音乐图书译介丨《范·克莱本冷战时期成就及影响》

「今日荐书」《范·克莱本冷战时期成就及影响》讲述了钢琴家范·克莱本的传奇人生，讲述了其身上发生的音乐和政治的故事。在冷战期间，他是唯一被艾森豪威尔和赫鲁晓夫两个人都拥抱过的音乐家，他是和平的象征。伊萨科夫用有趣的笔触详尽描述了克莱本在纽约和俄罗斯的生活，但本书却并不只是一本音乐家传记，它更多阐述的是音乐如何影响人心又如何弥合政治的分歧。

When the World Stopped to Listen: 

Van Cliburn's Cold War Triumph, and Its Aftermath

《当世界开始聆听》

范·克莱本冷战时期成就及影响

By Grace Lichtenstein

One of the pleasant interludes in the Cold War was the ecstatic reception that Van Cliburn received at Moscow’s first-ever Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in 1958. Much to the surprise of those who believed the Soviets would allow only a Russian to win, Cliburn prevailed, winning the hearts and minds of Russian listeners with his playing of the Russian masters.

1958年，在莫斯科举行的首届柴可夫斯基国际钢琴比赛上，范·克莱本受到了热烈的追捧，这是冷战期间令人愉快的插曲之一。出乎那些相信苏联人只会让一个俄罗斯人赢的意料，克莱本获胜了，他演奏的俄罗斯经典曲目赢得了俄罗斯听众的心。

Stuart Isacoff, a pianist himself and author of The Natural History of the Piano, has delved into Cliburn’s background, Moscow triumph, and its aftermath. He recreates what seems like a time so long ago, when Russians giants like composer Dimitri Shostakovich and pianist Emil Gilels were still alive and subject to the whims of the Kremlin. The U.S.S.R. was changing; Nikita Khrushchev, now Russian premier, sought to loosen the grip of Stalinism.

钢琴家、《钢琴自然史》的作者斯图尔特·伊萨科夫深入研究了克莱本的背景、莫斯科的获胜及其以后的情形。他重现了很久以前的情景，当时俄罗斯的作曲家迪米特里·肖斯塔科维奇和钢琴家埃米尔·吉尔斯等俄罗斯巨人仍然健在，并受制于克里姆林宫的一时冲动，苏联正在改变;时任俄罗斯总理尼基塔•赫鲁晓夫试图放松斯大林主义的控制。

As a people the Russians knew their classical music and revered great artists.  The 23-year-old Texan, who despite his Juilliard background and an earlier win at a prestigious competition was hardly known in the United States, came to be called the American Sputnik—our cultural answer to Soviet outer-space supremacy. Although his career stalled after the initial spurt of bookings following his Moscow triumph, he was forever linked to a U.S.-Soviet thaw.

作为一个民族，俄罗斯人知道他们的古典音乐和受人尊敬的伟大艺术家。这位23岁的德克萨斯人，尽管有着茱莉亚学院的背景，并且在早些时候的一次著名钢琴比赛中获胜，但在美国几乎不为人知，他被称为美国人造卫星——我们对苏联外太空霸权的文化回应。尽管在莫斯科柴可夫斯基比赛夺冠后克莱本接到大量邀约，但随后他的事业陷入停滞并终身同美苏关系缓和这一政治事件联系起来。

Van Cliburn was the only son of Harvey Lavan and Rildia Bee Cliburn of Kilgore, TX. Rildia Bee was a piano teacher with a Steinway in the house that Van took to at an early age. When he showed unusual promise, he was sent to the Juilliard School in New York, where his teacher was the Russian-born Rosina Lhevinne. Once the Tchaikovsky competition was announced, she urged him to enter.

范·克莱本是德克萨斯州基尔戈尔的哈维·拉文和莉迪亚·比·克莱本的独子。莉迪亚·比是一名钢琴老师，家里有一架施坦威钢琴，克莱本很小的时候就喜欢上了它。当他表现出不同寻常的音乐潜能时，他被送到了纽约的朱利亚德学校，他的老师是俄罗斯出生的罗西娜。柴可夫斯基的钢琴比赛的消息一宣布，她就催促他参加。

Isacoff enhances his description of Cliburn’s time in New York and then in Russia with interesting touches. Although often thought of as a goody-two-shoes, Cliburn in fact was an adventurous fellow who would drink at night clubs in Harlem with friends. He also developed a form of performance anxiety that manifested itself as lateness—he arrived at his own concerts at the last minute and as he grew older, kept audiences waiting, sometimes for an hour or more.

伊萨科夫用有趣的笔触详尽描述了克莱本在纽约和俄罗斯的生活。尽管人们常认为克莱本是个自命不凡的人，但事实上他是个爱冒险的人，喜欢和朋友在哈莱姆的夜总会喝酒。他还患上了一种迟到的表演焦虑——他在演出最后一刻才到达自己的演唱会，随着年龄的增长，观众们一直在等他出现，有时要等上一个多小时。

In Moscow, though he was on his best behavior, and in the final round began with a “perfect” performance of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with Kirill Kondrashin conducting the Moscow State Symphony. His version of the Rachmaninoff Concert No. 3, leisurely and lovely brought tears to the eyes of listeners. Says Isacoff, “Sometimes a performer experienes an instant of artistic grace, when heaven seems to open up and hold him in the palm of its hand. . . .”  That, apparently was how beautiful Cliburn’s rendition sounded.

在莫斯科，他表现得很好，在最后一轮比赛中，和基里尔·康德拉申指挥莫斯科国家交响乐团，他以演奏柴可夫斯基第一钢琴协奏曲完美开场。他演绎的拉赫玛尼诺夫《第三钢琴协奏曲》，悠闲和动人的演绎让观众感动得留下眼泪。伊萨科夫说，“有时一个表演者会瞬间体验到艺术上的魅力，似乎借助他的手，打开了天堂的大门……”显然，克莱本的演奏听起来已达到非常美妙的境地。

Politics swirled around the decision between Cliburn and his closest competitor, the Russian Lev Vlassenko. Both Gilels and Sviatoslav Richter, another Russian master who was a judge, felt Cliburn should be the sole victor; others felt the two should share the prize. But the choice was ultimately in the hands of Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who chose Cliburn.

克莱本和他的最有力的竞争者俄罗斯列弗·弗拉森科之间的胜负上升到政治层面。吉列尔斯和另一位俄罗斯大师斯维亚托斯拉夫·里赫特（他也是一位评委）都认为克莱本应该是唯一的胜利者;其他人则认为两人应该分享这个奖项。但最终决定权在赫鲁晓夫总理手中，他选择了克莱本。

It was April 1958 and the world suddenly regarded the boyish Texan as if he were a movie star. The story of his victory made the front page of The New York Times. When he returned to the U.S., he was given a ticker-tape parade down Broadway. Audiences loved him, and young girls screamed as if he were Elvis.

1958年4月，全世界突然把这个少年般的德克萨斯人当成了电影明星。他获胜的故事登上了《纽约时报》的头版。当他回到美国时，他在百老汇大街上受到了夹道欢迎，年轻的女孩们尖叫着，仿佛他就是猫王。

As Cliburn’s fame spread, he signed with the impresario Sol Hurok and toured extensively. When he began tiring, he sought help from the notorious “Dr. Feelgood” Max Jacobson, who injected him and other celebrities—including John F. Kennedy—with amphetamines. He took a suite of rooms in New York where he lived with his mother, who became his road manager.

随着克莱本名气的扩大，他与经纪人索尔·胡克签约，并进行了巡回演出。当他觉得疲劳的时候，他就向名声不怎么样的用兴奋剂医治病人的马克斯·雅各布森医生寻求帮助。后者给他和其他名人，包括肯尼迪，注射安非他命。克莱本在纽约租了一套房间，和后来成为他的巡回演出理人的母亲住在一起。

Eventually, the Cliburn fad faded. By 1976 he found it hard to get bookings, and he retired from performing for nearly a decade. After one long relationship that ended in a nasty palimony suit, he did find lasting happiness with a younger man, Tommy Smith, who apparently gave Isacoff a rare interview. 

最终，克莱本风潮逐渐褪去。到1976年，他发现很难再获得演出邀约，于是他隐退演艺圈将近十年。在一段长期关系带来的烦人的赡养费诉讼结束之后，他终于找到了与年轻男子汤米·史密斯的持久幸福。史密斯把克莱本描述成一个“天真善良、富有情趣的比利·巴德”，他无法完全应付现实世界。

Smith described Cliburn as an “innocent—a kind of artistic Billy Budd” who could not  totally cope with the real world. He did return several times to Russia, where he was always welcomed. He began a foundation that started an American piano competition similar to the Tchaikovsky one.

他多次返回俄罗斯，在那里他总是受到欢迎。他创立了一个基金会，开始了一场类似以柴可夫斯基冠名的美国钢琴比赛。

Van Cliburn died at 78 in 2013. Isacoff’s well-researched book, along with Moscow Nights, a biography by Nigel Cliff published in 2016, assures that he won’t be just a footnote in the annals of piano artistry.

2013年，78岁的范·克莱本去世。伊萨科夫的这本研究充分的书以及奈杰尔•克利夫在2016年出版的传记《莫斯科之夜》中确信，克莱本绝不会只是钢琴艺术史上的一个无关轻重的人物。

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