As part of the 2012 Taiwan International Festival of Arts (TIFA), the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Harding gave two widely acclaimed sold-out concerts in Taipei this week. Even the highest priced seats at NT$4,200 were sold out weeks before the concerts. For classical music enthusiasts with a discerning ear, there is a way to avoid spending so much: the online program series, called “Live from Carnegie Hall,” offering listeners broadcasts of 12 live concerts with the world’s best musicians from Carnegie Hall’s 2011/2012 season, free of charge. This freebie is a real blessing for hardworking salary earners.
Thanks to modern technology, the “Live from Carnegie Hall” program series, presented in partnership with WQXR — New York City’s only all-classical music station — and American Public Media, offers a season-long series with 12 live broadcasts from America’s most famous classical music venue to listeners around the world, including those in Taiwan. Listeners can hear the world’s best musicians perform a program featuring symphonies, chamber music and solo pieces. “Live from Carnegie Hall” also takes into consideration the fact that some audiences may be used to having a hard copy of the program notes when attending a concert, so that they can refer to it and broaden their music knowledge while enjoying the music. Program details and notes are therefore available through the Carnegie Hall Web site.
In addition to broadcasting the performances, radio hosts guide people throughout the concert, including parts with the musicians tuning their instruments and practicing before the concerts and behind-the-scenes artist interviews before the concert and during the intermission. There are also live chats at the WQXR Web site. In other words, “Live from Carnegie Hall” not only provides the full concert, its online features provide additional insight, such as musicians talking about music, an opportunity not available to those attending a real-life concert. In order to make up for the lack of a visual experience, photos of each concert are uploaded online with captions. These photos show, for example, that Simon Rattle conducted Mahler’s nearly 90-minute Symphony No. 2, known as the Resurrection Symphony at the podium at Carnegie Hall entirely from memory, without referring to the full score.
Photos: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片：台北時報林亞蒂
The series debuted with Valery Gergiev conducting the Mariinsky Orchestra on Oct. 11 last year, and as of last Saturday, six of the 12 concerts had been broadcast. Including the premiere, they were: Ivan Fisher conducting the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducting Orchestra Revolutionnaire et Romantique, Simon Rattle conducting the Berlin Philharmonic, Finnish dramatic soprano Karita Mattila, and Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes. “Live from Carnegie Hall” will continue to present six more concerts: Lorin Maazel conducting Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra tonight, L’Arpeggiata on March 15, Les Violons du Roy on March 25, the Pavel Haas Quartet on April 27, the Cleveland Orchestra on May 23, and the concluding concert, a solo recital by pianist Lang Lang on May 29. Now, you can hear the performances from Carnegie Hall exactly as they happen. For more information, please visit Carnegie Hall’s Web site at www.CarnegieHall.org/WQXR.(Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times)
二○一二台灣國際藝術節在台北推出的重量級音樂節目「哈丁與巴伐利亞廣播交響樂團」已於本週落幕，賣座之好，連新台幣四千兩百元的最高票價票券，在演出前數週皆已一票難求。喜歡古典音樂又對音樂會演出水準極挑剔的愛樂人士，這回不用荷包大失血，就能上網透過名為「卡內基廳現場實況」的系列計畫而一飽耳福，免費聆聽世界頂尖音樂家在二○一一與二○一二樂季，從紐約卡內基廳帶來的十二場現場實況演出。這項「利多」，對於「月光族」來說，可說是一大福音。
拜科技之賜，「卡內基廳現場實況」系列計畫在與紐約市唯一的古典音樂電台「WQXR」以及「美國公共媒體」聯手推動下，為全世界包括台灣的聽眾，播放美國最著名古典音樂廳一整年度樂季的十二場音樂會實況。民眾可聽到世界級音樂家演奏交響曲、室內樂與獨奏獨唱等廣泛曲目。「卡內基廳現場實況」也考量到有些人可能在聽音樂會時，有習慣手邊備有一份紙本節目單隨時參閱，讓享受音樂同時，也增廣音樂知識。因此，只要上卡內基廳的網站，即可閱讀詳細節目單與曲目解說。
Photos: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片：台北時報林亞蒂
除了播放音樂會演出外，也有主持人帶領聽眾貫穿整場音樂會，包括音樂會開始前樂手的調音與練習實況，也在演出前與中場休息時，播出指揮與音樂家專訪。在WQXR電台網站，也能閱讀聽眾在討論版上的留言分享。換句話說，此計畫除了播出全場音樂會外，還透過網路讓聽眾一併聽到更多幕後花絮，包括音樂家親口「說」音樂等，這些機會是親臨音樂廳所沒有的。為了彌補少了影像的缺憾，網站上可瀏覽音樂會演出時附上圖說的照片，例如賽門‧拉圖上週六在卡內基廳指揮全長近九十分鐘的馬勒第二號交響曲《復活》時，竟是憑驚人記憶，完全不看總譜，完成演出。
這項系列計畫的首場音樂會已於去年十月十一日由俄羅斯指揮家瓦勒力‧葛濟夫與馬林斯基管弦樂團打頭陣，截至上週六，已進行了六場，包括伊凡‧費雪指揮布達佩斯節慶管弦樂團、約翰‧艾略特‧加德納德爵士指揮革命與浪漫管弦樂團，以及賽門‧拉圖指揮柏林愛樂，另外還有芬蘭花腔女高音卡麗塔‧馬蒂娜獨唱會與挪威鋼琴家雷夫‧奧維‧安斯涅的獨奏會。接下來的六場音樂會，包含今晚由羅林‧馬捷爾指揮維也納愛樂、三月十五日的琶音古樂團、三月二十五日的羅伊合奏團、四月二十七日的帕維爾哈斯四重奏團、五月二十三日的克里夫蘭管弦樂團，以及五月二十九日由鋼琴家朗朗彈奏的壓軸獨奏會。從現在起，您也可以聽到卡內基廳的實況演出。詳情請上卡內基廳網站（www.CarnegieHall.org/WQXR）。
（台北時報記者林亞蒂）
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