PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Isaac Stern

PEOPLE IN AMERICA -January 13, 2002: Isaac Stern

By Shelley Gollust
VOICE ONE:

I’m Sarah Long.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today we tell about

one of the world’s greatest musicians, violinist Isaac Stern.
((VIOLIN INSTEAD OF THEME)
)
VOICE ONE:
Isaac Stern was more than a great violin player. He was one of the most honored musicians in the world. He was

an international cultural ambassador. He was a major supporter of the arts in America and in other countries. He

was a teacher and activist¹.

For more than sixty years, Mister Stern performed excellent music. He performed in
concerts around the world and on recordings³. He played with major orchestras and in small
groups. Here he plays Sergey (ser-GAY) Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto⁴ (Opus Nineteen)
with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

((CUT ONE: VIOLIN CONCERTO))

VOICE TWO:

Isaac Stern was born in Nineteen-Twenty in what is now Ukraine. His parents moved to
San Francisco, California, the following year. His mother began teaching Isaac the piano
when he was six years old. He began taking violin lessons after hearing a friend play the instrument.

Later, he began studying music at the San Francisco Conservatory⁵. He progressed quickly. When he was sixteen,
he played with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The next year, he performed in New York City and was
praised by music critics.

VOICE ONE:

During World War Two, Mister Stern played for thousands of American soldiers. It was the first time many of
them had heard classical music. After the war, he was the first American violinist to perform in concert in the
Soviet⁶ Union. Later, he declared that he would not perform there again until artists had more freedom to leave the
country.

Mister Stern had a strong connection to Israel. He supported young musicians and cultural organizations there.
He performed in Israel many times, including during the Persian Gulf⁷ War in Nineteen-Ninety-One.

VOICE TWO:

Isaac Stern became one of the busiest musicians of his day. He played more than one-hundred concerts a year. He
also became one of the most recorded musicians in history. This recording² is Ludwig van Beethoven’
s
Romance in F-Major (Opus Fifty.) Mister Stern performs with the Franz Liszt Chamber⁸ Orchestra.

((CUT 2: ROMANCE IN F-MAJOR [OPUS FIFTY]))


VOICE ONE:

Carnegie Hall in New York City is one of the most famous places for the performance of classical music. All of
the world’s best musicians have played there. In Nineteen-Sixty, there were plans to tear down Carnegie Hall
and build a tall office building in its place.

Mister Stern organized a committee of citizens, politicians and artists to oppose the plan. He successfully led the
effort to save Carnegie Hall. Then he became president of the newly established Carnegie Hall Corporation. He
held that office for forty years. In recent years, he gave a series of classes for young musicians at Carnegie Hall.

Isaac Stern also supported artistic⁹ development and freedom. He was an advisor¹⁰ when the National Endowment
for the Arts was established. This is the government agency that supports the arts in America.

VOICE TWO:

In Nineteen-Seventy-Nine, Isaac Stern visited China. He met with Chinese musicians and students. He taught
them about classical Western music. His visit was made into a film. It is called “From Mao to Mozart: Isaac
Stern in China.
”
It won an Academy Award for best documentary film.

Mister Stern loved to play music by many different composers. He found the works of Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart to be among the most difficult. Here he plays Mozart’s Adagio¹¹ for Violin and Orchestra with the Franz
Liszt Chamber Orchestra.

((CUT THREE: ADAGIO FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA))

VOICE ONE:

In Nineteen-Eighty -Four, Isaac Stern received the Kennedy Center Honors Award for his gifts to American
culture through music. He expressed his thoughts about the part that music plays in life. He said he believed that
music makes life better for every one, especially children. He said music is an important part of a civilized¹² life.
He said people need music as much as they need bread.

Mister Stern supported and guided younger classical musicians. They include violinists Itzhak Perlman and
Pinchas Zukerman, cellist¹³ Yo-Yo Ma, and pianist Yefim Bronfman.

Isaac Stern died in Two -Thousand -One at the age of eighty-one. He was a major influence on music in the
Twentieth Century. He leaves the world richer with his many recordings. This one is “Humoresque”
by
Antonin Dvorak (DVOR -zhak) performed with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra.

((CUT FOUR: HUMORESQUE))

VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Caty Weaver¹⁴. Our studio
engineer was Max Carroll. I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Sarah Long. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of
America.

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1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

3 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

4 concerto   

n.协奏曲

参考例句：

• The piano concerto was well rendered.钢琴协奏曲演奏得很好。
• The concert ended with a Mozart violin concerto.音乐会在莫扎特的小提琴协奏曲中结束。

5 conservatory   

n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的

参考例句：

• At the conservatory,he learned how to score a musical composition.在音乐学校里，他学会了怎样谱曲。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants.这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

8 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

9 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

10 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

11 adagio   

adj.缓慢的；n.柔板；慢板；adv.缓慢地

参考例句：

• The tempo marking in most cases is andante,adagio,or largo.大多数第一乐章的速度标记是行板、柔板或广板。
• Play the adagio since that's the only goddamned thing you know.就弹那首慢板吧，那是你唯一会弹的鬼曲子。

12 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

13 cellist   

n.大提琴手

参考例句：

• The cellist's bowing was very sensitive . 那位大提琴手的弓法十分细腻。 来自辞典例句
• World-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma founded The Silk Road Project in 1998. 世界闻名的大提琴家马友友于1998年创建了丝路工程。 来自互联网

14 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。