幾個月前，當我聽說希臘國家歌劇院要搬演路易吉· 凱魯比尼的《美狄亞》（Medea ）時，恨不得直接跳上飛機飛去雅典。要知道，《美狄亞》的上演頻率大概僅略高于哈雷彗星掃過地球，因此這注定會成為歌劇界值得記上一筆的大事件。

然而，比起這部作品本身，更讓我感興趣的是和它有關(guān)的幕后故事。自該劇1797 年在巴黎首演以來，《美狄亞》基本上一直處于乏人問津的狀態(tài)。直到1953 年，一位名叫瑪麗亞· 卡拉斯的希臘女高音嶄露頭角，在佛羅倫薩五月音樂節(jié)上飾演了《美狄亞》的劇名主角。

五年后，卡拉斯成為歌劇界無可爭議的國際巨星，將新制作的《美狄亞》帶到了美國。在相對不知名的達拉斯城市歌劇院（Dallas Civic Opera）高調(diào)首演后，該劇前往倫敦英國皇家歌劇院（RoyalOpera House），然后成為卡拉斯戲劇性地回歸希臘活動的一部分，最后在米蘭斯卡拉劇院（Teatroalla Scala）結(jié)束。該劇也成為卡拉斯在希臘或是意大利的最后一場演出。

在那之后，關(guān)于《美狄亞》的一線消息就不多了，這也并不令人驚訝。在歌劇劇目中，《美狄亞》需要一位能夠同時兼顧路易吉· 凱魯比尼樂譜中的技術(shù)要求，和歐里庇得斯劇本中從被拋棄的妻子變成殺人犯母親的戲劇強度的核心表演者，這在西方歌劇作品里是罕見的。換句話說，《美狄亞》需要一位“瑪麗亞· 卡拉斯”。

事實上，今年希臘國家歌劇院的《美狄亞》新制作是為了紀念卡拉斯誕辰一百周年而委約的，新作上演的路線甚至遵循了大約60 年前卡拉斯巡演的大致軌跡。該制作于2022 年9 月作為大都會新演季的開幕大戲在紐約舉行了全球首演，隨后于今年4 月在雅典上演。然而，現(xiàn)代社會的媒體傳播速度與20 世紀60 年代相比有了很大的不同：在《美狄亞》雅典演出的前一個月，我在香港看到了大都會高清流媒體版的歌劇電影。

這從某種程度上減輕了我飛往希臘的緊迫性，但不知何故，這種緊迫性又合乎常理。對于一位出生在紐約、在雅典接受表演訓(xùn)練，并在巴黎成為國際明星的女性——如希臘裔女高音瑪麗亞· 卡羅蓋洛波烏羅斯（Maria Kalogeropoulou，卡拉斯的本名）來說，這證明了卡拉斯的藝術(shù)遺產(chǎn)和她所代表的藝術(shù)形式在全球范圍內(nèi)的影響力。

同樣，希臘國家歌劇院的運營也得到了顯著提升。自2016 年以來，該劇院一直駐扎在斯塔夫羅斯·尼亞爾霍斯基金會文化中心，這是一座由倫佐·皮亞諾設(shè)計的耗資6.3 億歐元修建的藝術(shù)綜合體。尼亞爾霍斯基金會也一直是該劇院的主要資助者，而歌劇院也積極尋找新的合作伙伴及聯(lián)合制作方。

這部由大衛(wèi)· 麥克維卡執(zhí)導(dǎo)的《美狄亞》，還將在芝加哥抒情歌劇院和加拿大歌劇院上演，但這只是希臘國家歌劇院卡拉斯百年慶典活動的一部分。一系列名為“打開卡拉斯之盒”（Unboxing Callas）的常規(guī)展覽已經(jīng)開始占據(jù)該劇院建筑的公共空間；9 月，阿迪庫斯奧德翁音樂堂將舉行一場致敬卡拉斯早期劇目的盛大音樂會；歌劇院與克里特技術(shù)大學(xué)亦將合作舉辦一場教育研討會，以及定于今年12月初上映一部卡拉斯的紀錄片。

當我終于在6 月飛抵雅典時，麥克維卡的《美狄亞》早已下檔了。仍然在斯塔夫羅斯· 尼亞爾科斯音樂廳（Stavros Niarchos Hall）的展覽中回蕩的是卡拉斯版的《美狄亞》，這場視聽展覽彰顯了這位女高音最深刻的民族情懷。

***

“我們不僅想舉辦一個關(guān)于卡拉斯的展覽，我們還想展示美狄亞的神話是如何繼續(xù)激勵新的一代人的，”希臘國家歌劇院教育虛擬博物館的負責人、音樂學(xué)家索菲亞· 科姆波蒂亞蒂（SophiaKompotiati）在我們參觀展覽時解釋道，“但我們首先必須弄清楚，今天的人們還記得瑪麗亞· 卡拉斯嗎？甚至說年輕一代知道她是誰嗎？”

答案并不像我們想象的那么簡單。很少有歌唱家和歌劇院之間的關(guān)系能像卡拉斯和希臘國家歌劇院那樣引起如此深刻的共鳴——卡拉斯十幾歲時就加入了希臘國家歌劇院——但不得不說，兩者間的關(guān)系也經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)摩擦。1945 年卡拉斯離開希臘成為國際巨星后，雙方都沒有過多地談?wù)摯饲暗暮献魍隆?/p>

“卡拉斯幾乎沒有時間理會希臘國家歌劇院，”

希臘國家歌劇院的公關(guān)部主任、即將上映的卡拉斯紀錄片《卡拉斯不為人知的希臘歲月》（Mary，Mariana， Maria—the Unsung Greek Years of Callas ）的導(dǎo)演瓦西里斯· 盧拉斯（Vasilis Louras）說，“希臘也沒有采取任何措施來保護她作為希臘人的遺產(chǎn)。但她畢竟是在這里完成了所有的音樂學(xué)習(xí)，并以一名成熟的藝術(shù)家的身份離開了希臘國家歌劇院。她在希臘的8 年是她一生中最重要的時期，但也是最少被業(yè)界所探索的時期?！?/p>

近年出版的兩本希臘語書籍生動地展現(xiàn)了那個時代的許多細節(jié)，他補充道。最近，卡拉斯收藏家迪米特里斯· 派洛馬利斯（Dimitris Pyromalis）和導(dǎo)演亞歷克斯· 米諾蒂斯（Alexis Minotis，也是卡拉斯的合作者）等人向希臘國家歌劇院提供了不少重要的史料。

“當然，我們以前也做過關(guān)于瑪麗亞· 卡拉斯的展覽，但那些項目通常只是展出大家都已經(jīng)知道的東西，”盧拉斯說，“這一次，我們在所有的檔案館、圖書館和我們能找到的所有藏品中，尋找能夠填補空白的照片和文件。我們一直知道瑪麗亞· 卡拉斯是我們歷史的重要組成部分，但現(xiàn)在我們正逐漸發(fā)現(xiàn)她對希臘國家歌劇院的確切意義?！?/p>

而科姆波蒂亞蒂對此的解釋則略有不同?！拔覀儼l(fā)現(xiàn)許多采訪可以幫助我們準確地了解那些年究竟發(fā)生了什么事，”她說，“通過口述歷史的新舊材料，希臘國家歌劇院正在重新發(fā)現(xiàn)自己?！?/p>

***

考慮到大多數(shù)歌劇最早的故事腳本源自希臘文學(xué)，這個國家本身在接受歌劇這種藝術(shù)形式上尤其緩慢。也許這是一種文化自豪感的問題——當你仍然擁有真正的文化時，為什么還要聽意大利人譜寫的希臘古典戲劇呢？——也許是文化霸權(quán)的問題，因為直到20 世紀初，希臘一直處于奧斯曼帝國的統(tǒng)治之下，而奧斯曼帝國并不以其對西方音樂的熱愛而聞名。

無論如何， 希臘第一座專門建造的劇院于1864 年開業(yè)，這意味著即使是中國也在此之前就擁有了現(xiàn)代歌劇院。就像葡萄牙人于1860 年建造的澳門伯多祿五世劇院（又名崗頂劇院）一樣，希臘早期的歌劇界以科孚島等外圍島嶼為中心，那里主要居住著流離失所的威尼斯人。

到19 世紀80 年代，由于一家私人小型劇團的努力——該劇團有時被翻譯為“希臘歌劇團”，有時被翻譯為“希臘情節(jié)劇團”——古典和美聲劇目試探性地進入了主要以演出話劇而聞名的場所。不僅是在希臘，而且在居住于埃及和土耳其的希臘僑民區(qū)也是如此（像莫扎特的《后宮誘逃》這樣的故事特別受歡迎）。

第一次世界大戰(zhàn)及奧斯曼帝國滅亡后，這家羽翼未豐的劇團獲得了穩(wěn)定的發(fā)展，甚至開始了國際巡演。到1939 年，希臘政府為獎勵該劇團的成功，正式將其確立為希臘皇家劇院旗下的希臘國家歌劇院。其首任經(jīng)理是科斯提斯· 巴斯提亞斯（KostisBastias），一位杰出的小說家、劇作家和管理者。第二年，在該劇院的第一個演出季，巴斯提亞斯聘請了一位頗具前途的17 歲女高音，名叫瑪麗亞· 卡洛吉羅普洛斯，她在國家音樂學(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)音樂剛好兩年了。

“她沒有扮演角色的義務(wù)，”盧拉斯解釋道，“這實際上更像是一份獎學(xué)金或是一份實習(xí)。她沒有舞臺經(jīng)驗，但每個人都能看出她的與眾不同。”

而卡拉斯仍然以自己的本名演唱，同年她在蘇佩的輕歌劇《薄伽丘》中首次登臺。19 歲時，她第一次演唱了《托斯卡》。到1945 年她離開希臘時，她已經(jīng)演出了10 部歌劇，并演唱了50 多場獨唱音樂會?！八齺淼揭獯罄麜r已經(jīng)是一個完全成熟的藝術(shù)家了，”盧拉斯堅持道。

在新獲得的明星效應(yīng)的背后，卡拉斯努力擺脫著那段她生活在希臘的印記——在那里，她曾是一個體重超重的、沒有吸引力的年輕女子，面臨著與充滿嫉妒心的同事和專橫的母親之間的緊張關(guān)系。

但15 年之后，當巴斯提亞斯邀請卡拉斯回到希臘時，卡拉斯放棄了自己職業(yè)生涯巔峰時期的一切，甚至將自己的勞務(wù)費捐給了年輕藝術(shù)家的獎學(xué)金基金。1960 年，卡拉斯在埃皮達魯斯劇院成功出演諾爾瑪之后，第二年她在自己主導(dǎo)的制作中飾演了她的標志性角色美狄亞。

***

“我們選擇美狄亞作為我們的展覽主題，是因為這一角色對卡拉斯具有重要意義，”科姆波蒂亞蒂說，“她演了30 多次這個角色，也是她在希臘和希臘國家歌劇院的最后一次演出。這更是一個具有象征性的角色，因為她與這個來自科爾奇斯（現(xiàn)在的格魯吉亞）的角色如此接近?？ɡ惯^去常說，‘我了解美狄亞，因為我也是個外來者?！?/p>

但矛盾的是，卡拉斯擔綱美狄亞這個角色時，她那希臘人的標簽最為顯著?？ɡ乖谶_拉斯城市歌劇院的揭幕演出上演唱過《美狄亞》，三年后她被全權(quán)委托了一個新制作。卡拉斯提議，建立一個全希臘籍的制作團隊，包括導(dǎo)演亞歷克西斯· 米諾特斯（Alexis Minotes）和設(shè)計亞尼斯· 察魯奇斯（YannisTsarouchis）等在內(nèi)，一起制作一版新的《美狄亞》。近130 套服裝都是在希臘設(shè)計和制作的，其中有幾件在此次展覽中重新展出。

“讓我感到驚訝的是，在閱讀了報紙上的報道和來往信件后，卡拉斯清楚地知道自己作為一名藝術(shù)家想要什么，”科姆波蒂亞蒂說，“米諾特斯甚至不喜歡歌劇。但卡拉斯總是會聽取導(dǎo)演和設(shè)計師的意見，她也會給他們提建議?！?/p>

在這一過程中，令盧拉斯震驚的是研究結(jié)果的廣度和深度?！拔覀兠刻於紩l(fā)現(xiàn)新的事物，”他說，“有些很小，但即使是小細節(jié)也會累積起來?！彼a充道，例如，卡拉斯在埃皮達魯斯的演出籌備期間的一些信件表明，直到1960 年，這個城鎮(zhèn)還沒有通電。

“卡拉斯的回歸對希臘來說是一件大事，”盧拉斯繼續(xù)說道，“近3 萬人欣賞了這次表演，觀眾中有很多政治家和外交官。當時導(dǎo)演被告知，‘如果你想在這里上演歌劇，這個小鎮(zhèn)才會有電?！阅憧矗嵌嗵澚讼ＥD國家歌劇院，那里才通上了電?！?/p>

A few months ago， when I got word that the GreekNational Opera was presenting Luigi Cherubini’s Medea， I was tempted to hop a plane directly to Athens.Performances of Medea come around only slightlymore frequently than Halley’s comet， so this wasbound to become an event.

What interested me more than the opera， though，was its backstory. Ever since its premiere in Parisin 1797， Medea had essentially languished in semiobscurityuntil 1953， when an up-and-coming Greeksoprano named Maria Callas played the title role at theMaggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival.

Five years later， by then an undisputed international"star， Callas brought a new production of Medea to theUnited States. After its high-profile premiere at therelatively unknown Dallas Civic Opera， the productiontraveled to London’s Royal Opera House， then becamepart of Callas’s dramatic return to Greece before settlingin Milan’s Teatro alla Scala， marking Callas’s finalperformances in both Greece and Italy.

After that， not much was heard on the Medea front，which was also not much of a surprise. To a rare degreein the opera repertory， Medea needs a central performerwho can handle both the technical demands ofCherubini’s score and the dramatic intensity of Euripides’sarchetypical spurned-wife-turned-homicidalmother.In other words， it needs Maria Callas.

The GNO’s new production was， in fact， commissionedto celebrate this year’s hundredth anniversaryof Callas’s birth， its trajectory following the broadstrokes of her appearances some 60 years ago. Theproduction’s world premiere opened the MetropolitanOpera season in New York last September， with its nextappearance being in Athens this past April. In between，though， was a significant difference from the 1960s： amonth before the production opened in Athens I managedto see the Met’s HD stream—in Hong Kong.

That took some of the urgency out of flying toGreece， but the spirit seemed fully appropriate. For a"woman born in New York （as Maria Kalogeropoulou），trained as a performer in Athens， and anointed aninternational star in Paris， it was a testament to theglobal reach of the Callas legacy and the artform sheso gloriously embodied.

The Greek National Opera has likewise seen a significantupgrade in its operations. Since 2016， the companyhas been based at the Stavros Niarchos FoundationCultural Center， a €630 million arts complex designedby Renzo Piano. The Niarchos Foundation has alsoremained a lead donor for the company’s new projectsand has not been shy about opening doors to new collaboratorsand co-producers.

David McVicar’s Medea production， which later goesto the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Canadian OperaCompany， is just the tip of the GNO’s centennial celebration.A series of archival exhibitions cumulatively"entitled “Unboxing Callas” has already begun to fill thepublic spaces of the company’s regular home， and thecentenary continues this fall with a gala performanceat the Odeon of Herodes Atticus exploring Callas’searly repertory， an educational workshop run in partnershipwith the Technical University of Crete， and adocumentary film set for release in early December.

By the time I finally got to Athens in June—for a totallydifferent production—McVicar’s Medea was longgone. The Medea that still echoed both visually andaurally in Stavros Niarchos Hall was Callas’s own from60 years ago， in an exhibition that arguably reflectedher most deeply national sentiments.

***

“We didn’t just want to make an exhibition aboutCallas， we also wanted to show how the myth of Medeacontinues to inspire new generations，” explainedmusicologist SophiaKompotiati， head of theGNO Educational VirtualMuseum， as we walkedthrough the exhibit. “Butwe first had to find out，do people today stillremember Maria Callas？Do the younger generationseven know whoshe is？”

The answers are notas simple as you mightexpect. Few connectionsbetween a singer and anopera company resonateas deeply as Callas and"the GNO—the singer joined the company as a teenagerwithin a few months of its formation—but the relationshipwas often troubled， to say the least. After Callasleft Greece in 1945 for international stardom， neitherside talked much about the other.

“Callas had little time for the Greek National Opera，”said Vasilis Louras， GNO head of communication andthe director of the forthcoming Callas documentaryMary， Mariana， Maria—the Unsung Greek Years of Callas. “Nor did Greece do anything to protect her legacyas a Greek. But she did all her musical studies here，and she left the GNO fully formed as an artist. Hereight years in Greece was the most important periodof her life， yet also the one least explored.”

Two recent books in Greek have brought many detailsof that era to life， he adds， and significant archivalmaterials have recently come to the GNO from such"sources as Callas collector Dimitris Pyromallis and thedirector （and Callas collaborator） Alexis Minotis.

“Of course， we have done exhibitions on Maria Callasbefore， but those projects usually just recycled thestuff that everyone already knows，” Louras says. “Thistime we’re searching through all the archives， all the libraries，all the collections we can find for photographsand papers that fill in the gaps. We always knew MariaCallas was an important part of our history， but nowwe’re discovering exactly what she meant to the GreekNational Opera.”

Kompotiati， for her part， explains it slightly differently.“We’ve found many interviews that help us understandexactly what happened during those years，”she says. “Through new and old oral histories， theGreek National Opera is now discovering itself.”

***

Considering that most of opera’s earliest storiescome from ancient Greek literature， the country itselfwas notably slow in accepting the art form. Perhapsit was a matter of cultural pride—why listen to Italianreiterations of classical theatre when you still have thereal thing？—maybe a matter of cultural domination，since until the early 20th century Greece was under thethumb of the Ottoman Empire， which was not particularlyknown for its love of Western music.

In any case， Greece’s first purpose-built theateropened in 1864， meaning that even China had a modernopera house before Greece. And much like Macau’sDom Pedro V Theatre， built by the Portuguesein 1860， Greece’s early opera community centeredaround outlying islands like Corfu， populated largelyby displaced Venetians.

By the 1880s， thanks to the efforts of a small privatecompany—sometimes translated as “Greek Opera，”sometimes as “Hellenic Melodrama”—Classical andbel canto repertory had made tentative steps intovenues primarily known for spoken drama， not only"in Greece but also among the Greek diaspora in Egyptand Turkey （stories like Mozart’s Abduction from theSeraglio were particularly popular.）

After the First World War and the fall of the OttomanEmpire， the fledgling company gained steady traction，even embarking on international tours. By 1939， theGreek government rewarded the company’s successby formally establishing it as the Greek National Operaunder the banner of the Royal Theatre of Greece. Itsfirst manager was Kostis Bastias， a prominent novelist，dramatist and administrator. The next year， duringthe company’s first performance season， Bastias hireda promising 17-year-old soprano named Maria Kalogeropoulou，two years into her musical studies at theNational Conservatory.

“She wasn’t obliged to perform roles，” explains Louras.“It was really more of a scholarship， an internship.She had no experience， but everyone could see shewas not like the others.”

Still singing under her birth name， Callas madeher stage debut within the year in Suppé’s operettaBoccaccio . By age 19， she sang her first Tosca. By thetime she left Greece in 1945， she had performed in 10operas and sung more than 50 recitals. “She arrived inItaly a complete artist，” Louras maintains.

Amid her newfound glamor， Callas struggled to escapeher memories of Greece as an overweight， unattractiveyoung woman facing strained relationshipswith jealous colleagues and an overbearing mother.But when Bastias invited her to return to Greece 15years later， at the peak of her career， she dropped everything，even donating her fee as a scholarship fundfor young artists. After a triumphant appearance asNorma at the Epidaurus Theatre in 1960， Callas would"return the next year as Medea， her signature role， inthe production she had generated herself.

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“We chose Medea for our exhibition because of whatit meant to her，” Kompotiati said. “She performed therole more than 30 times， and it was her last performanceboth in Greece and with the Greek NationalOpera. It was also symbolic because she identifiedso closely with the character， who was from Colchis[modern-day Georgia]. She used to say， ‘I know her，because I’m a foreigner too.’”

But paradoxically， Callas was never more Greek thanwhen Medea was concerned. Given carte blanche overher appearance in Dallas， where she had sung at the company’sinaugural performance three years earlier， Callashad proposed a new Medea with an all-Greek productionteam including director Alexis Minotes and designer YannisTsarouchis. Nearly 130 costumes， a couple of whichhave been resurrected for the exhibition， were designedand made locally， then shipped to Dallas.

“What amazes me is that， after reading newspaper"accounts and letters written back and forth， is thatCallas knew exactly what she wanted as an artist，”Kompotiati said. “Minotes didn’t even like opera. Shewould always listen to directors and designers， but shewould be advising them as well.”

What has astounded Louras during the processis both the range and depth of the findings. “Everyday we discover new things，” he said. “Some arequite small， but even the small details add up.” Forexample， he added， some correspondence duringpreparations for Callas’s performances at Epidaurusindicated that even as late as 1960 the town was notyet wired for electricity.

“Callas’s return was a huge event for Greece，” Lourascontinued. “Nearly 30，000 people attended， andthe audience was filled with politicians and diplomats.The director was told， ‘If you want to stage operahere， there will be electricity.’ So you see， electricitybecame established there because of the GreekNational Opera.”