為什么說郎朗回歸是古典音樂界一大盛事？

For more than a year, the pianist Lang Lang has been largely out of commission with an injured left arm — a major loss, since he is one of classical music’s biggest and most bankable stars. Google the phrase “superstar concert pianist,” and Mr. Lang’s name pops up right away. He played during the televised opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and jammed with Metallica at the 2014 Grammy Awards.

一年多來，鋼琴演奏家郎朗由于左臂受傷基本上無法演出，這是一個很大的損失，因為他是古典音樂最大、最賣座的明星之一。用谷歌搜索“superstar concert pianist”(超級明星 音樂會鋼琴家)，郎朗的名字馬上呈現(xiàn)在眼前。他曾在全球直播的2008年北京夏季奧運會開幕式上演奏，并在2014年的格萊美頒獎典禮上與Metallica樂隊飚琴。

But Mr. Lang has retained establishment cred, remaining one of the handful of go-to stars for opening night and gala concerts at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. His return to the stage on Friday — to headline the season opener at Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home in the Berkshires — is being closely watched not only by his fans, but also by the music industry.

不過，郎朗保持著在業(yè)界的地位，仍是為數(shù)不多的幾位林肯中心(Lincoln Center)和卡內(nèi)基音樂廳(Carnegie Hall)開幕夜和慶典音樂會首選明星之一。因此，他本周五重返舞臺——為波士頓交響樂團(Boston Symphony Orchestra)在伯克希爾丘陵夏季駐地唐格爾伍德的演出季首演中擔綱——不僅受到他的粉絲們的密切關(guān)注，也受到音樂界的密切關(guān)注。

“Everyone needs Lang Lang to come back and do what he does in such a unique fashion,” said Mark Volpe, the Boston Symphony’s managing director. “I don’t just mean playing the piano; I mean the bigger picture. There are other great pianists, but he has a personality, he’s got a presence.”

“每個人都需要郎朗回來，用那種獨特的方式做他擅長的事情，”波士頓交響樂團團長馬克·沃爾普(Mark Volpe)說。“我不只是指彈鋼琴;我指的是更大的東西。偉大的鋼琴家有很多，但他有個性，有風度。”

How was he injured?

他是怎么受傷的?

In April 2017, Mr. Lang announced that he had an inflammation in his left arm and planned to cancel a few months of concerts. He has been on a severely curtailed schedule ever since.

2017年4月，郎朗宣布他的左臂有炎癥，打算取消幾個月的演出安排。從那以后，他的表演日程一直大受限制。

He said last year that he had injured his arm through what he described as “a stupid practice of Ravel’s left-hand concerto.” He was referring to the concerto the French composer Maurice Ravel wrote for Paul Wittgenstein, a pianist who had lost his right arm during World War I. (Mr. Lang declined a request for an interview about his return.)

他去年說，在一次被他描述為“愚蠢地練習拉威爾左手協(xié)奏曲”時，傷了自己的手臂。他指的是法國作曲家莫里斯·拉威爾(Maurice Ravel)為在第一次世界大戰(zhàn)中失去了右臂的鋼琴家保羅·維特根斯坦(Paul Wittgenstein)創(chuàng)作的那首協(xié)奏曲。(郎朗拒絕了關(guān)于他重返舞臺的采訪請求)。

“I was not paying so much attention, I was already tiring, and I pushed to practice,” Mr. Lang said. He added that he had worked too fast to teach himself an unfamiliar, unusual work because he was on a tight deadline, with several orchestras waiting to hear if he would perform the piece with them.

“我沒太注意，我已經(jīng)很累了，但我還是堅持練習，”郎朗說。他補充說，他在自學這個不熟悉也不尋常的作品時操之過急，因為當時留給他的時間不多，幾個管弦樂隊在等待，想知道他能否與他們一起演奏這首曲子。

Playing the piano requires speed, power, dexterity and flexibility. Injuries are not uncommon. The pianist Leon Fleisher was establishing himself as one of America’s pre-eminent young artists in the 1950s and ’60s when he found himself unable to control his right hand — which he attributed to “seven or eight hours a day of pumping ivory.” Gary Graffman, Mr. Lang’s teacher at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, had his career as a top-flight concert pianist curtailed by finger problems.

彈鋼琴需要速度、力量、靈巧和柔韌。受傷并不少見。20世紀50年代、60年代，當鋼琴家利昂·弗萊舍(Leon Fleisher)正在成為美國杰出的年輕藝術(shù)家之一時，他發(fā)現(xiàn)他無法控制自己的右手——他將其歸因于“每天七八個小時的練習”。郎朗在費城柯蒂斯音樂學院(Curtis Institute of Music)的老師加里·格拉夫曼(Gary Graffman)的頂級鋼琴演奏家職業(yè)生涯因手指問題而中斷。

Why is the classical world watching so closely?

為什么古典音樂界如此密切地關(guān)注?

It is harder than ever for a classical musician to become famous worldwide. The recording industry, with its promotional machinery, is a shadow of its former self. Fans can more than ever choose what they listen to — and filter out everything else. Breaking through the way Mr. Lang has over the past 20 years is rare.

如今一個古典音樂家要在世界范圍內(nèi)成名比以往任何時候都難。唱片產(chǎn)業(yè)連同其宣傳機器早已今非昔比。音樂愛好者們在選擇他們想聽的東西——同時把其他的一切過濾掉——也空前的便利。像郎朗這樣在過去20年里異軍突起很罕見。

The select group of artists who can still sell out concerts on the strength of their names includes Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell and Renée Fleming — and Mr. Lang.

為數(shù)不多的藝術(shù)家仍可憑借自己名字的魅力賣光音樂會的門票，他們中包括馬友友、伊扎克·帕爾曼(Itzhak Perlman)、約書亞·貝爾(Joshua Bell)和蕾妮·弗萊明(Renee Fleming)——以及郎朗。

“In the good old days, there used to be a lot of those, 25, 30, 40 years ago — people who could sell benefits, sell pension fund concerts,” said Thomas W. Morris, who ran the Cleveland Orchestra and the Boston Symphony. “There are a lot less of them today, so when he’s not around, it’s felt.”

“在往昔的好日子里，比如25年、30年、40年前，有很多這樣的人，他們開慈善音樂會、養(yǎng)老金音樂會，票房都能很好，”托馬斯·W·莫里斯(Thomas W. Morris)說，他曾是克利夫蘭交響樂團和波士頓交響樂團的負責人。“如今，這樣的人為數(shù)不多了，所以他不在的時候，大家會感覺到。”

Take opening night galas, which are typically important fund-raisers for orchestras, with high ticket prices and programs designed to appeal to donors and trustees. In the two years before his injury, Mr. Lang played 10 opening galas with major American orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony.

以開幕夜盛會為例，那通常是管弦樂隊重要的籌款機會，票價高，曲目的選擇以吸引捐贈者和董事會成員為主。在受傷前的兩年里，郎朗參演了包括紐約愛樂樂團(New York Philharmonic)和波士頓交響樂團(Boston Symphony)在內(nèi)的美國幾個主要交響樂團的十場演出季首演盛會。

What has he been up to over the past year?

他這一年在忙些什么?

Mr. Lang is such a draw that he was invited to play the opening night concert at Carnegie Hall last October — even after he was restricted to a single hand. One of his protégés, Maxim Lando, who was 14 at the time, sat beside him and served as his left hand in a truly unusual two-piano, five-hand arrangement of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with the jazz pianist Chick Corea. The audience went wild; the critics, less so.

郎朗太有吸引力了，去年10月，他受邀在卡內(nèi)基音樂廳的首場音樂會上演奏——盡管那時他只能用一只手彈琴。他的門生之一、當時只有14歲的馬克西姆·蘭多(Maxim Lando)坐在他身邊，為他當左手，他們和爵士鋼琴演奏家奇克·柯里亞(Chick Corea)一起，表演了一場非同尋常的用兩架鋼琴、五只手演奏的格什溫《藍色狂想曲》(Rhapsody in Blue)。觀眾欣喜若狂;批評家們則不以為然。

As he canceled more concerts, some wondered if his career was over. The South China Morning Post wrote an article with the headline “Will Chinese star pianist Lang Lang have to call it quits because of arm injury?”

隨著他取消了更多的音樂會，一些人想知道他的職業(yè)生涯是否已經(jīng)結(jié)束。《南華早報》發(fā)表的一篇文章用了這樣的題目：“中國明星鋼琴演奏家郎朗將因手臂受傷告別舞臺嗎?”

Mr. Graffman said that Mr. Lang had been diligent in his recovery, and that he had encouraged his former pupil to heed the advice of his doctors. “If the doctor said 20 minutes, don’t play half an hour,” Mr. Graffman said.

格拉夫曼說，郎朗在康復(fù)過程中一直很努力，他勸告自己這名從前的學生聽醫(yī)生的話。“如果醫(yī)生說20分鐘，就不要彈半小時，”格拉夫曼說。

What do the critics think?

評論家們怎么看?

Though he thrills audiences and has drawn widespread praise for his dazzling technique, Mr. Lang has not always been loved by critics. Some find his expressive gestures showy or mannered. Anthony Tommasini, the chief classical music critic of The New York Times, wrote of a 2003 concert at Carnegie Hall that “for all its color, flair and energy, his playing was often incoherent, self-indulgent and slam-bang crass.”

盡管郎朗讓觀眾癡迷，他令人陶醉的演技引起人們的廣泛稱贊，但他并不總是受到評論家的喜愛。有些人覺得他富于表情的演奏很花哨或做作。《紐約時報》的首席古典音樂評論家安東尼·托馬西尼(Anthony Tommasini)為2003年卡內(nèi)基音樂廳的一場音樂會寫的評論里有這樣的話，“雖然充滿了音樂色彩、表演魅力，且活力四射，但他的演奏常常是不連貫的、自我放縱的、重敲猛擊的粗俗表演。”

But Mr. Tommasini was more favorably impressed by a 2008 concert when Mr. Lang played Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the New York Philharmonic in Central Park: “He vanquished the technical challenges, playing with utter command and disarming joy, bringing out inner voices and rhythmic syncopations that caught his ear.”

但托馬西尼對2008年郎朗在紐約中央公園與紐約愛樂樂團演奏柴可夫斯基第一鋼琴協(xié)奏曲的那場音樂會有更好的印象：“他完全征服了技術(shù)挑戰(zhàn)，彈得無比輕松，帶著令人心曠神怡的樂趣，把作品的內(nèi)在聲音和他的耳朵感受到的切分節(jié)拍表現(xiàn)了出來。”

Top-flight orchestras respect him and line up to work with him. Mr. Morris remembered a performance of Bartok’s Second Concerto, “which is a bear, and, my goodness me, his command of that was staggering.” In this sense, he is different from classical crossover artists like the singer Andrea Bocelli and the violinist André Rieu, who don’t generally appear with major ensembles.

一流的管弦樂隊尊重他，排著隊要和他一起表演。莫里斯還記得一次巴托克第二協(xié)奏曲的演奏，那“是一部不好對付的曲子，我的天哪，他的演奏能力真是驚人。”從這個意義上說，郎朗不同于其他的跨界古典音樂演奏家，比如歌唱家安德烈·波切利(Andrea Bocelli)和小提琴家安德烈·里歐(Andre Rieu)，這兩人通常不會與主要交響樂團合作。

What’s next?

接下來會發(fā)生什么?

Mr. Lang was originally scheduled to play Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto, with its bravura Romantic gestures, to open Tanglewood’s season. But he decided instead on Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, which requires crisp, clear articulation along with style and elegance.

郎朗原本打算在唐格爾伍德演出季首演上演奏柴可夫斯基的第一協(xié)奏曲，該曲以精彩的浪漫派姿態(tài)聞名。但他最終選擇了莫扎特的《C小調(diào)第24號鋼琴協(xié)奏曲》，它需要果敢、清晰的表達，也需要氣韻和優(yōu)雅。

He will stay with Mozart for his next scheduled concerts, including the opening of the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland on Aug. 17. More galas (and more Mozart) are scheduled for the fall — including the Cleveland Orchestra’s 100th anniversary concert, conducted by an early supporter, Franz Welser-Möst.

在接下來的幾場已經(jīng)安排好的演出中，郎朗將繼續(xù)演奏莫扎特的曲子，包括8月17日在瑞士舉行的盧塞恩音樂節(jié)的首場演出。今年秋天還會在更多的慶典音樂會上聽到郎朗(以及更多的莫扎特曲目)，包括克利夫蘭交響樂團慶祝100周年的音樂會，擔任這場音樂會指揮的是郎朗的早期支持者弗朗茨·威爾瑟-莫斯特(Franz Welser-Möst)。

Mr. Lang signed with Universal Music Group just before his hiatus, after a seven-year stint with Sony Classical as his label. “For our perspective,” said Dickon Stainer, in charge of Universal’s global classics division, “we’re particularly thrilled that in two weeks’ time he’s going to the studio in Beijing to make his first record for us since his return.”

郎朗在演出計劃被打斷前剛剛與環(huán)球唱片(Universal Music Group)簽約，此前他與索尼古典音樂(Sony Classical)合作了七年。環(huán)球唱片全球經(jīng)典部主管迪康·斯泰納(Dickon Stainer)說，“從我們的角度來看，我們特別高興的是，兩周后，他將進入北京的錄音棚，為我們錄制他重返舞臺后的第一張唱片。”