2020年经济学人 钢琴巨匠莱昂·弗莱舍(4)（在线收听）

Unlike the right, it was built for the instrument, since the high tune could still be tapped out by the thumb while the other fingers kept to the bass. Besides, melody was the least important element in a piece. Rhythm came first, the heartbeat, then harmony, and these were both the province of the left hand— though they might emerge, as in the opening of the Ravel, out of the murkiest depths.

不像右手，左手是为乐器量身打造的，因为在其他手指弹奏低音时，拇指仍然可以敲出高音。此外，旋律是一首作品中最不重要的元素。首先是节奏，心跳，然后是和声，这些都是左手的专长——尽管它们可能会像拉威尔的曲目一样，起于最黑暗低沉的音符。

He performed that piece in concert, by his reckoning, more than 1,000 times, sliding across the stool through its leaps and glissandi, his right hand now a mere anchor to grip the frame. A later album cover of his works showed his left hand protectively covering the still-eager, straining right. But he had never quite given up hope that the same karma that had knocked him sideways might one day, equally mysteriously, heal that hand again. By 1994 a combination of Botox and Rolfing, or deep massage, seemed to be helping.

据弗莱舍估计，他在音乐会中演奏了1000多次这首曲子，他在弹奏其中跳跃与滑音的地方时，身体也从长凳的一侧滑到另一侧，而他的右手现在只用来保持身体平衡。在弗莱舍后来发行的专辑封面上，他的左手以保护的姿态搭在仍然渴望弹奏却已变形的右手。但他从未完全放弃希望，业力曾经把他击倒，也许有一天会同样神秘地再次治愈他的那只手。到1994年，肉毒杆菌素和罗夫按摩(或深层按摩)的结合疗法似乎起了作用。

He was cautious. The pretence of his “comeback” more than a decade before still haunted him, when the cheering audience had no idea how he had struggled to control his right hand, and when he had had to rule out playing Beethoven’s fourth concerto in favour of something less exposed. This time, as it turned out, the improvement heralded a definite return to full playing. But on that first day of real hope he took no public chances. As he felt his hand properly opening again, he went instead to his study, where only the sun observed him through the windows. There, in the sunlight, with two hands, the piece growing note by note whole and complete, he played the Brahms.

他很小心。十多年前“复出”的假象仍然困扰着他，当时，欢呼的观众根本不知道，他是如何艰难地控制自己的右手，以及，他不得不放弃演奏贝多芬的第四协奏曲，而选择不那么费力弹奏的曲子。这一次，正如它所展现的那样，右手的改善预示着他可以再次用双手演奏。但在真正有希望的第一天，他没有冒险公开表演。相反，当他觉得自己的手又可以伸展时，他回到了自己的书房，在那里，只有阳光透过窗户照在他的身上。在阳光下，他用双手弹奏着一个接一个的音符，完整的勃拉姆斯乐曲流淌而至。