2020年经济学人 钢琴巨匠莱昂·弗莱舍(3)（在线收听）

He had already been giving classes at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, and now he did so, both there and at the Boston Symphony’s Tanglewood, as energetically as if his life depended on it, as it did. He also took up conducting, which—despite the oddity of standing in front of an orchestra—he greatly enjoyed. Both activities plunged him deeper into music, letting him see it through the eyes of other instrumentalists and, when he was teaching, pushing him to pin down the ephemeral beauty of notes with words alone. They went most of the way. Yet still he was not playing.

当时弗莱舍已经在巴尔的摩的皮博迪音乐学院授课了，现在也一样，除了皮博迪音乐学院，他还在波士顿交响乐团的唐格尔伍德音乐中心任职。他精力充沛，好像他的生命依赖于它，就像以前一样。弗莱舍也当起了指挥，尽管站在一个交响乐团前面看起来很奇怪，但是他非常享受。这两件事使他更加了解音乐，让他从其他乐器演奏者的视角来看待音乐，在教学时，促使他只用文字来说明音符的瞬息之美。弗莱舍大部分时间都在做这些事情。但是他还是没有演奏。

Stubbornly he went on practising a bit, though it was hopeless and probably did damage, and his attempt at a public two-handed comeback, in 1982, was a failure. Stubbornly, too, he resisted for a long time the left-hand piano repertoire. Though it was wide, most of it was bad. The whole notion seemed gimmicky, as well as an admission that, from now on, a left-handed pianist was all he could be. Old prejudices would keep surfacing.

尽管希望渺茫，也可能带来伤害，他还是固执地继续练习。而且1982年，他尝试双手弹奏公开复出，也没有成功。很长一段时间，他也固执地抵制左手弹奏的钢琴曲目。虽然左手曲目也很多，但大部分不是好作品。整个想法看起来很有欺骗性，弹了左手曲目就相当于承认，从现在起，他只能成为一个左撇子钢琴家。旧的偏见会不断浮现。

The right hand was the singer, doing most of the important work and so wearing out faster. The left balanced it and did its share, but inevitably had second billing. The disaster that had befallen him slowly changed that view. He found left-hand masterpieces, notably Ravel’s “Concerto for the Left Hand” and a transcription by Brahms of the Bach D minor Chaconne for solo violin, which became firm favourites. Friends and colleagues wrote new pieces for him. And he discovered that his left hand, even by itself, gave him more to say at the piano.

右手是主唱，做了大部分重要的工作，所以磨损得更快。左手平衡了这一比例，也尽了自己的一份力，但也只能是副手。降临在他身上的灾难慢慢地改变了这种看法。他发现了左手弹奏的杰作，尤其是拉威尔的《左手协奏曲》，还有勃拉姆斯改编的巴赫D小调演奏独奏小提琴，这两首曲子也成为了表演热门曲目。朋友和同事为他创作了新作品。他发现他的左手，即使是一只手，在弹钢琴的时候也能让他有更多的表达。