的莎乐美本身已足以表现整个故事，并且与众不同。她令听众为之疯狂。演出结束后，所有的观众都情不自禁地站起来热烈鼓掌，喝彩长达12分钟，直至舞台灯光熄灭。

     扮演先知约翰的美国低男中音阿兰"海尔德，当晚的表现令人难忘，他的声音与沃伊特相当契合，不过他夸张的假发却在莎乐美赞美他美丽的头发时招致观众的一片笑声。第一次饰演希律王的英国男高音金"贝格利，完美诠释了希律王的性格中的弱点和空虚。加拿大女中音朱迪斯"福斯特是一位经验相当丰富的王后埃罗迪亚斯，却被她的服装限制不能尽情发挥。而年轻的加拿大男高音约瑟夫"凯撒则演绎了一位感人的奈拉伯斯。

     此次，曾担任过很长时间艺术指导的导演弗朗西丝卡"赞贝罗在马修"爱泼斯坦离开芝加哥歌剧院的领导层后，她在歌剧院终于有了新作。在芝加哥歌剧院新版《莎乐美》中，她赋予了歌剧很多东方特色。舞美方面，看一下奥古斯塔夫"莫罗和让-里昂"纪绕姆的艺术作品，你就能理解服装设计塔蒂亚娜的设计灵感，以及造型设计理查德"贾威的孔雀羽毛和手镯创意。

     当恐怖的希律王宣布结束莎乐美的生命时，导演弗朗西丝卡"赞贝罗稍稍改动了结局，以保证沃伊特能在舞台上待到最后一分钟。通常，莎乐美最后应该是被盾击而死，但赞贝罗却让沃伊特独自站在舞台上。此时，哑巴刽子手拿着曾经绑住先知约翰的绳子将她勒死……

     从动脉手术康复后的安德鲁"戴维斯第一次担任了芝加哥歌剧院这个乐季的音乐总监，并担任《莎乐美》演出的指挥。戴维斯执棒下的歌剧院交响乐团很好地把握了整个歌剧的音乐风格，且富于异国风味。                          

It was no surprise that the formerly fat lady sang - and magnificently - in the opening of Richard Strauss' "Salome" at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Soprano Deborah Voigt is a celebrated Strauss specialist, so her vocal glory was almost a given. But Voigt showed off some considerable acting skill Saturday night, as well; and she also got to dance and disrobe - at least partially.

And even when she died, as all Salomes must, Voigt did so with a difference.

Voigt, 46, has portrayed the perverse biblical teenager before, but only in concert, so her stage debut in the role was highly anticipated. And most of that anticipation had more to do with her figure than with her voice, which was never in question.

Voigt made unhappy headlines in 2003 when London's Covent Garden fired her from a less sexually charged Strauss role because her weight wouldn't let her fit into a dress her character was required to wear. She underwent radical stomach surgery in 2004 and has since lost a reported 140 pounds.

So "Salome" represented both a coming-out and a challenge.

Ever since its debut at Dresden in 1905, "Salome" has been a nightmare for opera casting directors. The title character is supposed to be a teenager, but Strauss wrote the role for dramatic soprano, which is rarely a young woman's voice. And to ride over the composer's large German orchestra, the singer needs almost Wagnerian power, which is usually accompanied by Wagnerian girth.

The relatively slender Phyllis Curtin achieved fame in the early 1950s by being the first Salome in decades who more or less looked the part. And perhaps the most vocally distinguished Salome of the past half-century was the late Birgit Nilsson, who was never suspected of anorexia.

But even Nilsson's legion of devoted fans tend to dismiss her rendition of the crucial "Dance of the Seven Veils" as "a game attempt."

Voigt, however, pushed the dance as far as she could. When she swirled around before English tenor Kim Begley's Tetrarch Herod, Voigt had erotic power, though it was quite crudely expressed at some moments. She really didn't take much off while dancing, but she ended the routine in a flesh-colored body stocking, doing a full-frontal pelvic thrust - albeit through a semitransparent scrim.

Voigt is a far better singer than she is a dancer, but choreographer Jane Comfort did her best to disguise that fact.

Voigt clearly reveled in the physicality of the role. She used her now healthy-looking body to create a convincing illusion of a most unhealthy-minded young lady.

That unhealthiness is important. "Salome" was a shocker in 1905; and in the right hands, which it was Saturday night, it still is. Despite its biblical origins, "Salome" is not family entertainment. The family it depicts would probably be rejected by Jerry Springer or Maury Povich for questions of taste. The background adultery of Herod and his now-wife, Herodias (sung by Canadian mezzo Judith Forst), would be fine. But Herod's incestuous yen for Salome, who is both his stepdaughter and his niece, might be iffy. And Salome's necrophiliac scene with the severed head of John the Baptist wouldn't make the cut at all.

"Salome" has its roots in Mark 6:21-29 (where the depraved Judean princess is never named). But it's filtered through the sensibilities of Oscar Wilde, who wrote the play on which it is based, and of Strauss himself. Wilde, wisely considering the reaction of British censors, wrote his original in French. And although Strauss later mellowed into musical conservatism and subtler story lines, in 1905 he was still in a phase described by H.L. Mencken as "Old Home Week in Gomorrah."

In depicting Salome, Voigt relied on well-chosen movements and the power and subtleties of her voice. She was helped by the psychological skill of Strauss' orchestration, which is thunderous at times, but is pared down to muffled timpani and the skittering of a solo oboe at telling moments.

She made the listener understand her character, and that can be a frightening thing. The audience members shot up at the end for an automatic standing ovation, and they clapped and cheered for 12 minutes before the stage lights were turned off.

As Jochanaan (John the Baptist), American bass-baritone Alan Held was an imposing physical presence and a good vocal match for Voigt, but his dreadlocked wig brought laughter that broke the spell for a moment when Salome was enraptured over the beauty of his hair.

Begley, who was singing his first Herod, did a fine job of bringing out his character's weakness and vanity, and Forst, a veteran Herodias, was hampered only by a silly costume. And young Canadian tenor Joseph Kaiser was affecting as Narraboth, the smitten captain of the guard who kills himself over Salome.

Music director Sir Andrew Davis handled the complex score extremely well, and the expressionist white-muslin sets by designer George Tsypin added to the magic.

But it was Voigt's night.

And to keep the Illinois soprano in the spotlight to the very last, stage director Francesca Zambello changed the ending, when the horrified Herod orders Salome's death. The princess is normally crushed to death under soldiers' shields. But Zambello had Voigt stand alone on stage as the mute executioner strangled her with a rope once used to bind Jochanaan.