美国国家公共电台 NPR The True Story Of A Spanish Royal And The Very High Voice That Healed Him

The True Story Of A Spanish Royal And The Very High Voice That Healed Him

RAY SUAREZ, HOST:

Let's hear about a new play on Broadway starring Oscar-and-Tony-Award-winning actor Mark Rylance. It's called "Farinelli And The King," and it's set in 18th century Spain. The play tells the story of the unlikely relationship between the king, played by Rylance, and the singer whose music nurses him back to sanity¹. Jeff Lunden reports.

JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE²: Several years ago, Claire van Kampen was composing music for a London theater production. During a break, one of the singers asked her if she knew the story of Farinelli, the famous 18th century opera singer.

CLAIRE VAN KAMPEN: You'd really like the bit where he goes to Spain and sings to King Philippe who has this bipolar disorder³. And then I started to think, now that's an interesting story that I haven't heard about, seen.

LUNDEN: The story of Farinelli was the subject of a 1994 film which only lightly touched on his two decades in Spain. He was there to minister to Philippe V, whose grandfather was Louis XIV. He arranged a marriage alliance that would make Philippe king of Spain.

VAN KAMPEN: And this poor man was absolutely unsuited to that job. He really had a brilliant mind for maths and science, and he kind of wanted to be an academic. But he had a very, very severe bipolar disorder, and he found life terribly painful and difficult.

LUNDEN: With no other medical options, Philippe's wife, the queen, tries a kind of baroque music therapy. She travels to England to ask Farinelli, an operatic superstar, to sing for the king.

(SOUNDBITE OF PERFORMANCE OF PLAY, "FARINELLI AND THE KING")

IESTYN DAVIES: (As Farinelli, singing in foreign language).

LUNDEN: And it helped, says Mark Rylance, who plays Philippe.

MARK RYLANCE: We know historically that the singing of Farinelli had a huge impact on this king and enabled him to return to his functioning self but we don't really know why or how. We also don't know why Farinelli decided⁴ to give up his whole career, in my understanding, a career equivalent to Michael Jackson's in terms of fame and fortune and adoration⁵. And he gave it all up really at the height of it to stay and sing this king.

LUNDEN: Farinelli was a castrato, a singer castrated as a child to create an unnaturally⁶ high voice. The practice was barbaric. Many died from the operation. Many who survived committed suicide. It was outlawed⁷ in the 19th century.

(SOUNDBITE OF PERFORMANCE OF PLAY, "FARINELLI AND THE KING")

RYLANCE: (As Philippe V) Your voice, it's not natural, is it?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As Farinelli) No.

RYLANCE: (As Philippe V) Neither is it natural for me to be king, you know that?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As Farinelli) No.

RYLANCE: (As Philippe V) Do you dream?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As Farinelli) No, or at least, I forget them before I wake up.

RYLANCE: (As Philippe V) All of us dream. Most of us would prefer to forget our dreams. Perhaps you need to forget yours. When were you made a king?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As Farinelli) I am not a king.

RYLANCE: (As Philippe V) I'm afraid you are. We were both made kings against our will, I suppose.

LUNDEN: Playwright⁸ van Kampen says the reluctant king and the superstar are not all that different.

VAN KAMPEN: Farinelli is a divided person. He's divided from parts of himself physically⁹. But psychologically, I feel he's very divided between this person that has being forced to go on and artificially create a persona of this great opera star, but inside, he's simply Carlo Broschi. That's his name.

LUNDEN: To create that split personality, van Kampen in director John Dove have an actor play Farinelli in the scenes and a countertenor, a male singer with a high voice, sing the part.

JOHN DOVE: We were inventing as we went along what kind of an evening it was because it's not quite a play and it's not quite a musical. It's a hybrid¹⁰. It's its own thing.

LUNDEN: The singing Farinelli is played by countertenor Iestyn Davies. He says the two men, each uncomfortable with their public persona, become close friends.

DAVIES: They kind of recognize something in each other which throws off the kingship and throws off the stage persona of Farinelli, and they're able to connect on a human level.

LUNDEN: Davies is a major opera star, and van Kampen says it was a coup¹¹ to get him to commit to a Broadway run from a first-time playwright. It might also seem a coup to get an actor of the caliber¹² of Mark Rylance for the production, except he happens to be the writer's husband.

RYLANCE: I'm just so proud of her and thrilled for her. And she's spent 25 years supporting me and giving me brilliant ideas without anyone realizing it was her. Now for her to be celebrated¹³ for the clever artist that she is gives me a great thrill.

LUNDEN: Their collaboration¹⁴ was a success on London's West End, and "Farinelli And The King" is running on Broadway through March. For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in New York.

1 sanity   

n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确

参考例句：

• I doubt the sanity of such a plan.我怀疑这个计划是否明智。
• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 adoration   

n.爱慕，崇拜

参考例句：

• He gazed at her with pure adoration.他一往情深地注视着她。
• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。

6 unnaturally   

adv.违反习俗地；不自然地；勉强地；不近人情地

参考例句：

• Her voice sounded unnaturally loud. 她的嗓音很响亮，但是有点反常。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her eyes were unnaturally bright. 她的眼睛亮得不自然。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 outlawed   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
• I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。

8 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

9 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

10 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

11 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

12 caliber   

n.能力；水准

参考例句：

• They ought to win with players of such high caliber.他们选手的能力这样高,应该获胜。
• We are always trying to improve the caliber of our schools.我们一直在想方设法提高我们学校的水平。

13 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

14 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。