小瓊：刚刚过去的9月30日，成为全美歌剧迷的哀悼日。20世纪最著名的作曲家之一去世，享年95岁。他的名字叫卡莱尔·弗洛伊德。
　　小薇：我记得他最著名的一部歌剧《苏珊娜》（Susannah）写于1955年，但直到1999年才在大都会歌剧院上演，蕾内·弗莱明（Renée Fleming）担纲主角，与塞缪尔·拉米（Samuel Ramey）演对手戏。
　　小琼：也许我应该再补充一些。《苏珊娜》是弗洛伊德根据《旧约》中的故事改编的第一部歌剧。他自己写了剧本，将一个关于失去纯真与抵抗暴民的警示故事改编到田纳西州的小农村。尽管歌剧的世界首演在佛罗里达州立大学举行（弗洛伊德当时在那里任教），但它在次年赢得了纽约评论界最佳新歌剧奖。不久以后，《苏珊娜》作为美国音乐的代表，在1958年布鲁塞尔世界博览会上演出。
　　小薇：弗洛伊德毕生共创作了13部歌剧。我看到他的另一部主要作品是 1970 年首演的《鼠与人》。他以约翰·斯坦贝克1937年的经典中篇小说为基础，创作了自己的剧本。在很多方面，这让我想起了另一位著名作曲家，中国歌剧界的先锋——金湘，他根据曹禺1937年的剧作创作了歌剧《原野》。巧合的是，这两部原创文学作品几乎是同时期创作的！

　　小琼：当我们看当代歌剧时，我们或会忘记这些最早打开艺术大门的前辈们。弗洛伊德和金湘都在各自国家的歌剧土壤里种下了一枚意大利艺术的种子，让它生长。他们都以自己的方式创作了抒情歌剧，他们对戏剧素材的高品位是显而易见的。
　　小薇：这两位作曲家的另一个共同点是他们对教育的奉献。弗洛伊德先后在佛罗里达州和得克萨斯州任教，而金湘在执教于北京。
　　小琼：他们还都维持了漫长的创作生涯。我还记得2015年在北京国家大剧院观看金湘歌剧《日出》的全球首演（这是另一部改编自曹禺剧作的作品）。而卡莱尔·弗洛伊德的最后一部歌剧《戏剧王子》于2016年初首演，当时这位作曲家已是89岁高龄。
　　小薇：我们希望有朝一日能看到所有这些现代经典歌剧作品的复排！
　　Joan： September 30 will be marked as a day of mourning for opera fans across America. One of the most notable composers of the last century just died at the age of 95. His name was Carlisle Floyd.
　　Valery： I remember one of his most famous operas， Susannah， which he wrote in 1955， was belatedly staged at the Metropolitan Opera only in 1999， with Renée Fleming in the title role， playing opposite Samuel Ramey.
　　Joan： Perhaps I should tell you more. Susannah was Floyd’s first opera， which he based on an Old Testament story. He wrote his own libretto， adapting a cautionary tale about lost innocence and mob violence to rural Tennessee. Although the premiere took place at Florida State University （where Floyd was teaching at the time）， it won the New York Critics Circle Award for Best New Opera the following year. A few years later， Susannah was presented at the 1958 World’s Fair at Brussels to represent American music.

　　Valery： Floyd composed a total of 13 works for the stage. I see that another major work of his was Of Mice and Men， which premiered in 1970. He wrote his own libretto for that one has well， based on John Steinbeck’s classic novella from 1937. In many ways，this reminds me of another notable figure in Chinese opera： the pioneer Jin Xiang， who wrote Savage Land based on Cao Yu’s play from 1937. What a coincidence that both original literary works were created around the same time！
　　Joan： Sometimes when we look at contemporary opera， we forget the immediate predecessors who first opened those artistic doors. Both Floyd and Jin planted the seed of an Italian art form in their local soil and let it grow. They both created lyrical operas in their own right， and their great taste in dramatic source material is clearly evident.
　　Valery： Another thing these two composers had in common was their commitment to education. Floyd taught in Florida， then Texas， while Jin taught in Beijing.
　　Joan： They also sustained long creative careers. I still remember being at the NCPA in Beijing to see the world premiere of Jin’s Sunrise in 2015 （another adaptation from Cao Yu）. Carlisle Floyd’s last opera， Prince of Players， premiered in early 2016 when the composer was 89.
　　Valery： We hope to see revivals of all these modern classics sometime in the future！