The decision of the New York Philharmonic to hire Alan Gilbert as its next music director has been the talk of the classical-music world ever since the sudden announcement of his appointment in 2009. For the most part, the response has been favorable, to say the least. “Hooray! At last!” wrote Anthony Tommasini, a sober-sided classical-music critic.
2009年，纽约爱乐交响乐团突然宣布聘请Alan Gilbert作为下一任总指挥。这个决定一出来，就在古典音乐的世界里掀起了一阵讨论。至少可以说，大多数人表示赞许。“万岁！终于等到你！”Anthony Tommasini，一位冷静片面的古典音乐评论家写道。
One of the reasons why the appointment came as such a surprise, however, is that Gilbert is comparatively little known. Even Tommasini, who had advocated Gilbert’s appointment in the Times, calls him “an unpretentious musician with no air of the formidable conductor about him.” As a deion of the next music director of an orchestra that has hitherto been led by musicians like Gustav Mahler and Pierre Boulez, that seems likely to have struck at least some Times readers as faint praise.
为什么这个任命状会令人吃惊的原因之一是，相较而言，Gilbert可能不太被人们熟知。就连在时代周刊上拥护其委任的Tommasini，都称他为“一位不摆架子的谦逊音乐家”。对一个由诸如Gustav Mahler和Pierre Boulez等伟大音乐家带领起来的管弦乐团来说，作为它的下一任总指挥，这些仅来自杂志读者的微弱赞美似乎是一种打击。
For my part, I have no idea whether Gilbert is a great conductor or even a good one. To be sure, he performs an impressive variety of interesting compositions, but it is not necessary for me to visit Avery Fisher Hall, or anywhere else, to hear interesting orchestral music. All I have to do is to go to my CD shelf, or boot up my computer and download still more recorded music from iTunes.
对于我而言，我并不清楚Gilbert是否是一位伟大的作曲家，甚至我不知道他是否能称得上优秀。但是我能确定，他的确能表现出很多有趣的乐章，可我却没有去Avery Fisher Hall或者其他地方去听一场有趣的交响乐演出的必要。我只需要走到我的CD架前，或者启动我的计算机然后下载iTunesd里海量的音乐唱片就可以了。
Devoted concertgoers who reply that recordings are no substitute for live performance are missing the point. For the time, attention, and money of the art-loving public, classical instrumentalists must compete not only with opera houses, dance troupes, theater companies, and museums, but also with the recorded performances of the great classical musicians of the 20th century. There recordings are cheap, available everywhere, and very often much higher in artistic quality than today’s live performances; moreover, they can be “consumed” at a time and place of the listener’s choosing. The widespread availability of such recordings has thus brought about a crisis in the institution of the traditional classical concert.
那些说唱片不能够代替现场表演的音乐会忠实粉丝们搞错了重点。为了对得起那些喜爱艺术的市民们的时间、精力和金钱，古典音乐的演奏家们不但要与歌剧院，参加舞蹈团，演出公司和博物馆，也参与第二十世纪的伟大的古典音乐家唱片的演出。唱片很便宜，并且随处可得，通常情况下唱片的质量也比现场演奏要高得多；而且，听众可以随意选择时间地点来进行“消费”。这类唱片的普及导致古典音乐会的制度岌岌可危。
One possible response is for classical performers to program attractive new music that is not yet available on record. Gilbert’s own interest in new music has been widely noted: Alex Ross, a classical-music critic, has described him as a man who is capable of turning the Philharmonic into “a markedly different, more vibrant organization.” But what will be the nature of that difference? Merely expanding the orchestra’s repertoire will not be enough. If Gilbert and the Philharmonic are to succeed, they must first change the relationship between America’s oldest orchestra and the new audience it hops to attract.
面对此番情境，他们也许会采取吸收还未收录进唱片的新鲜音乐进入古典音乐演奏的节目中的办法。众所周知，Gilbert个人对新音乐兴味十足：古典音乐评论家Alex Ross形容他为一个可能把爱乐乐团变成一个“明显不同的，更具活力的组织”。但是其中差异的本质将会是什么呢？仅仅是乐团演奏曲目的扩大是不够的。如果Gilbert和爱乐乐团想要取得成功，他们首先必须要改变这美国最老的管弦乐乐团和它希望吸引来的新生代听众之间的关系。