中英双语新闻 索菲亚·科波拉突破性执导歌剧《茶花女》

Italy invented Opera but its opera house in Rome has been in crisis. It’s been losing money and in recent years, its musicians have gone on strike. So the opera house came up with an idea—invite a member of a famous Italian and American film directing family to stage a performance. Our correspondent James Reynolds went to see the premiere of Sofia Coppola’s production of "La Traviata".

It’s opening night. There’s red carpet outside. And the auditorium 1 here is full. In recent years, this opera house has been as sick as Violetta, the heroin 2 of "La Traviata". But the arrival of Sofia Coppola in Valentino has changed all that. We’ll wait the performance. During the next three and a half hours, the heroin Violetta battles against tuberculosis 3 whilst managing to win, break up with and then win back her lover Alfredo. She dies flamboyantly 4 in his arms wearing a gown designed by 

Valentino. There is an after-party here at the opera which features guests who look just as gilded 5 as anything we’ve just seen on the stage. And everyone is crowding around Sofia Coppola and also her father Francis Ford 6 Coppola, the director of “The Godfather”.

It seemed to go well. And I was happy cuz the other night when I thought I was really nervous, I could actually enjoy it. So I think it went well.

How is the transition to opera been?

Really thrilling. Yeah, everyone here was so kind. It’s been fun to be part of the theatre, community and it was really exciting.

Sofia Coppola learned opera from her father. In his final “Godfather” film, he even cast her as a character who gets killed on the steps of an Italian opera house. 

Francis Ford Coppola watched the premiere of this, her first opera from the royal box.

How did you enjoy the performance?

I love that. I thought it was beautiful, very moving.

What role has opera played in the Coppola family life?

Well, my whole family was involved in.. We are all professional musicians, so you know… We know a lot about it. We have been to see it. And my father was always very kind. He always told me always the story.

意大利发明了歌剧，但罗马的歌剧院却陷入了危机，近年来亏损不断，导致音乐人集体罢工。因此歌剧院想出一个主意——邀请著名的意大利裔美国家庭中的一员筹划一场演出。本台记者詹姆斯·雷诺兹前去观看了索菲亚·科波拉制作的歌剧《茶花女》的首演。

这是首演之夜，外面铺着红毯，剧场座无虚席。近年来，这个歌剧院像《茶花女》的女主角维奥莱塔一样弱。但身着华伦天奴的索菲亚·科波拉一到就改变了这一切。让我们期待演出。在接下来的三个半小时里，女主角维奥莱塔与肺结核作斗争的同时，赢得爱人阿尔弗雷多、与之分手又重新追回。她穿着华伦天奴设计的礼服在阿尔弗雷多的怀中华丽地死去。在歌剧院的余兴派对上，嘉宾们仿照我们在舞台上看到的那些人物，盛装出席。索菲亚·科波拉和她的父亲——《教父》的导演弗朗西斯·福特·科波拉受到众人的簇拥。

演出看着还挺好的，我很开心，因为有天晚上我很紧张，不过其实还是挺享受的。所以，我觉得演得不错。

转型歌剧感觉怎么样？

非常令人兴奋。对，大家都很友善。这个剧院、这个大家庭很有意思、很刺激。

索菲亚·科波拉是从她父亲那里学的歌剧。在最后的《教父》电影中，他甚至给女儿安排了一个角色，让“她”死在了一家意大利歌剧院的台阶上。弗朗西斯·福特·科波拉在贵宾席观看女儿第一部歌剧的首演。

你觉得演出怎么样？

大爱。我觉得很美很感动。

歌剧在科波拉家族生活中扮演着什么样的角色？

我们家都是从事……我们都是专业的音乐人，所以说……很了解这一行。我们去看过这部歌剧，而且我父亲非常和蔼，经常给我讲这个故事。