安息吧，“声名狼藉”的鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格

司马勤

多年来，我家的客厅里摆放着一个特大型的日历，计划在纽约看的演出用黑笔标注，要在香港看的演出则用上蓝笔。哪种颜色在某个月里出现得更频繁，就决定了我该月要去往哪里。

可是现在这个方法只好作罢。自今年2月以来，日历上找不到黑、蓝或任何颜色的标注了。然而这并不代表我的生活变得清闲。事实上，刚好相反。

在新冠疫情发生之前，我一直以“国际旅途，舟车劳顿”为借口拒绝一些邀约：“对不起，我恐怕要错过您这里的演出了，”我大可以诚恳地跟人家说，“因为那一周我无法到（伦敦/巴黎/曼谷/悉尼）走一趟。”可现在所有的演出都可以进行网络直播，这个说法倒显得古雅起来。多年前，当我乖乖地常住于某个城市，同一个晚上连看两场演出已堪称“大事件”；而在今天的流媒体时代，我可以在一场演出的中场休息时“离开”维也纳国家歌剧院，轻轻松松地“赶上”纽约大都会歌剧院的演出拉开帷幕那一刻。

我们回顾一下使用那个大日历的日子。在新冠疫情发生前，当我们还生活在正常的现实世界时，经常会遇上以下的情况：过了平平无奇的几周“淡季”后，多个大型演艺团体竟会选择同一天搬演它们最大规模的剧目盛典——是纯属偶然的撞期，是大家都选定了同一个良辰吉日，还是故意来较量谁最有号召力拥有最忠实的观众？

不管怎样，在疫情期间，我发现自己迫不得已在同一时间观赏了四场节目。在一个晚上，我的电脑屏幕同时展示了纽约爱乐乐团的网络筹款盛典与卡内基音乐厅为了向刚去世的美国最高法院大法官鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格（Ruth Bader Ginsburg）致敬的歌剧含金量极高的特别策划节目。基本上，我的鼠标徘徊在两个视窗之间，切来切去。（我还在同一时间用上小手机与摆在饭桌上的平板电脑接上音频，聆听着发生在两个不同国际时区的网上讲座与专题论坛。）纽约两家最大规模的演艺组织选中同一个晚上播放本年度演出季最重磅的项目，真的假的？

以前的我经常吐苦水，平生最怕庆典音乐会，因为那些乏味的演出只不过是大型晚宴的序幕——或是一个更糟的比喻，庆典演出不幸被贬为饭前的娱乐节目。但是，新冠疫情的暴发为这类庆典音乐会引进了一个新功能，令我可以度过令人愉悦的整晚：那就是视频播放界面的静音功能。唯一跟“静音”可以媲美的，是“快进”按钮。

好了，我未免有点过分苛刻。但静音功能确实确保了当演出最终进行到当晚最令人难忘的重要环节时，我的头脑还能保持清醒：一段经过专业剪辑的、纽约爱乐乐团历年来不同指挥家诠释演出的贝多芬《第五交响曲》的混搭视频——尽管个别片段的速度与风格有着很大差别，却证明了不单是这部作品、还有乐团本身都足够强大，经得起不同音乐家的演绎与感情抒发的明暗色彩。

静音功能也让我继续保持清醒，欣赏到比纽约爱乐更加卓越的一个项目：由女中音伊莎贝尔·伦纳德（Isabel Leonard）策划并担任主持的“卡内基现场：纪念鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格”特辑。

***

9月中旬，刚好是犹太新年前夕，传来金斯伯格因胰腺癌病逝的噩耗。她是有史以来美国联邦最高法院任命的第二位女性大法官——也是首位犹太裔女性大法官——更是美國流行文化的重要标志。这些年来，最高法院的成员结构逐渐倾向保守派，她在多个判决意见书中所发表的异议陈词激烈尖锐，因此被誉为“声名狼藉的R.B.G.”[这个名字来源是已故美国黑人说唱歌手比基·斯莫兹（Biggie Smalls），又名“声名狼藉的B.I.G.”]。金斯伯格为了保卫女性与少数族裔的权益不遗余力，备受法律界追捧，她的名字与肖像不但在书籍、电视影片以至好莱坞大制作中都曾出现。她的粉丝经常说，“没有鲁斯（Ruth）就没有真相（truth）”。

但是她还有一个最出名的非法律特质：金斯伯格毕生钟爱歌剧，经常出入文化场所，是华盛顿附近的狼阱国家公园（Wolf Trap National Park）表演艺术中心的常客，也屡次到访圣达菲歌剧院（Santa Fe Opera）。她坦诚地说：“当我在歌剧院或演奏厅聆听音乐时，在我脑海里跳动的诉讼摘要或法律意见会立刻停顿下来。”她书房里摆设的人物照片除了法律界各位大人物以外——大部分都是女法官——还有多位歌剧明星，其中有不少是她的朋友。

卡内基音乐厅的纪念盛典给了这些歌剧明星一个机会，回馈金斯伯格对他们的厚爱。伦纳德所邀请的嘉宾——大部分都是女性——包括在美国国会大厦举行的金斯伯格追悼会上献唱的女中音丹尼丝·格雷夫斯（Denyce Graves），还有金斯伯格已故丈夫马丁（Martin）的学生——在华盛顿工作的执业律师提姆·杰瑟尔（Tim Jessell），他的夫人正是女高音蕾内·弗莱明（Renée Fleming）。

但是，当晚令我大开眼界的环节，是金斯伯格的大女儿和次子——珍妮（Jane）与詹姆斯（James）的对话。在移民美国之前，这个家族就已经与歌剧有着深厚的渊源：家族的一位长辈在敖德萨（Odessa）城里的歌剧院负责开闭帷幕的重任。鲁斯孩提时代第一次观赏演出就爱上了歌剧；后来有了孩子，她也尽力培养他们对歌剧的兴趣。珍妮与詹姆斯两姐弟回忆起每次看演出之前，母亲都会为他们提供音乐与故事大纲介绍。珍妮还记得第一次在大都会歌剧院看演出，坐在第三层（Grand Tier）的第一排，那正是家里人多年来一直预订的套票位置所在；当天她穿着黑色丝绒连身裙，只可惜自己太矮，视线刚好被栏杆挡住了。

“母亲有时候最爱《费加罗的婚礼》，有时候是《唐乔瓦尼》。”詹姆斯说。在她的心目中，最理想的“唐乔瓦尼”是切萨雷·谢皮（Cesare Siepi），而乔治·伦敦（George London）是她梦中的“荷兰人”。当然也少不了男高音。2011年在哈佛大学举行的毕业典礼中，最抢眼的一幕是多明戈（当年多明戈任职华盛顿国家歌剧院艺术总监）为金斯伯格高歌一曲（两人同时被颁发荣誉学位，所以有缘同台）。

金斯伯格最爱的女高音歌唱家包括辛卡·米拉诺夫（Zinka Milanov）、雷娜塔·蒂巴尔迪（Renata Tibaldi）、莉西亚·阿尔巴尼斯（Licia Albanese），最重要的是蕾昂泰茵·普莱斯（Leontyne Price）。普莱斯首次在大都会歌剧院登台演出《游吟诗人》时，金斯伯格就是观众之一。两位伟大女性终于在美国国家艺术基金举办的一次午餐会上相谈甚欢，当年普莱斯已经81岁了。

与金斯伯格相关的这两个世界有时候也会有所交集。“母亲第一次到联邦最高法院诉讼陈词，当她步进电梯时，玛丽亚·卡拉斯竟然牵着她的小狗走进来，”詹姆斯说，“母亲认为那是个天大的好兆头。”

***

当年，即便是在布鲁克林区出生的金斯伯格，倘若能成功跻身纽约法律界，她热爱歌剧的一面肯定会开花结果。然而在她移居至华盛顿成为当地的大人物之后，更能接近歌剧界的核心圈子。伦纳德请来的嘉宾之中有人猜测，金斯伯格面向公众的姿态与歌剧息息相關——你不得不佩服金斯伯格一举一动的戏剧性，以及善于引出喜剧气氛的节奏感。在首都华盛顿，金斯伯格更有机会踏上歌剧舞台。她曾经在《蝙蝠》（2003）与《阿里阿德涅在纳克索斯》（1994、2009）的舞台上现身，虽然没有对白，但她的台风依然令人瞩目。到了2016年，她还有机会参与了多尼采蒂《军中女郎》的制作，扮演克拉肯托佩公爵夫人（Duchess of Krakenthorp），甚至诵读了几句对白。

金斯伯格一生钟爱歌剧。正因如此，她跟最高法院保守派大法官安东宁·斯卡利亚（Antonin Scalia）建立了传奇性的友谊——两人唯一共通的，可能只有对于歌剧的热忱——这个特别的关系也成了歌剧作品的主题。2015年，美国年轻华裔作曲家王利成（Derrick Wang）创作的《斯卡利亚/金斯伯格》（Scalia/Ginsburg）在洛林·马泽尔（Lorin Maazel）主办的卡斯尔顿音乐节首演（金斯伯格也有出席）。这部作品不久以后在格里美格拉斯歌剧节（Glimmerglass Festival）以及英国北方歌剧院亮相，随后更在美国几个小型歌剧院中演出。今年11月初，特拉华州歌剧院（Opera Delaware）于2019年的演出视频更可以在网上点播。歌剧院当年的现场演出，更幽默地找来吉尔伯特与沙利文的独幕歌剧《陪审团的判决》（Trial by Jury）搭配。

卡内基音乐厅的纪念特辑中播放了《斯卡利亚/金斯伯格》的一小段落，也送上更贴近金斯伯格一家的音乐环节。几年前，为了庆祝母亲的80大寿，詹姆斯（他是一位音乐监制，曾创办芝加哥Cedille唱片公司）委约了三位女作曲家谱写艺术歌曲——其中一位是詹姆斯的夫人，作曲家兼歌唱家帕特里斯·迈克尔斯（Patrice Michaels）。卡内基的特辑中呈上的大多是金斯伯格的趣闻轶事，但当迈克尔斯演出《我最亲爱的鲁斯》（My Dearest Ruth）这首歌曲时（加上多媒体元素），观众无不动容。在詹姆斯委约的三首歌曲之中，这首由史黛西·加洛普（Stacy Garrop）配乐的作品所套用的歌词正是金斯伯格的丈夫马丁的遗言。在他临终前住院期间，家人在医院收拾东西时，在抽屉里找到了这封马丁写在法律便笺簿上的亲笔信。

蕾内·弗莱明在追忆金斯伯格的对话中透露，自己几乎忘记了两人初次见面的日子。自从弗莱明开始在华盛顿演出歌剧，金斯伯格就像是那里的一个“永久固定装置”（permanent fixture）。当其他人猜测金斯伯格是为了逃避工作而醉心于歌剧，弗莱明显得有点气恼。“倘若你担纲她的工作岗位，每一天的每一个抉择都影响着国家人民的生与死，那么能够寻找到一个与历史的连接点是多么棒的事情，”弗莱明说，“歌剧，甚至任何古典音乐全关乎历史。还有人类的行为——也未必是人类最高尚的行为。”

一直以来，金斯伯格都声称，她最喜欢的歌剧角色是理查德·施特劳斯《玫瑰骑士》（Der Rosenkavalier）中的元帅夫人（Marschallin）。弗莱明也有同感（她扮演元帅夫人有几十年的经验，直至2017年宣告退休），认为元帅夫人是“歌剧剧目中最复杂、最真实的女性角色”。然而，现实中金斯伯格与弗莱明最难忘的对话却围绕着莫扎特。

“当时我正准备首次担任歌剧导演，执导国家歌剧院的《女人心》（Così fan tutte），” 弗莱明回忆道。“金斯伯格就问我：‘德斯皮娜（Despina）的确是一个精彩的角色，可是，你打算怎样处理歌剧中对待各个女性角色的方式呢？我心里想，她这个问题问得真的是太一如既往了！”

For years， I kept an oversize calendar in my living room. Events I wanted to attend in New York were written in black ink， events in Hong Kong in blue. Whichever color came up more frequently determined where Id be that month.

Well， so much for that. Ever since February， theres not much black， blue， or any other color on the page. Which is not to say that life has gotten any less busy. Much the reverse， in fact.

Before the pandemic， I always had travel as an excuse. “Sorry to miss your show，” I could say with all due sincerity， “but I just cant make it to [London/Paris/ Bangkok/Sydney] that week.” Now that everything is streamed online， it all sounds kind of quaint. Back when I still lived in only one city it was a big deal to catch two concerts in one night； in our current Age of Streaming， I recently left the Vienna State Opera at intermission just in time to catch the opening curtain at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

But getting back to the big calendar， back when we all lived in the physical world we used to ponder about how it was possible that， after many uneventful weeks， multiple institutions would often schedule their biggest ceremonies and celebrations on the same day. Was it a fluke？ Similar readings of auspicious times？ A competitive urge to make audiences prove their loyalties？

In any case， the internet is how I now sometimes wind up with four events on a single night. Recently I spent an evening bouncing between the New York Philharmonics virtual fundraising gala and Carnegie Halls opera-laden tribute to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg （with a totally unrelated lecture and a panel discussion， each in a different time zone， relegated to the phone and the iPad）. Two of New Yorks biggest institutions holding their biggest event of the season on the same night？ Seriously？

Ive often talked about my usual aversion to gala concerts， where a lackluster performance is merely a prelude to—if not an outright distraction from— the dinner party afterward. But it took the pandemic to introduce a feature that can make the whole evening palatable： the mute function， rivaled only by the fast-forward button.

Okay， that may be a bit harsh. But it did ensure that my mind was fresh and alert when the show finally got around to the most memorable segment of the evening： a mashup video of the New York Philharmonic playing Beethovens Fifth Symphony under a wide range of conductors， with different tempos and interpretations proving how not only the music but the ensemble itself was formidable enough to sustain a variety of musical interpretations and emotional shadings.

It also kept my mind fresh and alert for what turned out to be a far better presentation： “Live with Carnegie Hall： Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg，” curated and presented by mezzosoprano Isabel Leonard.

***

Ruth Bader Ginsburg， who died of pancreatic cancer in mid-September on the eve of the Jewish New Year， was not merely the second woman—and the first Jewish woman—to serve on the US Supreme Court， she was also a pop-culture phenomenon. Her fiery dissents from an increasingly conservative Court earned her the nickname “the Notorious R.B.G.” （a reference to “Notorious B.I.G.，” the moniker of the late American rapper Biggie Smalls）. Ginsburgs tireless championing of equal rights for women and minorities made her a beloved figure not just in legal circles， but also in books， television and Hollywood films. “There is no truth without‘Ruth，” her fans often claimed.

But the non-legal quality she was best known for was her love of opera. “Listening to music in the opera or concert hall was the only time legal briefs and opinions would stop dancing in my head，”admitted Ginsburg， who was regularly sighted in venues as close to Washington as the Wolf Trap National Park and as far removed as Santa Fe Opera. Alongside portraits in her study of legal figures—mostly other female justices—were photographs of opera singers， many of whom she would come to know personally.

Carnegie Halls tribute was a chance for some of those singers to return the attention. Among Leonards guests—they were predominantly women—were mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves， who sang at Ginsburgs memorial service at the US Capitol， and soprano Renée Fleming， whose husband Tim Jessell is a Washington DC attorney and a former student of Ginsburgs late husband， Martin.

The evenings real revelations， though， came from Ginsburgs children， Jane and James. Even before the familys move to America， opera ran deep in the lineage， with a patriarch back in Odessa employed to raise and lower the citys opera house curtain. Ginsburg， who was hooked after seeing her first opera as a child， worked hard to instill the same love in her children. Both Jane and James recalled their trips to the opera being preceded by briefings on the music and story. Jane recounted her first time at the Met， sitting in the family seats in the front row of the Grand Tier； she wore a new black velvet dress for the occasion， but was too short to see over the railing.

“Depending on the day， my mothers favorite opera was either The Marriage of Figaro or Don Giovanni，”said James. The bass Cesare Siepi was “her Don，”just as George London was “her Dutchman.” But there were tenors， too. The 2011 Harvard University commencement was nearly upstaged when tenor Placido Domingo， then artistic director of the Washington National Opera， serenaded Ginsburg onstage as they both received honorary degrees.

Soprano favorites included Zinka Milanov， Renata Tibaldi， Licia Albanese， and especially Leontyne Price， whom Ginsburg had seen make her legendary Met debut in Il Trovatore in 1961. The two eventually met at a luncheon hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts when Price was 81.

Occasionally， Ginsburg found her two worlds juxtaposed. “Just as my mother was heading to the Supreme Court to make her first argument， she gets into the elevator and in walks Maria Callas with her dogs，” James said. “Mom took that as a good omen.”

***

Even if the Brooklyn-born Ginsburg had managed to break into New York legal circles， her love of opera wouldve surely flourished unimpeded. Washington， though， brought her closer to operas inner circle. Though several of Leonards guests speculated that opera had shaped Ginsburgs public demeanor， filled with astute dramatic and comic timing， only in Washington would she have actually wound up on the opera stage itself. Ginsberg had walk-on roles in both Die Fledermaus （2003） and Ariadne auf Naxos （1994 and 2009） as well as a speaking role as the Duchess of Krakenthorp in Donizettis Daughter of the Regiment （2016）.

An even less likely scenario arose when Ginsburgs relationship with conservative US Justice Antonin Scalia—whose love of opera was perhaps the only thing they shared—became the subject of an opera itself. Derrick Wangs Scalia/Ginsburg had its 2015 debut at Lorin Maazels Castleton Festival（with Ginsburg attending）， later appearing at the Glimmerglass Festival and Opera North before making the rounds of several smaller US opera companies. Opera Delawares 2019 production，cheekily paired with Gilbert and Sullivans Trial by Jury， began streaming in early November.

Carnegie Halls tribute offered a brief glimpse of the production， as well as a more personal musical tribute from her family. For Ginsburgs 80th birthday， her son James （a music producer and founding president of the Chicago-based record label Cedille） commissioned songs from three woman composers—including his wife， the composer and singer Patrice Michaels. Utterly halting the anecdotal flow of the Carnegie tribute was Michaelsheartrending multimedia performance of “My Dearest Ruth，” a musical setting by Stacy Garrop of a handwritten letter from Ginsburgs husband， originally written on a legal pad and found by the family on his deathbed.

Renée Fleming， for her part， could scarcely recall when she and Ginsburg met， only that she seemed to be “permanent fixture” at the Washington National Opera when Fleming began to perform there. She bristled a bit at those who called opera Ginsburgs “escape” from work. “If youre doing the type of work that she did， [with] life or death decisions having a huge effect on people， its great to be connected to history，” Fleming maintained.“And opera—anything classical， really—is all about history. And human behavior—not necessarily the best human behavior.”

Ginsburg had long claimed that her favorite operatic figure was the Marschallin from Richard Strausss Der Rosenkavalier， an assessment seconded by Fleming （a longtime Marschallin herself until retiring from the role in 2017） as “the most complex， authentic female character in all of opera.” But it was over Mozart that Fleming and Ginsburg had their most memorable exchange.

“I was going to direct my first opera， Cosi fan tutte， with the National Opera，” Fleming recalled. “And she asked me， ‘Despinas a really great character， but how are you going to deal with the way women are treated in that opera？ I just thought， true to form！”