小瓊：上個月我們討論了許多以兒童合唱為特色的歌劇。這次，我們將深入探討童聲小組合唱的話題。

小薇：我們都知道莫扎特歌劇《魔笛》中有著名的“三仙童”，他們的反復(fù)出現(xiàn)對推動故事的情節(jié)發(fā)展起到重要作用。然而，當我翻閱歷史記錄時，我意識到在1791年《魔笛》的世界首演中（就在莫扎特去世前幾周），其中一個“仙童”實際上是由一位女高音飾演的，她正是《魔笛》的歌詞作者埃馬努埃爾·?？▋?nèi)德的侄女安娜·希卡內(nèi)德，而詞作家本人則出演了帕帕基諾。

小瓊：然而，在現(xiàn)代的制作中，“三仙童”幾乎總是由童聲高音飾唱，這與歌劇中的其他“三人組”形成了鮮明對比：三侍女為夜女王服務(wù)，三牧師為薩拉斯特羅工作。莫扎特一定很喜歡這個神奇的數(shù)字“3”。

小薇：我見過“三仙童”出現(xiàn)在半空中（如同懸浮在云端），有時也會走在舞臺上。這完全取決于導(dǎo)演們想如何探索舞臺空間。但不管如何，這三個男孩幾乎總是和諧地在一起歌唱。合唱是一項非常專業(yè)的訓(xùn)練！

小瓊：說到“漂浮在云端”，我想起了本杰明·布里頓的《仲夏夜之夢》。首先由著名的精靈合唱團拉開了歌劇的序幕，名為“越過山丘，越過山谷”。后來出現(xiàn)，負責獨唱的小精靈都有著有趣的名字——蜘蛛網(wǎng)、芥末籽、飛蛾、豌豆花——每一位都有幾句獨唱的片段。

小薇：考慮到這是一部1960年在奧爾德堡首演的現(xiàn)代歌劇，年輕的歌手們必須訓(xùn)練有素，才能唱出這些半音階的獨唱片段。在英格蘭，孩子們從很小的時候就接觸到合唱，這種訓(xùn)練是傳統(tǒng)文化的一部分。

小瓊：在這種情況下，他們的訓(xùn)練包括表演和記住舞臺的位置。而且由于都是飾演小精靈，所以有些制作的服裝可能相當精致。

小薇：對于所有這些，我們談?wù)摰氖峭暩咭簟ǔＪ侵感∧泻⒃谧兟暺谥埃ù蠹s10歲或11歲）。變聲會對一部歌劇產(chǎn)生什么影響呢？

小瓊：幾乎每個歌劇院都有童聲高音的儲備人選，因為沒人能預(yù)測這些年輕的聲音何時會變調(diào)。這一切都由時間決定，變聲意味著男孩長成為青年！

Joan： Last time we discussed quite a number of operas that feature children’s choruses. This month， we delve deeper into the topic of children’s voices in smaller groups.

Valery： We all know the famous “three boys” in Mozart’s Magic Flute. Their recurring appearances are important to move the story along. However， as I was going through historical records， I realized that at the world premiere in 1791 （just a few weeks before Mozart’s death）， one of the “boys” was actually a soprano， Anna Schikaneder， niece of the Magic Flute librettist Emanuel Schikaneder， who played the role of Papageno himself.

Joan： In modern productions， however， the “three boys” are almost always sung by trebles， which makes a good contrast to the opera’s other groups of “threes”： three maidens serving the Queen of the Night， and three priests working for Sarastro. The magic number“three” was definitely high on Mozart’s mind.

Valery： I’ve seen the “three boys” appear in mid-air（suspended as if floating on a cloud）， but sometimes also walking on stage. It all depends on how directors want to explore the space. But these three boys almost always sing together， in harmony. Ensemble singing is a very specialized training！

Joan： Speaking of “floating on a cloud，” I’m reminded of Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. First， there’s a famous chorus of elves that opens the opera， entitled “Over Hill， Over Dale.” Then follow little fairies with funny names—Cobweb， Mustardseed， Moth， Pease blossom—each having a few solo lines.

Valery： Considering that it’s a modern opera that had its premiere in Aldeburgh in 1960， young singers must be well-trained to sing these solos that can be quite chromatic. In England， where the choral tradition begins from a young age， such training is part of the tradition.

Joan： In this case， their training includes acting and remembering stage blocking. And since they all play fairies， the costumes in some productions can be quite elaborate.

Valery： For all of these， we are talking about treble voices—generally boys before their voices change（around 10 or 11）. How does someone’s voice changing affect an opera？

Joan：Nearly every opera house has a reserve of treble singers， because no one can ever predict when a young voice might break. It’s all about timing， and a voice change is all about growing up， when boys become young men！