众神山、地狱和人间的戏剧——英国国家歌剧院《地狱中的奥尔菲斯》与英国皇家歌剧院《魂断威尼斯》观后

Heaven,Hell and the human race:On ENO’s Orpheus in the Underworld and ROH’s Death in Venice

希腊神话是个取之不尽用之不竭的文学宝藏,英国国家歌剧院《地狱中的奥尔菲斯》(Orpheus In The Underworld)和皇家歌剧院《魂断威尼斯》(Death in Venice)两部歌剧中,都有希腊神话的元素——《地狱中的奥尔菲斯》里,奥尔菲斯和优丽狄茜这对恋人,在奥林匹斯山上和地狱中,同众神合演了一出诙谐荒诞、悲喜交织的戏剧;在《魂断威尼斯》中,太阳神和酒神出现在主人公的梦中,还有一个美如希腊神灵的现代人织入这一有些神秘而又令人心悸不安与悲伤的故事。

Offenbach’s sparkling operetta was well sung,but English National Opera’s production of Orpheus in the Underworld was dead on arrival.This production was the second in a series of four operas on the Orpheus legend at the ENO this season,with Emma Rice making her debut.The strip of sea evoking the Lido in Venice was emblematic of David McVicar’s new staging of Benjamin Britten’s final opera,Death in Venice,not seen at the Royal Opera House since 1992.David McVicar’s new production is a brooding and elusive meditation on the tribulations of aging creativity and its relationship to death and desire.