柏林愛樂樂團終覓得首席指揮

Berlin Philharmonic Selects Kirill Petrenko to Succeed Simon Rattle

柏林愛樂樂團終於覓得首席指揮

When the Berlin Philharmonic announced on Monday that its next chief conductor would be Kirill Petrenko, the Russian-born music director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the organization was awarding one of the most prestigious posts in classical music to a widely respected artist who has largely shunned the spotlight courted by some of his peers.

週一，柏林愛樂樂團(Berlin Philharmonic)宣佈了下任首席指揮將由生於俄羅斯的慕尼黑巴伐利亞國家歌劇院(Bavarian State Opera)音樂總監基利爾·佩欽科(Kirill Petrenko)擔任。這意味着柏林愛樂樂團將古典樂壇最負盛名的頭銜授予了一位廣受尊崇卻爲人低調的藝術家。與一直渴望曝光的同輩不同，佩欽科一直極力避免出現在聚光燈下。

Case in point: Mr. Petrenko, 43, is in the midst of rehearsals at the Bayreuth Festival and so did not attend the hastily arranged news conference in Berlin, where his appointment was announced a day after the musicians of the Philharmonic, a self-governing orchestra, met in secret near their concert hall. There they elected him the latest in a line of distinguished leaders that has included Hans von Bülow, Wilhelm Furtwngler, Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado and the current conductor, Simon Rattle.

比如：宣佈下任首席指揮人選當日，佩欽科正忙於拜羅伊特音樂節(Bayreuth Festival)的彩排，因此缺席了這場在柏林匆忙召開的新聞發佈會。發佈會前一天，自主管理的管弦樂團――柏林愛樂的音樂人們祕密聚集在音樂廳附近，選出佩欽科，將他排入包括漢斯·馮·彪羅(Hans von Bülow)、威廉·福特倫格勒(Wilhelm Furtwngler)、赫伯特·馮·卡拉揚(Herbert von Karajan)、克勞迪奧·阿巴多(Claudio Abbado)及現任指揮西蒙·拉特爾(Simon Rattle)等卓越指揮家名單末端。

It was not the musicians' first attempt to choose a successor to Mr. Rattle, who will leave the post in 2018: At a marathon 11-hour meeting in May, the musicians cast several ballots but failed to agree on a candidate, raising questions about the role of modern conductors, and what course the Berlin Philharmonic intends to chart in the 21st century.

音樂人們不止一次地想給2018年離職的拉特爾找個接班人：五月，在經歷了一場長達11小時的馬拉松會議後，他們進行了幾輪投票，但都沒能達成一致，同時他們對現代指揮家的作用和柏林愛樂在21世紀的方向產生了質疑。

In choosing Mr. Petrenko, who is best known as an opera conductor, the Philharmonic's players bypassed a number of more famous maestros and opted for a quiet, diligent musician who has won the admiration of orchestras, critics and audiences. In some ways he is the opposite of the jet-setters who have increasingly become the norm in the field, arranging his schedule in recent years to devote more of his time to fewer ensembles.

以歌劇指揮聞名的佩欽科的當選，意味着樂團演奏家們放棄了一系列更著名的藝術大家，而選擇了這樣一位沉穩勤懇、受到管絃樂隊、評論家和觀衆欽佩的音樂人。某種程度上來說，與樂壇中常見的滿世界奔波的音樂人正好相反，佩欽科喜歡把較多的時間集中投入到較少的演出中。

"The orchestra and the score itself are always the focus ― not his own person," Peter Riegelbauer, one of the musicians on the orchestra's board, said at the news conference. But he added, "He is always able to transform a concert hall with his unique charisma."

"他永遠把樂隊和樂譜放在第一位――而不是他本人，"柏林愛樂樂團音樂家之一彼得·裏格爾鮑爾(Peter Riegelbauer)在發佈會上稱。但他同時補充道，"佩欽科總能用自己的個人魅力改變音樂廳。"

There are risks to the appointment. Few couples would marry after only three dates, no matter how great, and Mr. Petrenko has conducted the Philharmonic only three times. In December he withdrew on short notice because of shoulder pain from a fourth engagement to conduct Mahler's Sixth Symphony.

當然，這一任命也存在一定風險。正像情侶之間的約會再美妙，也不大可能約會三次就結婚一樣，佩欽科也只指揮了樂團三次而已。他因爲肩傷而臨時取消了12月與樂團的第四次合作，原定的曲目是馬勒第六交響曲(Mahler's Sixth Symphony)。

That Mahler was to have been his first foray into the standard symphonic literature with the orchestra, a reminder that Mr. Petrenko's orchestral repertoire is not as wide as that of some other candidates. And his seeming reticence ― he declined to be interviewed on Monday ― could pose a challenge for an international orchestra that valued Mr. Rattle's ability to talk about its art with audiences and the news media alike.

這次未能進行的合作本是佩欽科首次嘗試指揮愛樂樂團演奏一首標準意義上的交響樂作品，可以說佩欽科管絃樂的作品很難和其他部分候選人匹敵。而他的沉默――週一他曾拒絕接受採訪――也是一個國際樂團要面對的挑戰，愛樂樂團曾十分重視拉特爾向觀衆和新媒體一類平臺談論藝術的能力。

But Mr. Petrenko has won fans wherever he has conducted, and has become known for his exacting standards. His work at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich has been praised, and officials there said on Monday that they still hoped to extend his contract beyond 2018. (The Berlin orchestra declined to give Mr. Petrenko's official start date, suggesting that details of the new engagement had yet to be negotiated.)

但佩欽科無論到哪兒演出都能吸納新的粉絲，並以他特有的嚴厲標準而聞名。他在慕尼黑的巴伐利亞國家歌劇院的工作也飽受讚譽。官方週一稱希望能將他的合約延長到2018年後。（柏林愛樂樂團還未給出佩欽科的正式就職日期，表明僱傭的一些細節還有待商榷。）

He received acclaim for his earlier run as music director of the Komische Oper in Berlin, as well as engagements with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra and other ensembles. In 2012 he led a production of Mussorgsky's "Khovanshchina" at the Metropolitan Opera that was a highlight of the season. And in 2013, his conducting of Wagner's "Ring" cycle at Bayreuth was applauded, even if the production was not.

佩欽科早年曾在柏林喜歌劇院(Komische Oper)擔任音樂總監，並曾與芝加哥交響樂團(Chicago Symphony Orchestra)、克利夫蘭管弦樂團(Cleveland Orchestra)等其他樂團有過合作，都受到盛讚。2012年在大都會歌劇院(Metropolitan Opera)，他指揮演奏的穆索爾斯基(Mussorgsky)名曲"霍萬斯基之亂(Khovanshchina)"成爲當季最佳。2013年拜羅伊特音樂節，他指揮演奏的華格納(Wagner)"指環(Ring)"系列也掌聲不斷，儘管原作不屬上乘。

Mr. Petrenko was born in Omsk in Siberia and immigrated at the age of 18 with his family to Austria, where his father, a violinist, got a post with a provincial orchestra. In a statement, Mr. Petrenko admitted to a certain disbelief at being selected by the Berlin Philharmonic.

佩欽科出生於西伯利亞(Siberia)鄂木斯克(Omsk)。18歲那年，由於身爲小提琴家的父親在奧地利(Austria)的地方管弦樂團謀了份差事，他們舉家移民至奧地利。在一次聲明中，佩欽科承認並未料到會被柏林愛樂選中。

"Words cannot express my feelings ― everything from euphoria and great joy to awe and disbelief," he said. "I am aware of the responsibility and high expectations of me, and I will do everything in my power to be a worthy conductor of this outstanding orchestra."

"我現在的感受難以用語言形容――從幸福興奮到敬畏和難以置信的一切感受都在我心中翻騰，"他說。"我深知自己肩頭的重任和他人的高度期盼。我會盡一切努力，對得起這一傑出樂團的指揮頭銜。"

The orchestra was said to have weighed numerous candidates, including the German conductor Christian Thielemann, a polarizing figure with fans and detractors among the players; Andris Nelsons; and Riccardo Chailly. A number of other top candidates seemed to withdraw from consideration in the weeks before the first vote, including Gustavo Dudamel, Daniel Barenboim and Mariss Jansons.

柏林愛樂表示比較了多位候選人，包括德國指揮家克里斯蒂安·蒂勒曼(Christian Thielemann)，一個同時受到觀衆擁護和樂手抨擊的極端例子，安德里斯·尼爾森斯(Andris Nelsons)，和裏卡多·夏伊(Riccardo Chailly)。還有很多頂級候選人在第一輪投票前就被淘汰了，包括古斯塔沃·杜達美(Gustavo Dudamel)、丹尼爾·巴倫博伊姆(Daniel Barenboim)和馬里斯·揚頌斯(Mariss Jansons)。

Peter Gelb, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, called Mr. Petrenko an "inspired choice," and said that he hoped the new position might make a return engagement at the Met more likely for Mr. Petrenko. He also said he considered the conductor a noteworthy choice for Berlin, an orchestra with complicated dynamics that can seem to require deft political leadership. "It's interesting that they picked somebody who is clearly not interested in politics," he said.

大都會歌劇院總經理彼得·蓋爾布(Peter Gelb)稱佩欽科是"富於靈感的選擇"，並表示希望他的上任能增加他在大都會再次演出的可能性。他同時評價佩欽科是柏林愛樂的重要選擇，一個無比複雜的管弦樂團本來似乎需要一個富於心計的政治領袖。"他們選了一個顯然對政治毫無興趣的人來做指揮，很有意思，"他說。

Sarah Willis, a horn player in the Philharmonic, said that the musicians were quickly drawn to Mr. Petrenko after he made his debut in 2006 conducting works by Bartok and Rachmaninoff. When she interviewed him for one of the orchestra's Digital Concert Hall streaming service programs in 2009, she told him as much. "It's usually a question for the orchestra: 'Hmm, we'll see if this new conductor will be asked back,' " she told him. "But by the end of the week we were saying, 'When can he come back?' because we enjoyed it so much."

柏林愛樂小號手薩拉·威利斯(Sarah Willis)稱，2006年，佩欽科憑藉指揮巴托克和拉克瑪尼諾夫的作品首次登臺後，樂手們就開始留意他。2009年，她面試佩欽科參加樂隊電子音樂廳串流節目時，也把這些告訴了他。"通常來說樂隊的問題都是：'嗯，我們會考慮要不要再請這個指揮來合作，'"她告訴佩欽科。"但週末的時候我們都在說'他什麼時候能再來？'大家實在太享受那場演出了。"

In that interview Mr. Petrenko confessed to having been "very shy" in his first rehearsal with the orchestra: "I was thinking: 'What should I say? Should I ask them to play this one more time? Or better not ask them?' " For his second engagement, he said, he decided to "work with this great orchestra as I work with any other orchestra, just in my way."

那次面試中，佩欽科承認在初次與樂團排練的時候"非常靦腆"："我一直在考慮：'我該說什麼？我要不要讓他們再來一次？還是不說比較好？'"第二次合作的時候，他說他決定"用和其他任何管弦樂團合作的方式來和最好的管弦樂團合作，就用自己的方式。"

Ms. Willis, in a telephone interview, said: "One of my colleagues likened it to playing chamber music. When you play chamber music with someone you notice in the very first seconds, almost, if you'll be able to play with that person. If they think like you do, if they feel like you do, it just clicks."

威利斯女士在電話訪談中說："我的一個同事把這比作演奏室內樂。當你和你一開始就注意到的人演奏室內樂時，差不多你就能和那個人合拍地合作。如果他們和你想法一樣，他們就會和你感受一致，這就是一拍即合。"