美国国家公共电台 NPR Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra Confronts Controversy Over Right-Wing Guest Conductor

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

The Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra will have a guest conductor this week. Dennis Prager will conduct Haydn's Symphony No. 51 at an orchestra fundraiser. Dennis Prager's day job as a conservative talk show host, though, has some members of the orchestra up in arms or at least laying down their instruments. Some musicians have refused to perform, and four of them have signed a letter asking community members not to attend the concert, objecting that Prager's political views are at odds¹ with community and orchestra values. Santa Monica is a famously liberal town, and Prager is an outspoken² conservative who has said that, quote, "the news media in the West pose a far greater danger to Western civilization than Russia does." He's also defended free speech vociferously³, including Kathy Griffin's photo stunt⁴ where she held up a model of President Trump's severed⁵ head. That was widely decried⁶ by many fellow conservatives. Prager was invited to conduct the group by the Santa Monica Symphony's music director and conductor, Guido Lamell. He explained how his relationship with Prager developed.

GUIDO LAMELL: There's quite a background there. I've been a member of the LA Philharmonic for 39 years. And I think as far back as 30 years or maybe it was 25 years ago, I first heard Dennis Prager speaking on his - I think, one of his first programs, which was called Religion on the Line. You know, I found him very interesting. But the most important thing to me was that he was a - from the outset, he was a staunch supporter of classical music. And he would play excerpts⁷ of classical music on his program and talk about the glories of Beethoven and things. And I was just amazed by that because, you know, I knew that he had a national audience. And I never heard anyone else on (laughter) national radio talking about classical music. We knew that he might be reaching an audience that classical arts don't always reach, OK? So now we cut to the present day. And as I say, going back two years ago, we thought it would be a lovely idea to give him an opportunity to conduct our orchestra. We felt that he would bring an audience that we don't usually reach, and that's what we were most excited about.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I'd like to talk about the musicians, though. They wrote a letter characterizing Prager's views as deeply bigoted⁸. What do you think of his views?

LAMELL: You know, I'm not even going to comment on it because it's - first of all, that's not what I'm about or what we're about. All I can tell you is that when I first proposed this to the orchestra, 90 percent of our orchestra was excited about this and wanted to be part of this program. And I also mentioned it to others, and some chose not to play.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I suppose my larger question is - do you think that in this political climate, someone's views can be separated from the art that they participate in? It seems that, at this particular moment, it is difficult for those two things to be separated.

LAMELL: Yes, I do. I absolutely think that very strongly because they are two entirely⁹ different worlds. Political discourse¹⁰ is one realm, and music is another realm. For me, music is an eternal flame. In fact, if I dare say this, I've kind of latched¹¹ onto an expression. I like to say music trumps¹² politics (laughter). I kind of like that line. That's how I approach it.

So look, here's also one thing I can offer. Dennis Prager came to this plan absolutely with the intention of not bringing the slightest mention of any political issues at all. This was all about the music, all about his passion in music.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Do you think the controversy¹³ that this has kicked up is a sign of the times?

LAMELL: There's no question that our current day is so politically hypercharged, you know, that any person voicing an opinion in one - and not to mention, it so happens, of course - there are - today we have - it's actually a small number of hot-button issues, OK? And they are so hot that it's an actual kindling¹⁴ stick at any moment. Things can flare¹⁵ up. They can explode. It's - I'm very, very sad to see that in our society. And in a sense, I feel that music, today, is needed even more than it may have been a year ago. I believe that music can bring us back together.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Guido Lamell is the music director and conductor of the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra. Thank you very much for joining us today.

LAMELL: Thanks so much, Lulu.

1 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

2 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

3 vociferously   

adv.喊叫地，吵闹地

参考例句：

• They are arguing vociferously over who should pay the bill. 他们为谁该付账单大声争吵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Annixter had cursed him so vociferously and tersely that even Osterman was cowed. 安尼克斯特骂了他的声音之大，语气之凶，连奥斯特曼也不禁吓了一跳。 来自辞典例句

4 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

5 severed   

v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The doctor said I'd severed a vessel in my leg. 医生说我割断了腿上的一根血管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have severed diplomatic relations with that country. 我们与那个国家断绝了外交关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 decried   

v.公开反对，谴责( decry的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The measures were decried as useless. 这些措施受到指责，说是不起作用。
• The old poet decried the mediocrity of today's writing. 老诗人抨击了现代文体的平庸无奇。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 excerpts   

n.摘录，摘要( excerpt的名词复数 )；节选（音乐，电影）片段

参考例句：

• Some excerpts from a Renaissance mass are spatchcocked into Gluck's pallid Don Juan music. 一些文艺复光时期的弥撒的选节被不适当地加入到了格鲁克平淡无味的唐璜音乐中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is editing together excerpts of some of his films. 他正在将自己制作的一些电影的片断进行剪辑合成。 来自辞典例句

8 bigoted   

adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的

参考例句：

• He is so bigoted that it is impossible to argue with him.他固执得不可理喻。
• I'll concede you are not as bigoted as some.我承认你不象有些人那么顽固。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

11 latched   

v.理解( latch的过去式和过去分词 )；纠缠；用碰锁锁上（门等）；附着（在某物上）

参考例句：

• The government have latched onto environmental issues to win votes. 政府已开始大谈环境问题以争取选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He latched onto us and we couldn't get rid of him. 他缠着我们，甩也甩不掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 trumps   

abbr.trumpets 喇叭；小号；喇叭形状的东西；喇叭筒v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去式 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造

参考例句：

• On the day of the match the team turned up trumps. 比赛那天该队出乎意料地获得胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Every time John is late getting home he trumps up some new excuse. 每次约翰晚回家都会编造个新借口。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

14 kindling   

n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• There were neat piles of kindling wood against the wall. 墙边整齐地放着几堆引火柴。
• "Coal and kindling all in the shed in the backyard." “煤，劈柴，都在后院小屋里。” 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

15 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。