英國泰晤士報回首過去10年古典樂壇

The decade in classical music

What didn’t happen to classical music in the past decade is almost more significant than what did. Despite dire predictions, orchestras haven’t collapsed because major record companies no longer make many classical CDs. The bands started their own labels instead, and enterprising independent companies also plugged the gap. We may no longer get 90 new recordings of Beethoven symphonies every year. But what’s coming from companies such as Hyperion, Linn, Naxos, ECM and Chandos is far more eclectic and often more enthralling.

本誌短評：獨立小廠或樂團自有品牌的蓬勃發展應該不是過去十年才開始的，只是五大廠牌的急速衰敗，相對的讓這兩個現象更加凸顯...

Nor did classical concerts cease because the Grim Reaper claimed its remaining devotees — another common jeremiad in the late 20th century. In London, at least, there’s evidence that serious contemporary music is attracting far bigger and younger audiences than for decades. A Xenakis festival was an unexpected box-office hit. And while audiences in the regions may still need rejuvenating, one can reasonably hope that the exceptional charisma of the conductors now working outside London — notably Mark Elder in Manchester, Andris Nelsons in Birmingham, Vasily Petrenko in Liverpool, Stéphane Denève in Scotland — will trigger a renaissance.

本誌短評：以上提到的四位深耕地方的指揮家中，一位是英國籍（Mark Elder）、一位是法國籍（Stéphane Denève，39歲）、兩位來自東歐（32歲的Andris Nelsons來自拉脫維亞，俄羅斯的Vasily Petrenko現年34歲），其中Vasily Petrenko與Stéphane Denève都是Naxos倚重的主力指揮！

The other potential disaster ten years ago was the disappearance of music in state schools. That, too, has been averted, though only narrowly. Music still exists at the precarious margins of the curriculum, but at least the government-funded Sing Up campaign has given a long overdue boost to choral singing in primary schools, and the lottery-funded charity Youth Music has ensured that far more musical opportunities now exist in poor communities. But compared with the superb musical education on offer to all children in Finland or Venezuela we still have a mountain to climb.

本誌短評：這裡談的都是英國國內的音樂教育。為了挽救日漸式微的中小學音樂課程，英國政府於2009年2月宣布，在2009到2011三年間將投入四千萬英鎊來推行「高聲歌唱」(Sing Up)方案，在英國各小學大力推廣歌唱課程，而Youth Music則是一項涵蓋面更廣泛的長期「孵夢」計畫，鼓勵兒童與青少年勇敢追求自己的音樂夢想，無論是組搖滾樂團或學習小提琴...

It was those Venezuelans — the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra — who provided the defining classical-music moment of the decade, when they gate-crashed Europe’s sedate halls with their gloriously exuberant performances and riotous samba routines. I think they made the entire profession — orchestras, soloists, conductors, impresarios, even composers — ask themselves: “Why can’t we enthuse audiences like that?” Expect a lot more informality in concert halls in the next decade, and a lot more classical music breaking out into unexpected venues. And expect to hear young composers and performers following the example of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road project and cheerfully genre-hopping between jazz, rock, world and contemporary classical styles. After all, the target audience is already doing exactly that.

本誌短評：如果談到普及古典音樂，可能找不到第二個例子，可以像委內瑞拉的西蒙波利瓦青年交響樂團那麼激動人心！而馬友友的《絲路》計畫跨界結合東、西方，尤其是加入了近東伊斯蘭古文明音樂元素，也是另一個新途徑...

Face of the decade: Gustavo Dudamel.

The brilliant young Venezuelan conductor has come from nowhere to transform notions of what symphonic concerts can be like. His ebullient Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra has dazzled audiences around the world, and reminded us that classical music needn’t be an artform reserved for wrinklies.

本誌短評：Gustavo Dudamel是過去10年古典音樂界崛起的一個代表性面孔，也將繼續引領未來10年、20年乃至於30年的全球古典音樂界。

摘自：2009年12月22日英國《泰晤士》報（The Times）
執筆：Richard Morrison