表演場雙週刊第十四期 -「世界文化藝術節─北歐五國」開幕節目《秋天奏鳴曲》The Art Venue Bi-Weekly Issue 014 - World Cultures Festival: The Nordics Opening Programme Autumn Sonata
《秋天奏鳴曲》 北歐式的情感距離
Photo credit: Jonas Persson
英瑪褒曼執導、於1978年上映的電影《秋天奏鳴曲》，被改編成歌劇，並由作 曲家Sebastian Fagerlund譜上新曲後，藝術表現模式變得截然不同。為了傳遞 出故事潛藏的情感糾結，Fagerlund用獨特的音樂語言，將本是北歐的現實主義電影，一轉為夢幻超現實風格的歌劇。在2017年芬蘭國家歌劇院首次演出前， Merja Hottinen替FMQ雜誌訪問了作曲家Fagerlund。
將英瑪褒曼的《秋天奏鳴曲》變成歌 劇，是芬蘭國家歌劇院藝術總監Lilli Paasikivi 的主意，而Sebastian Fagerlund亦很快意識到故事有潛質成為不朽的歌劇。原有的劇本亦作出相當大的改動，成為了由Gunilla Hemming編寫的版本。Fagerlund說他雖在約20年前有看過原裝電影版本，但在作曲階段未有機會重溫，因此對創作沒有起到強大的影響。
但歌劇是否仍帶有褒曼風格的影子？
「像褒曼的電影般，也許呈現出一種簡約 樸實的氛圍，就算出現強烈情感的場 景，角色之間還保持着距離感，我不知 道是否能稱這為『北歐風格』。」
虛實交錯的人生劇場
故事由鋼琴演奏家莎樂蒂到大女兒的鄉居作客開始，大女兒的丈夫和莎樂蒂生病的小女兒也住在那裡。這次重聚，令母親和大女兒首次爆發隱藏而久的情緒，互相作出控訴。
「這一齣人物劇要在極其封閉的空間裡，展現每人多樣的情感變化，要不是角色的腦海中，便是在大女兒的鄉居內。所以當我思索用哪種音樂方式去表現時，確實遇到了很多麻煩，但整理好零碎的思路後，便能衝破侷限空間的限制。」
「人們的思想感受，可以選擇表達出來或 是壓抑下來，於是有些事能侃侃而談，有些事卻閉口不言，這正正是人際關係為何那麼複雜！」Fagerlund說。
Fagerlund以充滿活力的管弦樂作品而見稱，與這種探討心理本質的戲劇似乎並 不相符。那他是否有在《秋天奏鳴曲》的音樂中添加個人色彩？
「我只是在一個新的背景下，沿用慣常使 用的元素，以反映一直讓我感興趣的東西，比如真實與虛幻之間的無人或邊緣 地帶。」Fagerlund解釋。
「鄉居生活的步伐節奏緩慢、靜謐，如同沒有變化。然後莎樂蒂到訪，同時將她自己世界那急促燥動的一部份帶進來；她心裡緊張，儘管試圖保持表面冷靜。於是靜止的場景與強烈的氣場形成對比，這也常見於我的音樂中。」
人心思變的挑戰
除了獨奏和大型管弦樂外，合唱團亦在 《秋天奏鳴曲》中扮演重要角色，代表著莎樂蒂的觀眾群。Fagerlund形容類似古希臘戲劇中的合唱部分，作用是擔當評論者。
「莎樂蒂總是要成為眾人關注的焦點，她的情緒波動直接影響觀眾（合唱團）作何反應。比如當母女倆真正開始互相撕裂時，合唱團的歌聲開始被人注意到，其存在感更為凸顯，亦使大女兒要與之展開交流對話。」
「觀眾（合唱團）的角色非常重要。他們希 望享受娛樂，體驗新事物。最終變得非常自我為中心，就像母親（莎樂蒂）一樣，這是劇中一個至關重要的元素。」
借助戲劇的構作，能強調用新角度看角色之間的關係和意義，亦為因家庭內在 問題而出現的衝突的情緒、矛盾的記憶，賦予不同層次的意義。
「有趣的是，人們會用不同形式記住同樣的事情，為自己重建記憶。究竟為何每 人對同樣事情有不同體會？這觸及了寬恕的理念：你能否做到原諒別人，這又意味著什麼呢？」Fagerlund沉思道。
「如果我要總結為何我對這個故事非常感興趣，那是因為與現世是如此有關連； 都是關於作為人類的我們，希望自己或身邊人有所改變。然而，我們很難做到，事實上亦甚少發生。」
譯者：Carey Li
原文：「Autumn Sonata – between the real and the unreal」（FMQ，2017年9月）
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Autumn Sonata – emotions with Scandinavian distance
BY Merja Hottinen / FMQ
Photo credit: Jonas Persson
Opera and cinema are very different forms of expression, as composer Sebastian Fagerlund’s take on Ingmar Bergman’s eponymous film Autumn Sonata (1978) shows. The Scandinavian realism of the film is replaced by fantasy and surreal, conveying the deep emotions of the story in Fagerlund’s unique musical language. Merja Hottinen interviewed the composer for FMQ magazine before the premiere at the Finnish National Opera in 2017.
The idea of turning Ingmar Bergman’s Autumn Sonata into an opera came from Lilli Paasikivi, Artistic Director of the Finnish National Opera, and Sebastian Fagerlund quickly saw the narrative’s potential for a great drama. The original screenplay underwent a considerable transformation en route to becoming a libretto, written by Gunilla Hemming. The film itself had only a tangential influence on the composition process: Fagerlund reports that he had seen it some 20 years ago and was unable to watch the film at all in the middle of the writing process.
But did Bergman’s style influence the opera at all?
“Perhaps there’s a sort of austere simplicity there at times, like in Bergman’s films. I don’t know whether it could be described as ‘Scandinavian’. There may be strong emotions, but one also has to dare to keep some distance.”
BETWEEN THE REAL AND THE UNREAL
BETWEEN THE REAL AND THE UNREAL The story begins when Charlotte, a concert pianist, comes to visit her daughter at a remote rectory. The daughter’s husband is also there along with Charlotte’s younger daughter, who is ill. This encounter releases repressed emotions that the mother and daughter find themselves addressing for the first time in their lives.
“It’s a character drama with lots of emotion, set in an extremely confined space – if not actually inside the heads of the characters, then within the rectory. I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to resolve this musically. But when the pieces of the puzzle came together, the confined space no longer felt like a restriction.
“When you talk about the human mind and about powerful emotions that people display on the one hand and try to conceal on the other, and then there are things that are said and that are left unsaid – what a huge and complicated world this is, after all!” says Fagerlund.
Fagerlund is known for energetic orchestral works, and this sort of psychological setup seems like something completely different. Has he added something to his musical palette with Autumn Sonata?
“I’ve used the elements that I’m used to working with. The opera reflects things that I’ve always been interested in, such as the no-man’s-land between the real and the unreal; borderlands. I just placed them in a new context here,” Fagerlund explains.
“One of the structural decisions was that the world of the rectory is very slow and static, practically unchanging. When Charlotte arrives for a visit, she brings part of her own world with her. That world is on the move all the time, and Charlotte is a very nervous character, though she tried to maintain a calm façade. So you have a static setting contrasting with powerful energy. And that’s something that’s always been there in my music.”
CHANGE IN OURSELVES, CHANGE IN OTHERS
In addition to soloists and a large orchestra, Autumn Sonata also employs the chorus in a substantial role, representing Charlotte’s audience. Fagerlund describes its role as similar to that of the chorus commenting on the action in ancient Greek drama.
“Charlotte is utterly dependent on being the centre of attention all the time, and all her emotions are reflected against how the audience reacts. When the mother and daughter really start ripping each other apart, figuratively speaking, the other characters gradually begin to see the chorus too. It becomes such a powerful presence that the older daughter actually begins to converse with it.
“The audience’s role is hugely important. It wants to be entertained, to experience new things all the time. The audience is ultimately terribly self-centred, just like the mother. That’s an important, a crucial part of the dramaturgy.”
These dramaturgical emphases lend new facets to the relationships and meanings that exist between the characters. The internal dynamics of the family, with conflicting emotions and contradictory memories, create a rich network of meanings.
“It is interesting to consider how differently people remember the same events and how people reconstruct memories for themselves. How is it possible to experience the same thing in such different ways? This touches on the idea of forgiveness: are you able to forgive, and what does it mean to do so?” muses Fagerlund.
“If I needed to summarise why I became so very interested in this story, it’s because it seems so relevant today. Ultimately, it’s about us, as human beings, wishing to achieve change – in ourselves or in the people around us. And yet it’s hugely difficult for us to change ourselves, and in fact it rarely happens.”
Read the original article Autumn Sonata - between the real and the unreal (FMQ, September 2017) at
FMQ website: http://bit.do/e8Htr
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