每日英語跟讀 Ep.875: Mask-clad music lovers trickle in as Vienna concert houses reopen 維也納音樂廳重新開幕 觀眾戴口罩稀落進場

After months of lying silent because of the coronavirus pandemic, Vienna’s illustrious classical music venues are throwing open their doors — but their vast halls can now play host to only 100 audience members at a time. Those eager concert-goers have snapped up the few available tickets for the first shows to be put on since Austria’s concert houses shut their doors in March under a strict lockdown to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

受到新冠病毒全球大流行影響，維也納顯赫的古典音樂場館已經沉寂數月，這些演奏廳近日重新敞開大門──但是寬闊的觀眾席現在一次只能容納一百名觀眾。在遏止新冠病毒傳播的嚴格封城禁令下，奧地利的演奏廳從今年三月紛紛關閉至今。為了這幾場重新登台的音樂會，熱切的樂迷很快就把為數甚少的票券搶購一空。

As the increase in infections has abated and the country eases its restrictions, venues such as Vienna’s State Opera are now allowed to reopen after hundreds of shows were canceled.

隨著新增感染人數逐漸趨緩，奧地利政府開始放寬限制。數百場演出被迫取消後，像維也納國立歌劇院這樣的場館現在獲准重新開放。

“I watched live streams, from Paris, New York, Vienna, but it’s something else when you sit in the concert hall and so I’m so happy that it’s starting again now,” said Evelyne Strobel. The 64-year-old teacher was among the lucky ones who trickled into the imposing foyer of the 1,709-seat State Opera on Monday, wearing a mask matching her pastel-colored outfit, to watch its first post-shutdown show.

伊芙琳‧史卓貝表示：「我看了網路直播，巴黎、紐約、維也納的表演都有，但是實際坐在觀眾席裡面是另一回事，所以我現在很開心看到現場演出重新開始。」這名六十四歲的教師戴著搭配粉色服裝的口罩，是週一稀稀落落走進維也納國立歌劇院的氣派門廳、欣賞後封城時代第一場演出的幸運兒之一。

Another audience member, 57-year-old Ulrike Grunenwald, drove 16 hours from France’s northeastern Alsace region to Vienna to attend the recital by Austrian operatic bass Guenther Groissboeck with her daughter. She said she was armed with a negative coronavirus test in case of any border controls.

另一名觀眾是五十七歲的烏爾麗克‧葛呂能瓦爾德，她開了十六小時的車，從法國東北部的阿爾薩斯地區來到維也納，和女兒一起參加奧地利歌劇男低音鈞特‧格萊斯博克的獨唱會。她表示，身上已準備好新冠病毒篩檢陰性的報告，以防萬一遇到邊境管制需要檢查。

State Opera Director Dominique Meyer told AFP that while it was “frustrating” to have to cap audience numbers — and of course not economically viable in the long term — the resumption of concerts was a “symbol.” “It’s important for the soul, for people’s mental health and the well-being of society,” he said, adding that tickets priced at 100 euros or less for the opera’s 14 shows in June were all snapped up within half an hour when they went on sale last week.

國立歌劇院總監多明尼克‧邁耶爾向法新社表示，儘管必須限制觀眾人數上限「讓人洩氣」──而且想必長期經濟上並不可行──音樂會重新開演仍是一個「象徵」。他指出：「這對靈魂、人們的心理健康，以及社會的幸福感都是很重要的，」並且補充表示歌劇院六月份的十四場演出，在上星期開賣後半小時內，價格一百歐元以下的票券全部銷售一空。

Meyer said he “could not hold back a little tear” when attending one of the very first classical concerts since the shutdown on Friday last week, a performance of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the world-famous Daniel Barenboim at the city’s Musikverein. “It was extremely beautiful... and Daniel Barenboim, who conducted and played Mozart’s 27th concerto, told me that he had played this concerto a hundred times but had never heard it played so well, and I never heard a sound so beautiful,” he said.

邁耶爾表示，他上週五參加封城以來的第一場音樂會時，「感動得幾乎止不住眼淚」。當天的音樂會是由世界知名的丹尼爾‧巴倫波因，在維也納音樂協會金色大廳指揮維也納愛樂管弦樂團。他說：「實在是太美了……而且巴倫波因當天指揮兼演奏莫札特第二十七號鋼琴協奏曲，他告訴我說，他起碼演奏過這首曲子一百次，但從來沒聽過它被演奏得這麼好，我則是從來沒聽過那麼美的音色。」

Barenboim told reporters last week ahead of his performances that it was “a very important moment when the music starts again.” “For us it’s just important that we can play,” said an emotional Daniel Froschauer, first violinist and section leader of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. All orchestra members tested negative for COVID-19 last week and so played without masks. Spectators too are allowed to take off their masks once they reach their seats in the new chequerboard-like layout devised to observe social distancing rules.

巴倫波因上星期在演出前向記者表示，那是「非常重要的一個時刻，從此音樂重新開始。」維也納愛樂的第一小提琴分部首席丹尼爾．弗羅紹爾則說：「能夠演出對我們來說是一樣重要的。」樂團成員上週全數接受新冠病毒篩檢並呈現陰性，因此演奏時能夠不用戴口罩。觀眾也在抵達座位後獲准摘下口罩，新的座位安排呈現出像是西洋棋盤的設計，藉此遵守社交距離規範。

But the smaller audiences affect the sound, commentators noted. “There is a difference because each body absorbs sound, so when the room is empty, there is less absorption and therefore a little more echo,” Meyer said. Gerlinde Kraft, who attended a concert at the Austrian capital’s famous Konzerthaus on Saturday last week, told AFP that being among so few spectators “doesn’t bother me but it is very unusual.”

不過，有評論家指出，較少的觀眾會對聲音造成影響。邁耶爾指出：「差異確實存在，因為人的身體會吸收聲波，所以當場地空無一人時，吸音較少、也因此回音會稍微增強。」葛琳德‧克拉夫特上週六在奧地利首都著名的維也納音樂廳參加另一場音樂會，她向法新社表示身為非常少數觀眾的一員「並不會困擾我，但這真的很不尋常。」

Nonetheless, concert houses are looking to the future with trepidation, especially the prospect of a new wave of coronavirus infections. “For us it’s pure joy to hear the music again in the places where it belongs,” Konzerthaus director Matthias Naske told AFP. He added, however, that audience limitations were “absurd” from an economic point of view.

儘管如此，各音樂廳對於未來仍然戒慎恐懼，特別是考量到之後可能出現新的一波冠狀病毒感染。維也納音樂廳總監馬蒂亞斯‧納斯科向法新社表示：「聽到音樂在它屬於的地方再次響起，我們感到純粹的喜悅。」然而，他也補充說，從經濟的角度而言，限制觀眾人數是「荒謬」的。

From July 1, up to 250 spectators are to be allowed, and the limit will be raised again in August. A return to full concert halls — and larger-scale productions — is expected from September. The opera and other concert venues have asked the government for special support for musicians — many of whom lost their income entirely when concert halls shut down.

七月一日開始，觀眾人數可增加到兩百五十人，人數限制到八月時還會再次鬆綁。至於全場坐滿的音樂廳──以及大規模的製作──目前預期要等到九月。歌劇院和其他演奏會場館要求奧地利政府對音樂家提供特別紓困支援──畢竟在音樂廳關門期間，許多音樂家完全失去收入來源。

Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2020/06/14/2003738162