中國的古典音樂聽眾經常受人指摘。常見的刻板印象包括大聲吃東西、演出期間手機鈴聲大作、大使館官員百無聊賴又不情不愿地坐在前排。然而，在中國，經常去聽音樂會的人都知道，這里也有真正的鐵桿愛好者，他們見識廣博、幾近狂熱。

By Andrew Moody

When people ask me about my most memorable interview of the perhaps thousands I have done at China Daily there is usually little hesitation in my response.
作為一名中國日報的記者，我進行過上千次采訪，但每當人們問起我最難忘的一次，我回答起來都毫不猶豫。

Although there are others that stand out also the one I did with the great Russian pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy is the one I most fondly recollect.
雖然還有其他難忘的采訪經歷，但我最懷念的，是采訪偉大的俄羅斯鋼琴家弗拉基米爾?阿什肯納齊。

Even the way it was set up was slightly bizarre. I happened to be listening to one of his trademark performances of Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto while cooking dinner one evening when the phone rang.
這次采訪甚至連安排方式也有點奇怪。某天晚上，我正一邊做晚飯，一邊聽拉赫瑪尼諾夫的第三鋼琴協奏曲，這是阿什肯納齊的經典演出。這時，電話鈴響了。

"Ashkenazy here," said the deep voice on the line. Of course, I had been in contact with his agent but the last thing I expected was to be telephoned directly by the great man himself.
“我是阿什肯納齊，”電話里傳來一個低沉的聲音。雖然我一直在聯系他的經紀人，但我萬萬沒想到這位偉大的音樂家會直接與我通話。

We agreed to do the interview in the Hilton Beijing Wangfujing on the eve of him performing at the National Center for Performing Arts.
我們商量好在北京王府井的希爾頓酒店進行采訪，當晚他將在國家大劇院進行演出。

He could not have been more amenable. He even agreed to play the hotel’s piano (out of bounds for ordinary guests) in honky-tonk fashion for our photographer.
他簡直有求必應。他甚至同意用酒吧鋼琴樂的風格，在我們的攝像機前彈奏酒店鋼琴（普通客人不能使用）。

I was reminded of the encounter after recently catching up with Wray Armstrong, the Beijing-based classical music promoter behind the recent successful production in China of Dream of the Red Chamber, the opera based on the classical novel.
最近我與瑞?阿姆斯特朗交談一番之后，又回想起了那次會面。阿姆斯特朗目前在北京工作，日前在中國大獲成功的歌劇《紅樓夢》便由他擔任古典音樂監制。

Ashkenazy, now 80 and a regular performer in China for many years, played a significant role in this.
阿什肯納齊現年80歲，多年來常常來到中國演出，在這一領域扮演了舉足輕重的角色。

When he worked in London Armstrong represented the late Isaac Stern, who made the film From Mao to Mozart and did perhaps more than anyone from the West in re-establishing this musical form in China.
阿姆斯特朗還在倫敦工作時，曾是已故的艾薩克?斯特恩的經紀人。紀錄電影《從毛澤東到莫扎特》便是以斯特恩為主角，而且在中國重建這種音樂形式的時候，斯特恩算是貢獻最大的西方人。

The progress in this area often goes under the radar. For one, China's classical music audiences themselves often come in for criticism. People noisily eating, mobile phones going off during performances and bored embassy officials on the front row wishing they were somewhere else are among the usual stereotypes.
這一領域的進展并不引人注目。首先，中國的古典音樂聽眾經常受人指摘。常見的刻板印象包括大聲吃東西、演出期間手機鈴聲大作、大使館官員百無聊賴又不情不愿地坐在前排。

As anyone who regularly goes to concerts here knows, there is, however, a real hard core of very knowledgeable enthusiasts.
然而，在中國，經常去聽音樂會的人都知道，這里也有真正的鐵桿愛好者，他們見識廣博、幾近狂熱。

There are also more imaginative and less conservative programs being performed here. It is no longer just about serving up an endless diet of Tchaikovsky and Beethoven symphonies to bring in the numbers.
演奏的曲目也更加新穎，傳統曲目更少。演出不再為了賺得盆滿缽盈而只表演老一套的柴可夫斯基和貝多芬交響樂。

The standard of China's musicians has improved. Many of the world's best orchestras now have Chinese players.
中國音樂家的水平也已經提高了。許多世界頂級樂團都有來自中國的成員。

According to Armstrong we are now only about two decades away from China having a number of world-class Chinese orchestras.
阿姆斯特朗認為，只需再等二十年的時間，中國將產生一批世界級的交響樂團。

He says the playing talent is already there but what is lacking is the "interpretation and the traditions of interpretation."
他表示，中國并不缺少演奏人才，但缺少“演繹與對演繹的傳承”。

If so, Chinese orchestras would have made the same journey as those of Japan over the past 30 years with a number of them now considered elite.
若是這樣，許多中國交響樂團將會像過去三十年的日本樂團一樣，歷經發展之后變得出類拔萃。

Chinese orchestras going round the world would certainly chime with one of the messages of Chinese President Xi Jinping's report to the CPC 19th National Congress about exporting Chinese cultural soft power.
中國國家主席習近平在中國共產黨第十九次全國代表大會上的報告中也談及中國要輸出文化軟實力，中國交響樂團的國際化無疑是響應這一號召。

Armstrong, himself, plans to take the Dream opera on a European tour in 2019 when it may feature in the Proms season in London.
歌劇版《紅樓夢》將于2019年進行歐洲巡演，由阿姆斯特朗親自率團，屆時還將在倫敦的逍遙音樂會中亮相。

Although it is a San Francisco Opera production, many of the performers will be from China.
盡管這部歌劇為舊金山歌劇院出品，但劇中許多演員都將來自中國。

What we appear to be seeing is a culmination of the work over many decades of Stern, Ashkenazy and not forgetting others such as Yu Long, founder of the Beijing Music Festival and chief conductor of the China Philharmonic, finally producing results.
在中國，我們似乎看到斯特恩、阿什肯納齊等人幾十年來的作品達到了極盛期，但也不要忘了，北京音樂節的創始人、中國愛樂樂團首席指揮余隆等音樂家也終于有所成就。

Although it has yet to grab the headlines, music might be one of the surprising areas where China becomes center stage. A full circle may have turned.
盡管這些還登不上頭版頭條，但中國可能出人意料地成為音樂領域的中心舞臺。這大抵又是新一輪的循環往復。

英文來源：“CHINA DAILY”微信公眾號
翻譯：張思琦（實習）
編審：丹妮 董靜
音頻編輯：唐曉敏

更多內容請關注“CHINA DAILY”微信公眾號：

Broadcaster

As a senior correspondent, Andrew Moody has reported not just in China but around the world for China Daily. He has conducted a number of exclusive interviews, including ones recently with former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne in London and the president of Sierra Leone Ernest Bai Koromo in Beijing. He also covered China President Xi Jinping’s state visits to both the United Kingdom and to South Africa in 2015.

Before coming to China, Andrew was a well- known journalist in the UK having worked for national newspapers for more than 15 years, including the Mail on Sunday and The Observer.