One day, Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez was walking along the streets of downtown Los Angeles when he heard beautiful music. And the source was a man, an African-American man, charming, rugged, homeless, playing a violin that only had two strings.
有一天, 洛杉磯時代專欄的作者 史帝夫.羅培茲正走在 洛杉磯市中心的街上 他聽見美妙的音樂, 這音樂來自 一位非裔美籍男士, 這外貌清秀, 卻衣衫儖縷, 樣似流浪漢的男子, 正在拉奏著只有兩根絃的小提琴.
And I'm telling a story that many of you know, because Steve's columns became the basis for a book, which was turned into a movie, with Robert Downey Jr. acting as Steve Lopez, and Jamie Foxx as Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, the Juilliard-trained double bassist whose promising career was cut short by a tragic affliction with paranoid schizophrenia. Nathaniel dropped out of Juilliard, he suffered a complete breakdown, and 30 years later he was living homeless on the streets of Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. I encourage all of you to read Steve's book or to watch the movie to understand not only the beautiful bond that formed between these two men, but how music helped shape that bond, and ultimately was instrumental -- if you'll pardon the pun -- in helping Nathaniel get off the streets.
我剛剛說的故事, 在座的你們多已知道, 因為史提夫的專欄故事已經被 寫成一本書, 也被拍成一部電影, 小勞勃道尼飾演史提夫羅培茲, 傑米法克斯則飾演納坦尼艾爾斯, 曾在茱莉亞學院受過低音大提琴訓練 前程看好, 卻未能完成學業 因他患有惱人的精神分裂症,而被迫放棄學習. 納坦尼離開茱莉亞音樂學院後, 飽受病情折磨, 三十年後他淪落為流浪漢 遊蕩在洛杉磯市街頭. 我鼓勵各位閱讀史提夫的書, 或看這部電影 進而瞭解這段美妙的友誼 如何在這兩位男人之間發生, 及音樂在其間扮演的角色, 最終則是因為所謂樂器 請恕我直言, 而幫助納坦尼脫離街友生涯的.
I met Mr. Ayers in 2008, two years ago, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. He had just heard a performance of Beethoven's First and Fourth symphonies, and came backstage and introduced himself. He was speaking in a very jovial and gregarious way about Yo-Yo Ma and Hillary Clinton and how the Dodgers were never going to make the World Series, all because of the treacherous first violin passage work in the last movement of Beethoven's Fourth Symphony. And we got talking about music, and I got an email from Steve a few days later saying that Nathaniel was interested in a violin lesson with me.
我個人是在 2008 年, 遇見艾爾斯先生 兩年前, 於華德迪斯奈演奏廳, 他是在聽完貝多芬第一及第四交響曲的表演後 到後台來自我介紹. 他爽朗熱情的談論著 有關馬友友, 及希拉蕊克林頓, 以及道奇隊絕不可能贏得世界大賽冠軍等等, 這一切都緣自第一小提琴所拉奏出的曲折情節 貝多芬第四交響樂最後樂章時 我們也聊了音樂, 幾天後, 史提夫寄來一份電子郵件, 提起納坦尼有興趣來上我的小提琴課.
Now, I should mention that Nathaniel refuses treatment because when he was treated it was with shock therapy and Thorazine and handcuffs, and that scar has stayed with him for his entire life. But as a result now, he is prone to these schizophrenic episodes, the worst of which can manifest themselves as him exploding and then disappearing for days, wandering the streets of Skid Row, exposed to its horrors, with the torment of his own mind unleashed upon him.
現在, 我必須說明為何納坦尼拒絕他的治療, 是因為之前他所受的療法, 包括電擊休克療法 藥物氯丙嗪 及使用手銬 這些已在他身上烙出永久的傷痕. 而至今, 他仍在與精神病症掙扎 病情起伏不定. 糟糕時, 當病情發作時 讓他抓狂, 他會消失幾天, 遊蕩市區街頭, 身受恐懼, 精神分裂的煎熬. 重複的殘迫他.
And Nathaniel was in such a state of agitation when we started our first lesson at Walt Disney Concert Hall -- he had a kind of manic glint in his eyes, he was lost. And he was talking about invisible demons and smoke, and how someone was poisoning him in his sleep.
當時他正是處在這種混淆狀態 當我們首次在華德迪斯奈演奏廳見面時 他眼神閃爍, 看似迷失了, 他說了些 無影的魔鬼, 煙霧, 及別人如何趁他睡覺時,向他下毒, 等等.
And I was afraid, not for myself, but I was afraid that I was going to lose him, that he was going to sink into one of his states, and that I would ruin his relationship with the violin if I started talking about scales and arpeggios and other exciting forms of didactic violin pedagogy. (Laughter) So, I just started playing. And I played the first movement of the Beethoven Violin Concerto.
我當時是有點害怕, 並不是為我自己, 而是害怕 即將失去他, 他將又陷入那糟糕的狀況, 將會破壞他和小提琴間奇妙的感情 若我盡聊些音階, 琶音, 或許其他有趣的 教條式小提琴教學之類的 (笑聲) 所以我當時是拉起小提琴 拉的是貝多芬小提琴協奏曲第一樂章
And as I played, I understood that there was a profound change occurring in Nathaniel's eyes. It was as if he was in the grip of some invisible pharmaceutical, a chemical reaction, for which my playing the music was its catalyst. And Nathaniel's manic rage was transformed into understanding, a quiet curiosity and grace. And in a miracle, he lifted his own violin and he started playing, by ear, certain snippets of violin concertos which he then asked me to complete -- Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius. And we started talking about music, from Bach to Beethoven and Brahms, Bruckner, all the B's, from Bartók, all the way up to Esa-Pekka Salonen.
當我拉奏時 我注意到起了深刻變化 就在納坦尼的眼神之中. 就像是服了仙丹, 起了化學變化, 我演奏的音樂就 如催化劑般. 把納坦尼閃爍憤怒的眼神 轉化成善解人意的 溫和好奇, 優雅的 此時奇蹟般的 他拿起他自己的小提琴 拉奏起剛聽到的 小提琴協奏曲的片段 然後要我完成整曲, 另有孟德爾頌, 柴可夫斯基, 西貝流 我們談起音樂, 從巴哈 貝多芬, 布拉姆斯 布喀納, 所有的B開頭的 從巴托克, 到伊薩-沛卡 薩羅南.
And I understood that he not only had an encyclopedic knowledge of music, but he related to this music at a personal level. He spoke about it with the kind of passion and understanding that I share with my colleagues in the Los Angeles Philharmonic. And through playing music and talking about music, this man had transformed from the paranoid, disturbed man that had just come from walking the streets of downtown Los Angeles to the charming, erudite, brilliant, Juilliard-trained musician.
我了解他不僅 對音樂有全面性的認識, 更有個人特殊的感情成份. 他談話的那種熱情, 就如 我在和團員分享音樂的熱情 也就是洛杉磯交響樂團, 是一樣的. 而經由演奏音樂, 談論音樂 他整個人就像兌變了 從一個瘋癲 晃蕩街頭 的市區街友, 變成和善, 博學, 開朗的, 受過茱莉亞學院教育的音樂家.
Music is medicine. Music changes us. And for Nathaniel, music is sanity. Because music allows him to take his thoughts and delusions and shape them through his imagination and his creativity, into reality. And that is an escape from his tormented state. And I understood that this was the very essence of art. This was the very reason why we made music, that we take something that exists within all of us at our very fundamental core, our emotions, and through our artistic lens, through our creativity, we're able to shape those emotions into reality. And the reality of that expression reaches all of us and moves us, inspires and unites us.
音樂是良藥, 音樂改變我們. 至於納坦尼音, 音樂是理智. 因為音樂讓他進行思考, 釐清幻想, 認清事實, 並經由自由創作 而回歸現實. 那也正是他逃離的管道, 逃離精神困境. 我瞭解這就是藝術的精粹. 這也是為什麼會創作音樂, 音樂在你我生活之中. 就存在我們日常生活中, 情感裏, 透過我們的藝術眼光 透過創作, 讓我們能釐清情緒進入現實. 透過真實的表達 感觸我們, 我們才能受感動, 受激勵, 才能一同感受.
And for Nathaniel, music brought him back into a fold of friends. The redemptive power of music brought him back into a family of musicians that understood him, that recognized his talents and respected him. And I will always make music with Nathaniel, whether we're at Walt Disney Concert Hall or on Skid Row, because he reminds me why I became a musician. Thank you. (Applause)
至於納坦尼, 音樂為他帶來一群朋友 音樂已神奇的帶領他 進入音樂家的大家族 讓人瞭解他, 認識他的天賦 也尊崇他. 至於我 我永遠會和他一起創作音樂 不論我們是在華德迪斯奈音樂廳, 或在洛杉磯街頭, 因為他提醒我. 為何我之成為音樂家. 謝謝大家. (掌聲)
Bruno Giussani: Thank you. Thanks. Robert Gupta. (Applause)
布魯諾 : 謝謝大家. 謝謝你... 羅伯特.古普塔. (掌聲)
Robert Gupta: I'm going to play something that I shamelessly stole from cellists. So, please forgive me.
接下來的演奏片段擷自大提琴的樂曲. 用小提琴演奏還請見諒.
(Laughter) (Music) (Applause)
(笑聲) (音樂) (掌聲)