其他机构步履蹒跚，大都会却欣欣向荣

司马勤

直到去年夏天，很多人都还在猜测大都会歌剧院不可能按时推出2021-2022年度演出季。大都会与合唱团及后台工作人员的劳资谈判一直持续到去年6月，跟管弦乐团的艺术家们的合同谈判更是拖延至去年8月底。很多反对者——甚至大都会歌剧院内部的一些人——提出了一个令人信服的观点，歌剧院于2020年3月因新冠肺炎疫情关闭之后，不可能于这么短的时间内做好准备，在2021年9月就重开大门迎接观众并恢复现场演出。坦白说，我也觉得那些反对者言之有理。

但是，大都会歌剧院的确迅速地恢复了活力——2021年9月11日举办了一场纪念“9·11事件”的音乐会，演出威尔第《安魂曲》；9月27日开启新演出季，搬演特伦斯·布兰查德（Terence Blanchard）的歌剧《骨子里的烈火》（Fire Shut Up in My Bones）。几周后，甚至推出了第二部新歌剧——马修·奥库安（Matthew Aucoin）的歌剧《优丽狄茜》（Eurydice）——更不用说还有多部大家都耳熟能详的经典剧目上演。

而最引人瞩目的焦点是：自2021年9月演出季开始，大都会歌剧院就没有取消过任何演出。

让我们退后一步，考虑一下这意味着什么。在过去的两个月里，因为不同种类的新冠病毒变异毒株的出现，亚洲与欧洲的不少演出场所为了配合防疫措施又暂时关闭。在纽约市，奥密克戎变异毒株也给演出界带来很大损失。纽约市立芭蕾舞团每年一度的年末大戏《胡桃夹子》在去年年底的最后几天被迫取消。无线电城音乐厅（Radio City Music Hall）最著名的“圣诞节特别秀”（Christmas Spectacular）也宣布停演。那么纽约市演艺事业皇冠上的宝石——百老汇又怎样呢？请不要忘记，早在2020年，正是百老汇带头宣告停演，纽约市内的各个演艺机构才随即叫停。在2021年年末的最后两周——那是传统意义上每年商业演出生意最兴旺的时段——列出百老汇仍在上演的演出要比细数因疫情临时取消的制作来得更容易。

于我而言，这个演出季最令人沮丧的，是原型艺术节（Prototype Festival）的取消。这个一年一度举办的艺术节展示的是当今最前沿的歌剧与音乐戏剧制作，其中包括两部后来获得普利策奖的歌剧：杜韵的《天使之骨》（Angel’s Bone）以及艾伦·里德（Ellen Reid）的《棱镜》（prism）。2022年的原型艺术节本应带来音乐剧场作品《山海经》（Book of Mountain & Seas）的美国首演，是作曲家黄若与导演兼木偶艺术家贝西·特维斯特（Basil Twist）的作品，以当代角度改编这一中国的古老神话，大家都很期待这部重头戏。《山海经》的其中一个委约方是香港新视野艺术节，这也是我特意返回纽约的原因。只可惜现在演出遥遥无期。

值得称道的是，原型艺术节的工作人员已经尽了最大努力。可能是因为这次的艺术节是他们的10周年纪念季，因此各个演出场地或者制作人都竭尽全力坚持排演，其间，原型艺术节的各个单位没有剧组人员感染新冠病毒（相对来说，纽约市立芭蕾舞团、无线电城音乐厅以及至少十来个百老汇制作都有相关人员感染病毒）。但是，为了安全起见，艺术节不断更新并加强防疫措施，最后更要求观众在演出前24小时之内进行核酸检测并获得阴性报告，到达演出场地观演时必须佩戴KN95口罩。即便如此，不幸的是，整个艺术节最终还是逃不过被新冠病毒“扼杀”的命运，其中几档节目将延迟至今年年末演出。（同样值得称赞的是，原型艺术节仍然会给演员、主创与制作团队付出总计约20万美元的一切劳务费用。这一举动要比大都会歌剧院慷慨得多。）

至于在疫情背景下成功保持歌剧院日常运作，大都会在这一轮胜出。

某些观察者认为，大都会歌剧院在整体防疫措施方面掌控得十分成功。院内员工一律接受定期核酸测试——每周三次，而不是大部分机构规定的每周两次——这一举措成效很好。再加上排练期间，每个人都必须佩戴口罩，确保大家更安全。院方一直鼓励歌唱家保持社交距离——连谢幕都不宜拉手！——任何人感到一丁点不适的迹象，一律禁止进入歌剧院。

但是，这种成功很大程度上还应该归功于大都会的自身运作模式。这类同时准备多台剧目、定期更换演出的剧院当然占据优势：正因为每天都要进行剧目交替，任何一个制作遇上困难的话，大家可以有几天的时间去解决当前的困难，然后再次搬演该作品。

除此之外，大都会的自身规模也是一个明显优势。在美国，没有任何一家表演艺术机构——放眼全球也只有几家——能拥有像大都会这样每天都可以调动的广泛资源。每个制作都配有多个演员阵容，更有在紧急情况下随时候命的替补演员。因为每周都有多部制作轮流演出，院方具有庞大的人才库，便于随时招募额外演员或指挥，所以安排替补任何一位艺术家的流程十分简单：快速定下临时计划，然后立马打电话找帮手。

让我举个例子。正如《纽约时报》报道的那样，大都会去年年末的两个制作——缩小规模、合家欢版本的《魔笛》与马斯内（Massenet）的《灰姑娘》——都启动了院方应急管理机制，因为《魔笛》的指挥与饰演灰姑娘恶毒姐姐的一位演员新冠核酸检测都呈阳性。女高音凡妮莎·贝塞拉（Vanessa Becerra）本来属于《魔笛》剧组，立刻被调至《灰姑娘》，拿着乐谱在台侧演唱，而台上饰演恶毒姐姐的竟是已退休了6年的前大都会首席舞者琳达·格丽纳斯（Linda Gelinas）。格丽纳斯花了一整天观看演出录像，以便将舞台调度牢牢记住。

大都会的防疫措施和应急机制真正引起公众注意，是由于巴特利特·谢尔（Bartlett Sher）导演的新版《弄臣》——其中一部分原因是该新制作很早就已经吸引观众与媒体的关注。《纽约时报》首席乐评人安东尼·托马西尼（Anthony Tommasini）特别强调了奎因·凯尔西（Quinn Kelsey）首次担纲這个威尔第宫廷丑角的出色表现。“一直以来，凭他那粗壮的、透彻的音色与气势磅礴的台风，凯尔西是引人注目的艺术家，”托马西尼在报道中写道，“但是，这个角色展示了凯尔西整个人在歌唱造诣或戏剧表演的深度。我从来没有听过他的演绎传达这般的雅韵与柔情。”

很可惜，跨年夜之后，有段時间里再没有人能有机会听到凯尔西的演出。《弄臣》首演完毕不久，凯尔西发觉自己身体不适，并开始出现流感症状。在核酸检测结果还没有确定之前，大都会就把他与其他演员及工作人员完全隔离 。到了新冠病毒核酸检测结果确认呈阳性的那一刻，大都会已经安排好替补演员迈克尔·奇奥尔迪（Michael Chioldi）上阵。（让我在这里记录下来，以备后查：据报道，凯尔西在通知大都会歌剧院之前，私下已跟奇奥尔迪联系过。）

这宗新闻十分高调，所以替补演员奇奥尔迪从台侧走向台前，正式接替主角的那场演出，《纽约时报》再次安排乐评人到场。（虽然奇奥尔迪的“强烈共鸣、令人信服”比不上凯尔西的“突破”，但大多数替补演员从未得到过乐评人的任何评价。）凯尔西于1月15日重返舞台，大都会在前一天（即14日）在《纽约时报》登了一整版广告，重点介绍了对凯尔西跨年夜首演的极佳好评。麻烦处理者往往会形容这种情况为“双赢”。

我们也可能会迎来另一场“胜利”，起码在医学诊断方面。很多人都猜测，感染了新冠病毒痊愈后的歌唱家们，会给嗓音带来后遗症吗？凯尔西在这么短时间内重返舞台，也许会驱使某些观众再一次来看演出以做出比较。

无论结论如何，可能这只能算是医学的小注脚罢了。真正的重点是，大都会歌剧院在此期间又成功地搬演了十几场演出。

As late as last summer， a lot of people were convinced that the Metropolitan Opera wouldn’t open on time. Last year’s labor negotiations with the chorus and stagehands had stretched into June， and contract talks with the orchestra musicians kept dragging on till late August. Many nay-sayers—some even within the company—made a convincing case that， after being dark since March 2020， the company would never be ready to return to in-person performances in September. And I have to confess， I tended to believed them.

But the Met did indeed snap back—first with a special September 11 performance of Verdi’s Requiem to commemorate the World Trade Center attacks， then on September 27 with its regular season， starting with Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones. They even had second new opera， Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice， a few weeks later， tucked in among the reliable classics.

And here’s the key point： the company hasn’t closed since.

Let’s step back a moment and consider what that means. In the past couple of months， various Covid variants have shuttered arts venues throughout Asia and Europe. Even in New York， Omicron has taken its toll. New York City Ballet’s annual holiday production of The Nutcracker had to close on the actual holidays. Over at Radio City Music Hall， the “Christmas Spectacular” likewise came to a screeching halt. And Broadway， the crown jewel of New York City’s arts industry？ The sector that actually led the initial season of Covid shutdowns back in 2020？ In the last two weeks of 2021—traditionally the most lucrative time of year for commercial theatre—it was easier to cite the Broadway shows that were still open than to list the closings.

For me， the season’s saddest cancellation was the Prototype Festival， an annual showcase of cutting-edge opera and music-theatre that has generated at least two Pulitzer Prize-winning works： Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone and Ellen Reid’s prism. This year was supposed to feature the US premiere of Book of Mountain & Seas， a contemporary adaptation of 4th-century Chinese myths by composer Huang Ruo and the director-puppeteer Basil Twist. The piece was co-commissioned by the Hong Kong New Vision Festival and was， unfortunately， the main reason I flew back to New York.

To their credit， the folks at Prototype did their best. Probably because this would have been their 10th anniversary season， both the venues and producers went through hoops to remain open. And unlike City Ballet， or Radio City， or at least a dozen Broadway shows， they didn’t even seem to have any Covid cases in their ranks. Still， they kept updating and strengthening their Covid protocols， eventually stipulating that audience members needed a negative PCR test within 24 hours of their curtain time and arrive at the performance venue wearing a KN95 mask. Then they finally announced the festival’s cancellation， postponing several productions till later in the year.（Also to their credit， Prototype promised to honor their financial commitments—more than US$200，000—for the artists and creative and productions teams involved， which is certainly more than you can say for the Met.）

But as for actually staying open？ The Met won that competition hands down.

Some observers have credited the company’s success in that regard with finding the right combination of Covid protocols. And it’s true that regular testing—three times a week instead of the standard two—plus mandatory mask-wearing during rehearsals goes a long way. Singers are constantly encouraged to keep social distance—no handholding during curtain calls！—and anyone showing any signs of sickness is quickly barred from the premises.

But much of the Met’s success also comes from， well， being the Met. In a repertory company， which by definition means alternating productions daily， any problem with one show has a few days grace period to solve before it comes around again.

Beyond that， there’s also the simple matter of scale. No other performing arts organization in America—and few in the world—have the sheer range of resources that the Met wields on a daily basis. Each production has not just multiple casts， but also understudies （or“covers”） who remain on call in case of emergency. With multiple productions alternating each night of the week， and unparalleled access to additional singers or conductors， replacing any artist is merely a matter of fast planning and picking up the phone.

For example， as the New York Times reported， both of the Met’s holiday productions this season—scaleddown， family-friendly versions of Mozart’s Magic Flute and Massenet’s Cinderella—had to rush into damage control when the conductor for Flute and one of Cinderella’s wicked stepsisters tested positive. （For Cinderella， soprano Vanessa Becerra took a break from Flute to sing Massenet’s music offstage while Linda Gelinas， a former Met principal dancer who hadn’t performed with the company for six years， binged on videos of the production to memorize the movements and physically acted the role onstage.）

It was with Bartlett Sher’s new production of Rigoletto， though， where the Met’s Covid strategy really got attention—in part because the show had generated plenty of attention already. Times chief music critic Anthony Tommasini had particularly highlighted Quinn Kelsey’s role debut as Verdi’s court jester. “With his brawny， penetrating voice and imposing presence， Kelsey has always been an arresting artist，” he wrote.“But this role shows off his full vocal and dramatic depth. He sang with an elegance and tenderness I had not heard from him before.”

Unfortunately， no one got to hear him for a while afterward. Shortly after the production’s opening night on New Year’s Eve， Kelsey began showing flu symptoms. The Met moved to isolate him from the rest of the cast and crew even before the test results came back. By the time his condition was confirmed positive， the Met had already activated Kelsey’s understudy， Michael Chioldi. （For the record， Kelsey reportedly warned Chioldi himself， even before alerting the company.）

So high-profile was the situation that even Chioldi， the understudy waiting in the wings， had another Times critic in the audience. （Chioldi’s “solidly resonant and credible” doesn’t quite live up to Kelsey’s“breakthrough，” but most understudies never get a review at all.） The day before Kelsey was scheduled to return to the role on January 15， the Met took out a full-page ad in the Times highlighting reviews of his opening night. This is the kind of situation troubleshooters call “win-win.”

We may have another “win” coming， at least on the diagnostic front. Much speculation has surfaced about how Covid affects the singing voice， and Kelsey’s relatively quick return to the stage may prompt some listeners to go back to compare.

The results， though， will probably remain a medical footnote. The real point is that the Met had already chalked up more than a dozen performances in the meantime.