2006年12月30日星期六

(六) 恋人

(六) 恋人
恋人是一种很奇怪的人。黄舒骏说恋爱可能不仅是一种病态,它还可能是一种变态。所以谈恋爱的人都不可以理喻。有个朋友说自己的恋人长的一般,心中也没有什么大的理想,但是自己对她爱得一塌糊涂。其实道理很简单,每个人寻找爱人,都是在塑造自己的皮革马立翁,对于自己找到的对象怎么可能不满意呢?我们在十几亿人中间寻找一个人,找到的机会本来就比火星撞地球更小,找到之后怎们能不满心欢喜,小心呵护呢?
有的人爱过,受过伤,想再爱但是又害怕。他们的胆小很容易又会伤了别人的心。纽约这个地方猥琐男本来就比较多,找到一个让你动心的人—套用一句老套的台词—比受到恐怖分子袭击的机会还小。我的一个朋友伤了另一个朋友的心,对此我无能为力。爱情本来就是冒险,而且没有保险可买。我所能说的就是去爱、去爱、再去爱,但你年华老去的时候才不会有遗憾。
小王子爱他的玫瑰花,但是小王子还是离开了他的玫瑰花。这事真是操蛋!

(五)信、望、爱

(五)信、望、爱
第一次接触到宗教题材的作品,是在燕北园一个老师的书斋里。那个老师去德国作访问学者,把他的家借给自己养病的学生。那个学生是一个国学的天才,也有天才的毛病。她爱上了我们朋友中间的一个人,但是她嫉妒另一个女孩子,因为她觉得那个女孩子剥夺了她爱他的机会。我当时开始读朋霍费尔的《狱中书简》,半懂不懂的读刘小枫的《拯救与逍遥》,在哲学系旁听西方神学史,想从理性上理解信仰。我们那时每一日的生活都像是对于信、望、爱的挑战。友谊、爱情、信任这些人类关系最基本的要素,被不断地怀疑着和重新定义着。
那个时候我第一次经历着对于自己价值的怀疑。“我是一个什么样的人”不再是一个无关紧要的问题,而是变成了存在的根本。当时我想成为竹子一样的人,她有一个执著的信念,对于正义和人类本性的信念。由于这个信念,衍生出她对于正义的责任。这种使命感敦促着她付出一切去帮助别人。(在国外的这几年,她的学习使得她找到了这种信念的理性基础,当然这是后话了)。当时的我被她的信念所吸引,觉得跟随着她就可以走出自己狭隘和自私的天地,找到人生安身立命的根本。所以我愿意花时间去分担她的工作,去帮助她所帮助的人,去按照她帮助别人的方式去帮助别人。尽管如此我们都感到彼此之间存在着巨大的张力,因为我们在一些根本问题上的分歧。一个夜里,在未名湖边,她说我们最终也许会“道不同, 不相与谋”。
过了这么多年,我才明白,一个人的信、望、爱是不能抄袭的。再怎么羡慕和崇拜也好,一个人不能从别人那里接受,只能自己去寻找,这个小马过河的简单道理其实并不容易明白。我知道别处有更高的理性,更完善的道德,更纯洁的感情,但是我是否能够接受它们并将之内化是另外一个问题。我的信、望和爱只能建立在我的思考和体会之上,除此之外,别无他途。给我一个天堂的许诺,给我一个完美的爱情,给我一个解决一切问题的宗教,和给我一个苹果一样,我都要自己尝试一下再决定是否接受。喜欢《玫瑰之名》里面圣方济会的那个老和尚,当小和尚对他坦白自己打破了禁欲的誓言之后,老和尚说自己其实很羡慕小和尚能有这个机会去思考自己誓言,究竟是要继续作为修道士坚守自己的信仰,还是脱掉僧袍去拥抱世俗的生活。这也就是里尔克所说的去寻找自己内心深处非如此不可的理由,那个存在和行动的理由。如果你找到了,就会发现,天堂并不遥远。

(四)绑架

(四)绑架
前两天莫名其妙的看电视,发现了一部有趣的墨西哥新浪潮的电影《Lucia, Lucia》。卢西娅在丈夫被绑架之后,试图在两个邻居的帮助下从绑匪那里把丈夫赎回来。她爱上了二十出头的小伙子安德里亚,在月光下他们尽情的纵欲,卢西娅发现了生命中从未有过的激情。这让我想起了小时候看岑凯伦写的香艳小说,其中有一部叫做《被绑架的爱情》,也许绑架的确给情爱增加了暴力和性感的意味。这种暂时的激情往往会达到前所未有的情感和肉体接触的高度,不过难以持续。在《威尼斯之死》里面,年老的托马斯.曼在发现了大卫超凡脱俗的美之后死去,他激情所达到的高度也是致命的高度。
有的人被上帝赋予了这种能力,使得他们能够感受到常人感受不到的情感深度和刺激。天赋异禀是一把双刃剑,可以造就不朽的艺术,也可以毁灭天赋的载体。由于具有了这种天赋,这些人不得不去爱,因为爱是他们的宿命。这些宿命的爱,这些该死的爱,让他们的生活在激情的顶点和低谷之间徘徊。马斯洛所提出的高峰体验大概就是这其中的一种,是可遇而不可求的人生境界。
她的生活就是如此。放弃了白领的寻常生活,重归校园,她在艺术史的世界中徜徉。她的步履匆匆,她的时间和空间在多个层面上交错,在多种语言中交汇,在多种情感中挣扎。我常常觉得她的生活经历够我活八辈子了,扪心自问我是不是愿意选择她的生活,我想答案是否定的。我需要的是对自己生活的驾驭,而不是天赋对我的驾驭。被自己的天才所绑架固然刺激,但是我要的是寻常人生,是充满了创造力的寻常人生。我不要“花非花,雾非雾。 夜半来,天明去。来如春梦不多时? 去似朝云无觅处”,我要的是“七八个星天外,两三点雨山前。旧时茅店社林边,路转溪桥忽见”,是踏实的人生和踏实的死亡。昨天临睡前想到了死亡,想到了到时候如何去握那陌生的手,没有答案。朋友有次问pulp 这个词怎么解,有的时候说的是果肉多汁,有的时候说的是下流杂志。与天才相比,我想过的就是多汁的、不入流的生活吧。

(三)奢侈

(三)奢侈
嘉伟的世界是衰老的世界,虽然他还是个年轻人。他沉浸在佛法、高尔夫球和音响三位一体的世界里,如果他不在全美佛教协会作义工,那么他一定在新泽西打高尔夫球,后者在家里烧碟。开始认识他是通过打壁球,他愿意教我这么烂的初学者,真得很感激他。后来他叫我开车,在riverside drive 上转圈儿,看到他紧张的汗毛倒立的样子,我反而开的比较轻松。对于他来说,这个世界不过是到达彼岸之前暂时栖身的场所。他的黄金时代是在台北家里的老屋里度过的,在那个有木瓜和凤梨树的庭院里,在父母尚未仳离之前,在他移民到美国之前的童年里。一个活在回忆里的人就是这样,他的乡愁会随着他对于现实世界的不满意而呈几何级数增长。因此,还有什么比佛法更能安慰这种乡愁的呢?一个学工业流程研究的博士生,想要在理性外探索出离因果轮回的途径,这就是他。说起来理性的许诺也真是叫他失望,他博士论文的导师—哥大出类拔萃的青年学者和两个年幼孩子的父亲—没有理由的自杀了。在嘉伟看来,我们的努力往往受着理性外力量的支配,所以不如随缘。如果有一段时间没有嘉伟的消息,我也不会觉得奇怪,因为他一定到什么地方去开法会了。他在附近的时候,经常会发给朋友一些垃圾邮件,告诉你如何预防心脏病,如何提高个人行车安全,或者养生的五百条秘方。看到这些邮件我就知道,他还在与世隔绝地活着,他还在努力地使自己尽快地衰老,以便取得和老年相称的智慧和释然。他可以这样活着,是因为他家里的财富可以让他这样放纵自己,博士可以读上10年,不工作也没关系。有的时候我觉得他想参悟的佛法真是奢侈!

(二)出家

(二)出家

寺里举办法会或者由外来的老师教授禅宗的时候,很多居士都会住到寺里来。无论是打三日禅,还是十日禅,除了师傅的讲解,大多数时候就是枯坐和经行,因此大家对于食物没什么热情。所谓的打禅,就是采取莲花式的坐姿,每次坐上一炷香的工夫(大约一个小时),双眼要开三分,心里要纯净而澄明,头脑不可走神。如果分神了,师傅就会走过来老实不客气地用木剑(令)打在你的肩头,让你顿悟。每天五点起床,早饭前就要做经行(环绕场地快速行走,用来活动血脉,准备打禅),然后上午要打坐三次,接着用午饭和休息,下午师傅会做讲座,之后又是打禅和经行。在这里,人的欲望被压抑到最低的程度,无论是身体还是心灵,都要警力漫无止境的寂寞。坐下来容易,可是收敛心神真是比登天还难。前生后世八百年的记忆都会向你涌来,还要加上浓浓的睡意。这就是我问什么比较喜欢瑜伽的原因,虽然同样有沉静思考入定的时刻,但是之前会做许多的铺垫。那些挑战身体极限的姿势,实际上也是对于身体的解放和认识。有的时候自己禁不住要感叹,原来在头顶倒立的时候看这个世界的确不同。嘉伟说我心里不安静,尝试打禅也许可以帮助我放开心怀,超脱烦恼。可是对于我而言,大段连续的时间和自己相处是困难的,除了无尽的追悔和烦恼,似乎我和自己的心没有什么共同的语言。在漫长的打禅时间里,我思考的就是秀菊为什么要到纽约来出家。想着想着,我发现这其实没有什么好奇怪的,我们不都是到曼哈顿来出家的么? 离乡背井,怀揣着我们或大或小,或崇高或猥琐的理想,我们跑到这个小岛上,匆忙之间,连礼拜五都没有带上。

等待光

朋友要我写小说,我写不来。文字一长,我就觉得精疲力竭,看的人恐怕也是一样。我不太会讲故事,头脑太小,编个瞎话都说不利落。所以,推荐大家去看《读者》,《PI的故事》,或者《香水》这样好的小说。至于我的东西,只能用来挠痒痒,是上不得台面的。
(一)秀菊
我有的时候会想起秀菊,那个大觉寺圆脸热情的尼姑,那个会包粽子的台湾姐姐,奇怪她为什么会选择在布朗克斯区剔发修行,在寺庙的厨房中度过自己的人生。秀菊的身上总是有很好闻的食物的味道,虽然出家人要六根清净,但是这并不妨碍她对于美食的爱好。她的双手能把你带回嘉义的乡下,带到那些素朴的小镇,带到那些街边的小吃店,带回她的故乡。炸豆腐的香气、粽子的香甜,以及生姜在滚烫的米粥里打滚的味道,是她对于人生的爱和理解。有的时候,我在厨房里帮厨,在凉水里冲洗豆腐或者芹菜,秀菊从来不会称赞你,但是会在走的时候给你两个粽子。粽子的温暖会在摇摇晃晃的地铁列车上,让我得眼泪稀里哗啦得流下来,那一天打禅的修行也都冲走了。与不拘言笑的教我们打禅的台湾居士相比,我更喜欢秀菊,她带着佛的温暖和慈爱。在秀菊的厨房里,对于食物的尊敬和对于佛祖的尊敬是合二为一的。所谓的“一花一世界、一叶一普陀”在这里就是对于一餐一饭的重视和关心。

MOMA

friends 01

Met Museum 01

Central park 02

Central park 01

Rockefeller Center

COLLEGE REUNION 02

CHRISTMAS PICTURES 01

Lai Fang's home: college reunion.

2006年12月29日星期五

The first-class failure

The First Emperor is a first-class failure. It has all right ingredients, spent all right amount of money, but turn out to be a soup no one likes. In the first Act, Tan Dun tried all kinds of innovative music elements (to western ears), such as traditional Chinese music instrument Zheng, drums, ceramic instruments. Each piece is great in its own way, but they do not come together as a good background for the opera. Sometimes, they become so peculiar and showoff that the audiences forget they come to attend an opera. Tan Dun also lacks the ability to control the melody for many vocal parts. The several arias among the Emperor, the Shamen, the General, Gao Jianli and Princess Yueyang are hard to appreciate. The second Act is much more coherent musically and adds more theatric intension. The final scene of inauguration of the first emperor is great, but too late to save the whole play.
The media called this play an occasion where “Peking Opera meets Grand Opera”. And the 10 year production period costed $2 million. The play stars Placido Domingo as the emperor Qin. NPR describes the effort as follows, “Tan Dun's cross-cultural compositions have also drawn attention in the last decade, as has his use of unconventional percussion instruments. He finds music in stones, water and paper”. New York Times gave very bad review, “Still, music drives the theatrical experience of opera, and Mr. Tan’s score is an enormous disappointment, all the more so because whole stretches of it, and many arresting musical strokes, confirm his gifts…….His music does sing. And sing. And sing. On and on. Whatever the mood of the moment, whether dreamy, defiant, sensual or tragic, as soon as the characters break into song, the melodic lines are inevitably long, arching and slow. Even when the orchestra bustles with intensity, the often cloying vocal lines hovering above still move with almost unvarying deliberateness. In the Italian operas Mr. Tan has in mind — say, Puccini’s “Turandot” — the pacing of vocal lines accords with the impetuosity of the moment and the flow of the words. Mr. Tan’s goal in this work, it would seem, was to create a ritualistic and hypnotic lyricism. But “The First Emperor” gives soaring melody a bad name.”
From this opera, you can imagine the opening of the 2008 Olympic game in Beijing. People mountain, people sea, but without a good melody!

“And yet it all seems limitless”

In the beginning of The Painted Veil, there is a sentence “the longest journey in the world is the distance between two people”. The Painted Veil is a 1925 novel by W. Somerset Maugham . It is also a beloved screenplay, which has been adapted into film in 1934, 1957 and 2006. According to wikipedia, “The Painted Veil is a 1934 drama film made by MGM. It was directed by Ryszard Bolesławski and produced by Hunt Stromberg from a screenplay by John Meehan, Salka Viertel, and Edith Fitzgerald, adapted from the 1925 W. Somerset Maugham novel The Painted Veil. The film stars Greta Garbo as Katrin Koerber Fane, Herbert Marshall as Dr. Walter Fane and George Brent as Jack Townsend, with Warner Oland and Jean Hersholt.” “The Seventh Sin is a 1957 film based on the 1925 novel The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham. It was adapted for the screen by Karl Tunberg and drected by Ronald Neame. Vincente Minnelli was uncredited but involved in directing prior to leaving the project. Bill Travers stars as Doctor Walter Carwin and Eleanor Parker plays his wife Carol.”

The most recent adaptation is directed by John Curran and stars Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, and Liev Schreiber. “Kitty Fane (Watts) marries Dr. Walter Fane (Norton) even though she does not really love him. The Fanes move from England to China, where Dr. Fane is stationed in a government lab studying infectious disease. Kitty has an an affair with diplomat Charlie Townsend (Schreiber), and when Walter finds out, he gives her an ultimatum: come with me to the Chinese interior to assist with a cholera epidemic, or be served with divorce papers. When Charlie refuses to leave his wife for Kitty, she chooses to travel with her husband. The Fanes' marriage slowly blossoms into love as Kitty sees what a good man her husband is. She begins to assist at the local orphanage, while Walter tends to the sick and looks for a way to stop the spread of the epidemic despite resistance from the local populace. Kitty learns she is pregnant but is unsure who is the father, yet Walter remains with her. Just as the local cholera problem is resolved, diseased refugees from downriver pour into the area, forcing them to set up a refugee camp outside town. Walter contracts cholera and dies after several days. Kitty returns to London, and five years later runs into Charlie Townsend on the street as she walk with her young son. Kitty rejects his overtures and walks away.”

The story line is quite simple, comparing to the more appealing story such as The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles. In many ways, these two films resemble each other: exotic setting, marriage without loves, overwhelmingly and deadly disease. However, they are foundamentally different. The Painted Veil has faith in love and in good human nature. Walter and Kitty were trapped in their marriage, but they were young and energtic and had ability to speak out their love. The cholera epidemic only made them to feel the presence of each other and the strength of each other. W. Somerset Maugham was a romantic writer in essence and he aovided the underlying conflict between the east and west, male and female, the cosmopolitian and rural life. In his world, love was human’s nature and would grow up even in the most harsh environment.

But 24 years later, Paul Bowles broke this kind of romantic fairtale by his painstakingly written work, The Sheltering Sky. The story centers on Port and Kit Moresby, a married couple originally from New York who travel to the North African desert accompanied by their friend Tunner. The journey, initially an attempt by Port and Kit to resolve their marital difficulties, is quickly made fraught by the travelers' ignorance of the dangers that surround them. During their journey, Port and Kit became intimate again but they realized the love between them was impossible. They were doomed to be alone and lonely. After they passionately made love under the bare sky, Port signed that the sky was so heavy. Port died in the journey and Kit wondered in the dessert and became slave of a young man from the dissert. They did not know each other’s language, or culture or even way of making love. They stayed together and did nothing except making love. I try very hard to understand what this means for Kit. Eventually, I come to the conclusion that the story had no faith in love, or put it differently, the author feared human being were too weak to carry on any type of love, physically or emotionally. In name of love, people become intimate and then turn into stranger. The foundamental tragedy of life was a lake of the feeling of grativity, an emotional latitude which was impossible to reach or sustain. Who can boldly claim he or she can love in the same intensity always, against our aging process and the endless suffering of life?

In the book, Bowles wrote: “Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustable well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that is so deeply part of your being that you, that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more, perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps 20. And yet it all seems limitless.”

Yet another 36 years later, Patrick Süskind wrote his elergy of love under the name Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. He created a unknown legend of 18 century France, a great perfumer of all time, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, “whose prodigious gift of an incomparable sense of smell and inexplicable lack of personal scent isolates him from society. Obsessed with the rich sensory world he alone inhabits, his single objective in life becomes the preservation of the perfect scent: the skin of young, beautiful virgins”.

In this story, the author did not even bother to create a love story. All the girls in the story were only instruments for Grenouille and their lives were meaningful only for their particularity in odor. In the end of the novel, Grenouille’s lack of smell was depicted as his incapable to love and to be loved. He never got an education for love and in the story, love was not a nature either. He did not have it and he did not know that he did not have it. In Grenouille’s eyes, there was no body, no beauty, and no physical attraction. The girls were purely objectives, not subjectives. In his eyes, each individual degenerated into an odor, a symbol, an element. Love and passion are simple not possible to arise by nature, but have to be induced by external force (perfume in this case). In the last scene of the film, Grenouille used the power of the perfume to control the people, who started to make love openly in the square. The intoxicate smell of the perform transformed into the most exotic sensation, which Grenouille himself was incapable of particiating. His fate is the fate of modern men, the generation who believe in science, in experiment, and belive in their unique right to the world. However, love is already out of their equation, even though people believe otherwsie.

In the Magic Flute, Tamio searches for spiritual love and Papageno tries to find his mate. Deep down in Mozart’s mind, there is the believe in the existence of love and people’s ability to capture their love through their effort and sacrifice. Two hundred years later, we stand in the waste land of emotion and cry for our lack of willingness to love. “And yet it all seems limitless”.

Letter to a Friend

Hug you many times! I don't want to ask what happened across the Atlantic, but I do wish you could take care of yourself now and think nothing about anything. Just try to relax, breathe and eat and sleep! Do normal things people do and live as a plant if you feel comfortable. You know, I am not very good at expressing my feelings, but please believe me I feel your pain and wish to share your tears!
You live with an emotional intensity which is beyond the reach of most human being. It is a blessing and could be a curse too. I wish you could always use it to create the work of art, as you have achieved in many ways. Your talent in love should somehow, if possible at all, translate into more common language of art. Living the moment of summit experience is not easy and sometime even damaging, but, you have the privilege to experience and you should express it. It is the gentle kiss of God which makes it happens, but God also asks more of you.
You are a unique creature I ever meet and I am glad to know you. Sometimes, if you like, I can tell you how common people live. But don't give up your pursuit for greatness and perfection for the sake of free of pain. Try to learn from it, understand it and even convert it to art.
No word can communicate my feeling now. You know the length of the winter daylight is short, but we do not give it up because it is short. So is your passion for love and fulfillment in life. The love can become the source of intelligence and sometimes compassion. Try your way to cope with your pain, go to cinemas, go for a walk, or go to museum to wait for the day passes by.
Be ready to come back and go home in China, and we should meet there. Call me anytime once you reach US.
Breathe! Eat! Sleep! Po

Christmas Week

Dec 21st: Picked up Chen at Penn Station; had dinner at Korean town; went to see The Painted Veil at Lincoln Center Plaza Cinema; chated till 3:00am in the morning; saw her off to London; Dec 23rd: helped Yan to move out and had breakfast together; went to Fang’s home for lunch and met with Li Xia and Wang Yijia (brought two shoes from Aerosoles); went to Penn Station to pick up Mingwei; Met Xu at home; Went out with Mingwei and Xu to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center; chat till morning; Dec 24th: had late brunch; went to central park and met beautiful weather in the Park; spent couple of hours at Met Museum and enjoyed the café; walked down Madison Ave and picked up Jifeng at 68 street; went to Yijia’s hotpot party and sung Karaoke all night long; came back and had tea till late night; Dec 25th: got up late; went to 68 street to see Happy Feet with IMAX; had bad stomach; went a long way to Flushing with Xu and Jifeng to meet Jin and Ma Yue for dinner; had bubble tea together and chatted all night; Dec 26th: Jifeng and Xu failed to get any sleep; Went to Met Opera and got tickets for The First Emperor; met Mingwei at MoMa and spent hours there; got dressed for the opera and spent the night there; chatted till the morning; Dec 27th: Got up late and sent Mingwei to Penn Station (I have a weird feeling about that station); came back and sent Xu to bus station; went to Met Opera with Zhan and Xiaohong for the rush tickets for I Puritani and failed to get the tickets; instead went to Korean town for a great dinner; Dec 28th: Slept for 12 hours; went to Doctor and finished visa forms; found out a job offer; decided to treat myself well and went to see The Perfume and The Queen at Lincoln Plaza Cinema.

2006年12月27日星期三

Central park

2006年12月21日星期四

Prince in the slippers

Won’t you fall in love with a prince with slippers? Tamio in the Die Zauberflöte yesterday night actually had a pair of purple slippers. I guess it might be the fashion in ancient Egypt. As the most welcomed performance for kids, Met Opera in fact prepares two version of the show: one full-length version of Die Zauberflöte and one 90 minutes version of Magic Flute for family. In order to have a better view from my H110 at family circle, I finally got myself a binocular and it worked perfectly. Die Zauberflöte is a story of “love can conquer all”. From Wikipedia: “Die Zauberflöte, K. 620, (en: The Magic Flute) is an opera in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form which included both singing and spoken dialogue. The opera is often noted for its prominent Masonic elements. Both Schikaneder and Mozart were Masons and lodge brothers, though the Freemasons were at the time regarded by the public at large as a dangerous and subversive organization. The opera is also heavily influenced by Enlightenment philosophy, and can be regarded as an analogy for enlightened absolutism. The Queen of the Night represents irrational-diabolic obscurantism, whereas her antagonist Sarastro symbolises the reasonable sovereign who rules with paternalistic wisdom and enlightened insight. In the end he prevails over the darkness ("The sun's rays drive away the night, destroy the evil power of the dissembler"). But the darkness is by no means frightening and abhorrent, but beautiful, mysterious and fascinating. As an awesome seductress the Queen of the Night is a dangerous power who can only be overcome by knowledge. A notable feature of the music is the way in which Mozart was able to write for a range of skill-sets in the singers. Compare, for example, the vocal lines for Monostatos (which are easy, "obvious" lines to sing for a modest voice; are also often stated first in strings so the singer can find his pitch; and which are doubled as he sings, to give him the tune – anyone who has sung a karaoke arrangement of a well-known song will know the kind of process) with those of Pamina or the Queen of the Night (which give few such clues for the singer and demand decent operatic ability). Yet, in ensembles, Mozart manages to combine voices of virtuosos with those of what are essentially comic actors, and create a satisfying result. The F6 which the Queen of the Night must reach in both her arias is beyond the range of many first-rate sopranos. At the low end, Sarastro must sing an F at several points; it requires a good bass to hit the note impressively, but the note does not go below the range of the choral basses.”

Julie Taymor's magical production of Mozart's sublime and mystical opera features bears and serpents, and, of course, a rotating cast of internationally acclaimed young singers, including soprano Isabel Bayradkarian and baritone Nathan Gunn. James Levine conducts the performance the past night. The stage design was really splendid and the installations were made of glass. So you feel like going to a crystal world where fairy tale does happen. Basically, there were four sets of class stages and they can be separated as independent stage or combined together as a palace or temple. The light designer fully used the reflection of the class walls to create a fantastic dream world of all generations. The performance was so much like the hallowing parade, where performers in black customs manipulated flying sneaks, bears and birds on the stage. The bears were so cute and they were not terrifying at all. Among the singers, I like the Queen of the Night by Cornelia Götz. She really got the emotional intensity of the mad queen and her aria in Act II (Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen) was very beautifully done. In terms of theatrical performance, Rodion Pogossov gave a wonderful interpretation of the carefree Papageno, who was longing for a Papagena but not the exhalted brotherhood. The bass, Sarastro by Stephen Milling, had several wonderful arias, including the everlasting masterpiece “O Isis und Osiris”. Tamino was played by Christoph Strehl, he is quite handsome but not sing as well.

The story itself is interesting. The notes on the making of the opera said the story was built upon fairy tale and the play was a combination of pop “magic story” of 18 century and elegant operatic form. The liberetto and stage designer was friend of Mozart and he wanted something for all kinds of audience for his popular theater. Mozart created this wonderful piece which masterfully combined different opera genres without compromised its playfulness and humor. In fact, the play is nothing but a great challenge for stage design, because the scene changes so often and it demands changes in short period of time. I can hardly imagine how the dying Mozart created this work of art dedicated to love and life. In the play, he praised the merit of love, friendship and brotherhood which he would soon lose forever. It is such a great irony that he composed and conducted the opera and died three months later. The opera was like his last call for life, crystallizing all his passion for being human and being in love. In contrast to Wagner’s overwhelming heroic and epically tales, Mozart’s play is much more delicious. It becomes every child’s dream. Even when we grow up, we still hold those dreams dear to our heart. We love our princes even they wear only slippers. Whereas there is love, there is hope!