The Royal Opera House 城市掠影

The script¹ of this programme 本节目台词

	The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden is open to all

Helen: Welcome to On the Town from BBC² Learning³ English, I'm Helen. This is the programme where we visit some of the most interesting places to spend time in London.

Zoë: And I'm Zoë. 欢迎收听由 BBC Learning English 为您提供的《都市掠影》节目。在这档节目中我们走访英国伦敦许多有趣的地方，为大家做深入接触的现场专访。

Helen: Well, I'm introducing you to one of the most famous theatres in the world, where you can hear and see wonderful performances of opera and ballet⁴.

Zoë: 世界上名气最响的剧院之一，能看到很棒的歌剧和芭蕾舞，那是什么好地方呢？

Helen: It's the Royal Opera House of course.

Zoë: 英国皇家歌剧院， 这名字挺起来可真够响的。

Helen: Well here's Declan, who is the backstage manager for the Royal Opera House. I asked him, when was the theatre built?

 

Insert⁵

The Royal Opera House is almost 150 years old, it was built in 1858. And it's actually the third theatre, and in effect the third opera house that we've had on this land at Covent Garden.

Zoë: 英国皇家歌剧院的历史的确很悠久，1858年建成，可是为什么Declan 说这是第三个剧院了呢？

Helen: I know the answer – it's got something to do with fire.

Insert

The first theatre was built in 1732, and it burnt down in 1808. The second theatre was built in 1809, and that burnt down in 1856 - so not very much luck with fire and theatres generally. So this theatre was built in 1858.

Zoë: 哎呀，看来剧院 theatres 和火 fire 真的是过不去。

Helen: And I thought one fire was bad enough, but the Opera House was burnt down twice in its history.

Zoë: 1808 年第一次被烧毁，1856年又被烧了。真倒霉。

Helen: The oldest part we see today was built in 1858.

Insert

The first theatre was built in 1732, and it burnt down in 1808. The second theatre was built in 1809, and that burnt down in 1856 - so not very much luck with fire and theatres generally. So this theatre was built in 1858.

Zoë: 皇家歌剧院这幢建筑的确是非常雄伟气派，也是占了伦敦市中心的黄金位置。

Helen: But it's not just the building that makes it impressive⁶, it's also the performances on stage that makes it an amazing place to visit.

Insert

The Royal Opera House is home to two companies, the Royal Ballet, and the Royal Opera. And they are working in what we call repertory – they are both full time here, which between them give almost 300 performances of opera and ballet every year.

Zoë: Declan 解释说皇家歌剧院其实是两个公司的家。

Helen: It's home to two companies – 'The Royal Ballet'.

Zoë: 皇家芭蕾舞团 The Royal Ballet。

Helen: And 'The Royal Opera Company'.

Zoë: 皇家歌剧团 The Royal Opera Company。这两个公司一年加起来有3百多场表演。

Helen: 'The Royal Ballet' and 'The Royal Opera Company' have dancers and singers from all over the world.

Insert

Notably⁷, in recent years, we've had two singers from China - Li Ping Zhang, who is going to sing Madame⁸ Butterfly and then we also have Yu Qiang Dai, and he has also sung in another Puchini opera, Tosca, as Cavaradossi. So he's a tenor⁹ who's got the high notes, and Li Ping is a soprano again and she's the high voice in opera.

Zoë: 刚才Declan 提到的应该是中国著名的男高音 tenor 戴玉强。张丽萍也是来自中国的女高音。

Helen: She is a soprano, who can sing very high notes. And she is going to be the lead singer in a very famous opera called Madame Butterfly.

Zoë: 蝴蝶夫人，这可是一出悲惨的歌剧。Helen, did you ask Declan about the price of tickets for these performances?

Helen: Yes, I did.

Insert

It's interesting, when I do my tours I take people often up to the top of the house, who've never been to the theatre before, never been to the Royal Opera House. And I say to them "How much do you think you'd pay for this seat?" and they're very surprised to discover that the seat they're sitting in is maybe only £15, £10 and sometimes even only £4.

Zoë: Really, as low as £4 a ticket - that's amazing!

Helen: I know I thought it would cost at least £20 for the cheapest seat.

Zoë: 那平时能买到这么便宜的票吗？

Helen: Yes, but the numbers of cheap tickets are limited, so I think the best thing to do is to buy them in advance.

Zoë: 提前买票是关键，不过就算是再贵些，能看到世界级的高水准演出也是值得的。

Helen: Well, that's all about the Royal Opera House today, so see you next time.

Zoë: Bye Bye.

 

1 script   

n.剧本，广播稿；文字体系；笔迹，手迹

参考例句：

• It's easy to identify his script.他的笔迹容易辨认。
• The script is massaged into final form.这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。

2 BBC   

abbr.（=British Broadcasting Corporation）英国广播公司

参考例句：

• She works for the BBC.她为英国广播公司工作。
• The BBC was founded in 1922.英国广播公司建于1922年。

3 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

4 ballet   

n.芭蕾舞

参考例句：

• Angela studied ballet for six years.安吉拉学了六年芭蕾舞。
• She is a celebrated star of ballet.她是一个芭蕾舞明星。

5 insert   

vt.插入，镶补；vi.附着；n.插入，插入物

参考例句：

• I wish to insert an advertisement in your newspaper.我想在贵报上登一则广告。
• The newspaper had an insert of pages of pictures.该报带有数页插图。

6 impressive   

adj.给人深刻印象的，感人的

参考例句：

• This cinema is so impressive that we can't help crying.这影片如此感人以至我们禁不住流下泪来。
• The suit made him look especially impressive.他穿上这套衣服真精神。

7 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

8 madame   

n.女士；夫人；小姐

参考例句：

• Madame Curie was the only famous woman scientist in the world.居里夫人是世界上唯一有名的女科学家。
• Radium is discovered by Madame Curie.镭是由居里夫人发现的。

9 tenor   

n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意

参考例句：

• The tenor of his speech was that war would come.他讲话的大意是战争将要发生。
• The four parts in singing are soprano,alto,tenor and bass.唱歌的四个声部是女高音、女低音、男高音和男低音。