音乐能否再次起飞？

Canthe Music Take Flight Again？ 音乐能否再次起飞？

Richard Fairman 理查德·费尔曼

It was summer 10 years ago and the check-in area at Gatwick Airport was even more crowded than usual. Two long queues straggled a few desks apart and the people in them were calling across to each other noisily， comparing notes on their upcoming trips.

These were two British orchestras setting out on tour. With the explosion in music festivals， the summer months have become a busy travel period for international ensembles， jetting around from Lucerne to Edinburgh， Salzburg to the BBC Proms in London.

Not this year， of course. But the big question is what will happen to orchestral touring in the future， as cultural organisations struggle back into life， blinking in the light of a new world shaped by the financial ruin left by the coronavirus pandemic.

It is a big market. This year's Lucerne Festival was to have included visits by two orchestras from Berlin， two from London， two from Vienna， as well as orchestras from Amsterdam， Birmingham， Helsinki and Munich. Salzburg's intended line-up included many of the same; also on the touring circuit were Pittsburgh and Perm in Russia， and we will never know what the BBC Proms originally had planned.

“This is an important part of our business，” says Donagh Collins， chief executive of Askonas Holt， the London agency that handles touring for many of the world's top orchestras. “Over the past 10 years touring has grown to about 20-25 per cent of our revenues. Most of what we handle is long-haul tours and each of those will bring in income of millions of euros. The Berlin Philharmonic tours regularly to Asia， which is an essential part of their business model. The London Symphony Orchestra will spend around 100 days per year abroad and that contributes to how they make a surplus.” The LSO estimates that the total income from its overseas projects reaches about ￡8m a year.

It is not hard to see why the immediate outlook is bleak. Airlines might be keen to see these mass bookings return but most orchestras are likely to have more pressing priorities.

那是10年前的夏天，盖特威克机场的值机区比平时更加拥挤。两条长队隔着几张桌子散乱地延伸开去，队伍里的人们正大声地互相招呼，就接下来的旅行交换看法。

这是两支出发去巡演的英国管弦乐团。随着音乐节爆炸式增加，夏季已经成为国际乐团的繁忙旅行季，乐团成员们乘飞机四处跑，从卢塞恩到爱丁堡，从萨尔茨堡到伦敦的英国广播公司逍遥音乐会。

当然，这不是今年的情况。但在文化组织努力恢复生机、面对由这场冠状病毒大流行留下的经济疮痍所塑造的新世界之际，重要的问题是管弦乐团巡演未来会怎样。

这是一个巨大的市场。今年的卢塞恩音乐节原本会迎来两支柏林乐团、两支伦敦乐团、两支维也纳乐团以及来自阿姆斯特丹、伯明翰、赫尔辛基和慕尼黑的乐团。萨尔茨堡的预期阵容包括许多相同的乐团；其他巡演目的地还有匹兹堡和俄罗斯的彼尔姆，我们永远不会知道英国广播公司逍遥音乐会最初的计划是什么。

为很多世界顶级乐团处理巡演事宜的伦敦代理商阿斯科纳斯·霍尔特公司的首席执行官多纳·柯林斯说：“这是我们业务的一个重要组成部分。10年来，巡演已经增长到占我们收入的20%至25%左右。我们处理的大多是长途巡演，每次这样的巡演都能带来数百万欧元收入。柏林爱乐乐团定期到亚洲巡演，这是他们商业模式的重要组成部分。伦敦交响乐团每年会在国外度过约100天，这有助于他们实现盈余。”据伦敦交响乐团估计，每年来自其海外项目的总收入达到800万英镑（1英镑约合人民币8.79元——本网注）左右。

近期前景暗淡的原因不难理解。航空公司可能热切希望这些批量预订回归，然而，大多数乐团很可能有更紧迫的优先事项。

柯林斯说：“在音乐产业所有遭受沉重打击的领域中，巡演是最难预测的。我不会天真地认为它将在未来两到三年内复原。以前我们有气候变化问题，现在又增添了新冠病毒。”

At this lowest point， he is keen to stress the positive. “As a child living in Dublin， I was hugely influenced by the opportunity to see the great international orchestras，” he says. “I passionately believe that touring has a future. Getting orchestras out of their hometowns is important， as they make high-profile ambassadors， especially for cities like Chicago and Philadelphia.”

The question is what form will future tours take？ A vaccine would clearly change everything. Otherwise， the most likely way forward will involve the protocols already in use in south-east Asia， such as testing， temperature checks， masks and protective screens， though preferably not the financially devastating reduction in audience numbers caused by social distancing.

Collins envisages a deeper rethink. “We have to judge what place touring will occupy in an orchestra's programme in future， and what justifies its ambition. There will be a new reality emerging over four to five years.”

He foresees tours being fewer and farther between. Some of the ideas already being formulated to deal with climate change will get a boost — more sensible itineraries， fewer planes， more train journeys， and lightening the load， both of the number of people travelling and the cargo. Collins suggests that orchestras might leave some bulky instruments， such as a marimba or a bass drum， at distant venues and rent them out to local orchestras， so as to bring the freight bill down.

Whatever happens， the globalisation of music is unlikely to shudder to a halt. Modern technology has made online stars out of the world's top-level orchestras and musicians， so the desire to see them for real only looks likely to increase.

在这个最低谷，他热衷于强调积极面。他说：“作为一个生活在都柏林的孩子，我曾因为有机会观看优秀国际管弦乐团的演出而深受影响。我坚信巡演拥有光明前景。让管弦乐团走出去非常重要，因为他们会成为引人注目的大使，尤其是对芝加哥和费城这样的城市而言。”

问题是，未来的巡演会采取何种形式？疫苗显然会改变一切。否则，最有可能的出路将包含东南亚已在使用的做法，例如检测、体温测量、口罩和防护隔板，不过最好不要出现对经济状况造成毁灭性影响的为保持社交距离而使观众人数减少。

柯林斯设想了一种更深入的反思。他说：“我们必须判断未来巡演将在一支乐团的活动安排中占据什么位置，以及它的雄心有何依据。未来四五年将出现一个新的现实。”

他预计巡演会减少。一些已经在构思的旨在应对气候变化的想法将得到推动——制定更合理行程、少乘飞机、多乘火车以及在出行人员和行李上减负。柯林斯建议管弦乐团可以在遥远的演出场所留下一些笨重的乐器，比如马林巴琴或低音鼓，把它们租给当地乐团，以降低托运费用。

无论发生什么，音乐的全球化都不太可能止步不前。现代技术已使一些世界顶级乐团和音乐家成为网络明星，因此，现场观看他们演出的渴望很可能只会增加。