Höstsonaten / Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre / Hong Kong / Oct 18–19, 2019 / Ernest Wan /
Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman’s Höstsonaten (Autumn Sonata, 1978) made its way to the operatic stage two years ago, when a two-act opera of the same title, with a screenplay-turned-libretto by Gunilla Hemming and a score for solo singers, choir and full orchestra by Sebastian Fagerlund – both Finns who regularly work in the Swedish language – was produced in Helsinki. This production was recently presented in Hong Kong by the government’s World Cultures Festival, of which this year’s theme was The Nordics. On this occasion, the music was performed by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Malmö Opera Chorus and a cast of Scandinavian soloists, under the leadership of Swedish conductor Patrik Ringborg.
The story tells of the unhappy reunion between Eva, who lives with her husband Viktor in his vicarage, and her visiting mother Charlotte, a successful touring pianist whom she has not seen for seven years. Charlotte’s egotistical pursuits have resulted in a long-standing neglect of Eva, whose love for her mother has gradually turned into a hatred that is now finally vented for the first time.
The set, designed by Frenchman Stéphane Braunschweig, makes full use of the space on the stage, with the vastness of the expanse accentuating the solitude of the few characters and their isolation from one another. The downstage area represents the living space of the house, where most of the action takes place. At the back are three compartments, one of which is a small room occupied by Helena, Eva’s disabled younger sister who, to Charlotte’s surprise, is no longer institutionalised but cared for in this house. Directly above it is another small room, where Charlotte’s late lover Leonardo occasionally appears. Both of these rooms suggest Charlotte’s repressed memories that continue to haunt her. The spacious compartment upstage accommodates the chorus, “an extension of Charlotte’s ego”, as the composer himself puts it, the always approving concert audience that is the source of her self-esteem and largely defines who she is.
In most of this two-hour opera, the characters sing arioso that is not especially melodious or memorable, until Helena bursts into florid, passionate song towards the very end, an indication that, her physical handicap notwithstanding, she is the only one who is not “emotionally crippled” (as Eva says of Charlotte). Elsewhere Fagerlund clearly focuses more on the orchestra, which, despite the sometimes busy activity
on a surface level, typically produces enthralling sustained sonorities, now forceful, now subtly colourful, that either evoke general moods or illustrate the characters’ states of mind, rather than their outward behaviour or actions. Indeed, nothing much happens dramatically in the work, the argument between mother and daughter being just about the only event in it. While this does not automatically mean ineffective opera, splitting this row across two acts, with the second of these resuming just where the first has left off, certainly blunts the inexorability – so powerful in Bergman’s film – with which past wounds are torn open and left to bleed.
《秋天奏鳴曲》 香港文化中心大劇院
瑞典導演英瑪褒曼的《秋天奏鳴曲》（1978年）在兩年前首次登上歌劇舞台，由根尼娜．賀明和施巴斯坦．費格倫特於赫爾辛基改編為同名兩幕歌劇。兩位都是經常以瑞典語創作的芬蘭人，文本由前者創作；獨唱、合唱團和樂團的樂譜則為後者所寫。作品最近在香港演出，是世界文化藝術節主題「北歐五國」的其中一個表演項目，由指揮柏德烈．泳堡指揮香港管弦樂團、瑞典馬爾默歌劇院合唱團和一群斯堪地那維亞獨唱攜手演出。
故事講述伊娃與丈夫維克多一起生活多年，一天伊娃的母親莎樂蒂突然到訪，雙方團聚愛恨交纏。莎樂蒂是名鋼琴家，終日四處巡演，因盲目追求虛榮而長年忽視伊娃。伊娃與母親闊別七年，對母親的愛已逐漸變成仇恨，如今隱藏的瘡疤終被狠狠撕破。
舞台設計由法國導演斯特法納．布倫什維一手包辦，他設計的場景充分利用了舞台上的空間，廣闊的空間凸顯了幾位主角的孤獨以及彼此的疏離。舞台的前半部是屋中的客廳，亦是劇中主要的場景。客廳背後有三間房，其中一間是殘疾妹妹海蓮娜的小房間，莎樂蒂對於小女兒現在不再住院並可居於家中一無所知；而正上方的另一個小房間則是莎樂蒂對已逝戀人利奧納多的回憶空間。兩間房間都象徵莎樂蒂的心魔。正如作曲家所言，舞台後半部那寬敞空間所容納的合唱團是「莎樂蒂自尊心的延伸」，畢竟獲得音樂會觀眾的認可是她自尊的來源，亦在很大程度上決定了她的身份。
在這部長達兩小時的歌劇中，演員唱的詠嘆調並不特別悅耳動聽或令人難忘。不過海蓮娜在終段突然唱出的歌飽滿熱情，儘管她身體上有障礙，但她是唯一一個沒有「情緒障礙」（如伊娃對莎樂蒂的描述）的人。施巴斯坦．費格倫特明顯較側重樂團的表現，雖然聽起來很熱鬧，但都會產生令人著迷的持久音效——時而強烈，時而色彩微妙鮮豔，喚起了大眾情緒和表達出人物心態，而其外在行為或動作。作品確實並無重大起伏，母女之爭就是唯一脈絡。雖然把這爭執分為兩幕，讓爭執下半場在第二幕展開，並沒有令這部歌劇變得無力，但無疑是削弱了在英瑪褒曼電影中極其重要的無情表現——令瘡疤被狠狠撕開，血流如注。