论文部分内容阅读
He wrote Carmen (1875), one of the best-loved operas of all time.
Set among the gypsies and bullfighters of Spain, it is a violent, colorful tale of love and jealousy between a gypsy woman and a weak-willed soldier. Many of the opera’s melodies[歌曲] are almost as familiar as pop songs. They include the rousing[鼓舞人的] “Prelude,” the arias “Habanera,” “Song of the Toreador” and “The Card Song,” etc. Early critics were shocked by the earthy[粗俗的,朴实的] naturalism[自然主义] of Carmen, which was new at that time. But the effectiveness of Bizet’s music, with its irresistible[不可抵抗的] tunes and exciting rhythms[节奏], conquered all objections and remains undiminished[未削弱的] today.
A child prodigy[天才], Georges Bizet entered the Paris Conservatory at age ten and distinguished himself as a brilliant pianist. While still a student, he composed his well-known Symphony in C (1855), though he dismissed[不理会] it as a mere exercise and it was not performed until 1935. He won the Conservatory’s top award, the Prix de Rome, in 1857. After three years of study in Italy, he returned to Paris in 1860 and sought his fortune as an opera composer.
Bizet was an impulsive[冲动的] man, sensitive to criticism and rather bohemian[放荡不羁的,玩世不恭的] in his lifestyle. He started many stage projects but completed only a few. His first important opera, The Pearl Fishers (1863), was poorly received, as was his next, The Fair Maid of Perth (1867).
When the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, Bizet joined the National Guard, even though his Prix de Rome status exempted[免除] him from military service. He came back in poor health, but he now wrote with greater maturity[成熟].
He produced a one-act opera, Djamileh (1872), and his finest instrumental opuses[作品], Children’s Games (1871) for piano duet[二重奏], and the incidental music[(戏剧、电影等的)配乐] for Alphonse Daudet’s play L’Arlesienne (1872). The two orchestral suites[组曲] from L’Arlesienne are famous and show Bizet’s style approaching perfection.
Carmen, adapted from a short novel by Prosper Mérimée, was his last work. Just three months after its premiere in March 1875, Bizet died of a heart attack at 36. He did not live to see the renown[名声] his masterpiece would soon bring him.
Contrary to[与……相反] legend, the original Paris production of Carmen was not a fiasco[惨败] that broke the composer’s spirit and led to his early death. Reviewers focused their attacks on the story and characters, which they considered dirty and inappropriate[不适当的]; Bizet’s music was generally praised. It enjoyed a respectable first-season run, and by 1880 it had been successfully performed in Vienna, Brussels, London and New York. Since then, Carmen has been staged around the world more times than any other opera. And Bizet is now considered one of the most important French Romantic composers.
他写出了有史以来最受欢迎的歌剧
之一——《卡门》(1875年)。
《卡门》以西班牙的吉普赛人和斗牛士为背景,讲述了一个狂烈多彩的故事,一段发生在一名吉普赛女郎与一名软弱的士兵之间的爱恨情仇。这部歌剧中的许多旋律就像流行歌曲一样脍炙人口,包括鼓舞人心的《序曲》、咏叹调《哈巴涅拉》、《斗牛士之歌》和《纸牌之歌》等等。《卡门》刚面世时,其质朴粗俗的自然主义震惊了早期的批评家,因为这在当时并不多见。然而,比才的音乐所具备的持久性,以及其令人无法抗拒的旋律和扣人心弦的节奏,最终征服了所有反对声音,直至今天,其魅力仍经久不衰。
神童乔治·比才十岁入读巴黎音乐学院,很快就成为一名出色的钢琴师。学生时代的他便创作出著名的《C大调交响曲》(1855年)——虽然他认为那不过是一份习作。直到1935年,该作品才首次公演。1857年,他荣获学院的最高奖项——罗马大奖。赴意大利进修三年后,他于1860年回到巴黎,开始以歌剧作曲家为业。
比才是一个很冲动的人,对批评极为敏感,生活作风也相当随性散漫。他起草过不少舞台作品,但最后只完成了其中几项。他的第一部重要歌剧作品《采珠者》(1863年)反响不佳,下一部作品《贝城佳丽》(1867年)也不受欢迎。
1870年,普法战争爆发。虽然比才作为罗马大奖获得者可以免服兵役,但他还是加入了国民保卫军。退役回来,他的健康状况很不理想,其创作却臻于成熟。他创作了独幕歌剧《札米列》(1872年)、他最优秀的器乐作品——钢琴二重奏《儿童游戏》(1871年),以及为阿尔封斯·都德的戏剧《阿莱城姑娘》(1872年)创作的配乐。《阿莱城姑娘》的两组交响乐组曲都很有名,它们展现了比才日趋完美的创作水平。
《卡门》改编自普罗斯佩·梅里美的一部短篇小说,是比才的遗作。1875年3月《卡门》首演三个月后,比才死于心脏病发,时年36岁。他没能活着看到其杰作为他带来的荣誉。
然而与传闻大相径庭的是,《卡门》最初在巴黎的演出并非一败涂地,它不是摧毁这位作曲家的精神、导致其英年早逝的原因。事实上,评论家的批评集中在故事和人物上,认为两者肮脏低俗,不合时宜;而比才的音乐得到了普遍的赞赏。《卡门》第一季度的公演获得了不错的成绩;到1880年为止,它已经在维也纳、布鲁塞尔、伦敦和纽约成功上演。自那以后,《卡门》在世界各地享有比其他歌剧更高的上演率,而比才现在被认为是最重要的法国浪漫主义作曲家之一。
Set among the gypsies and bullfighters of Spain, it is a violent, colorful tale of love and jealousy between a gypsy woman and a weak-willed soldier. Many of the opera’s melodies[歌曲] are almost as familiar as pop songs. They include the rousing[鼓舞人的] “Prelude,” the arias “Habanera,” “Song of the Toreador” and “The Card Song,” etc. Early critics were shocked by the earthy[粗俗的,朴实的] naturalism[自然主义] of Carmen, which was new at that time. But the effectiveness of Bizet’s music, with its irresistible[不可抵抗的] tunes and exciting rhythms[节奏], conquered all objections and remains undiminished[未削弱的] today.
A child prodigy[天才], Georges Bizet entered the Paris Conservatory at age ten and distinguished himself as a brilliant pianist. While still a student, he composed his well-known Symphony in C (1855), though he dismissed[不理会] it as a mere exercise and it was not performed until 1935. He won the Conservatory’s top award, the Prix de Rome, in 1857. After three years of study in Italy, he returned to Paris in 1860 and sought his fortune as an opera composer.
Bizet was an impulsive[冲动的] man, sensitive to criticism and rather bohemian[放荡不羁的,玩世不恭的] in his lifestyle. He started many stage projects but completed only a few. His first important opera, The Pearl Fishers (1863), was poorly received, as was his next, The Fair Maid of Perth (1867).
When the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, Bizet joined the National Guard, even though his Prix de Rome status exempted[免除] him from military service. He came back in poor health, but he now wrote with greater maturity[成熟].
He produced a one-act opera, Djamileh (1872), and his finest instrumental opuses[作品], Children’s Games (1871) for piano duet[二重奏], and the incidental music[(戏剧、电影等的)配乐] for Alphonse Daudet’s play L’Arlesienne (1872). The two orchestral suites[组曲] from L’Arlesienne are famous and show Bizet’s style approaching perfection.
Carmen, adapted from a short novel by Prosper Mérimée, was his last work. Just three months after its premiere in March 1875, Bizet died of a heart attack at 36. He did not live to see the renown[名声] his masterpiece would soon bring him.
Contrary to[与……相反] legend, the original Paris production of Carmen was not a fiasco[惨败] that broke the composer’s spirit and led to his early death. Reviewers focused their attacks on the story and characters, which they considered dirty and inappropriate[不适当的]; Bizet’s music was generally praised. It enjoyed a respectable first-season run, and by 1880 it had been successfully performed in Vienna, Brussels, London and New York. Since then, Carmen has been staged around the world more times than any other opera. And Bizet is now considered one of the most important French Romantic composers.
他写出了有史以来最受欢迎的歌剧
之一——《卡门》(1875年)。
《卡门》以西班牙的吉普赛人和斗牛士为背景,讲述了一个狂烈多彩的故事,一段发生在一名吉普赛女郎与一名软弱的士兵之间的爱恨情仇。这部歌剧中的许多旋律就像流行歌曲一样脍炙人口,包括鼓舞人心的《序曲》、咏叹调《哈巴涅拉》、《斗牛士之歌》和《纸牌之歌》等等。《卡门》刚面世时,其质朴粗俗的自然主义震惊了早期的批评家,因为这在当时并不多见。然而,比才的音乐所具备的持久性,以及其令人无法抗拒的旋律和扣人心弦的节奏,最终征服了所有反对声音,直至今天,其魅力仍经久不衰。
神童乔治·比才十岁入读巴黎音乐学院,很快就成为一名出色的钢琴师。学生时代的他便创作出著名的《C大调交响曲》(1855年)——虽然他认为那不过是一份习作。直到1935年,该作品才首次公演。1857年,他荣获学院的最高奖项——罗马大奖。赴意大利进修三年后,他于1860年回到巴黎,开始以歌剧作曲家为业。
比才是一个很冲动的人,对批评极为敏感,生活作风也相当随性散漫。他起草过不少舞台作品,但最后只完成了其中几项。他的第一部重要歌剧作品《采珠者》(1863年)反响不佳,下一部作品《贝城佳丽》(1867年)也不受欢迎。
1870年,普法战争爆发。虽然比才作为罗马大奖获得者可以免服兵役,但他还是加入了国民保卫军。退役回来,他的健康状况很不理想,其创作却臻于成熟。他创作了独幕歌剧《札米列》(1872年)、他最优秀的器乐作品——钢琴二重奏《儿童游戏》(1871年),以及为阿尔封斯·都德的戏剧《阿莱城姑娘》(1872年)创作的配乐。《阿莱城姑娘》的两组交响乐组曲都很有名,它们展现了比才日趋完美的创作水平。
《卡门》改编自普罗斯佩·梅里美的一部短篇小说,是比才的遗作。1875年3月《卡门》首演三个月后,比才死于心脏病发,时年36岁。他没能活着看到其杰作为他带来的荣誉。
然而与传闻大相径庭的是,《卡门》最初在巴黎的演出并非一败涂地,它不是摧毁这位作曲家的精神、导致其英年早逝的原因。事实上,评论家的批评集中在故事和人物上,认为两者肮脏低俗,不合时宜;而比才的音乐得到了普遍的赞赏。《卡门》第一季度的公演获得了不错的成绩;到1880年为止,它已经在维也纳、布鲁塞尔、伦敦和纽约成功上演。自那以后,《卡门》在世界各地享有比其他歌剧更高的上演率,而比才现在被认为是最重要的法国浪漫主义作曲家之一。