第十三篇 Stage Fright1

Fall down as you come onstage. That’s an odd trick. Not recommended. But it saved the pianist Vladimir Feltsman when he was a teenager back in Moscow. The veteran cellist Mstislav Rostropovich tripped him purposely to cure him of pre-performance panic,2 Mr. Feltsman said, “ All my fright was gone. I already fell. What else could happen?”

Today, music schools are addressing the problem of anxiety in classes that deal with performance techniques and career preparation. There are a variety of strategies that musicians can learn to fight stage fright and its symptoms: icy fingers, shaky limbs, racing heart, blank mind.3

Teachers and psychologists offer wide-ranging advice, from basics like learning pieces inside out,4 to mental discipline, such as visualizing a performance and taking steps to relax. Don’t deny that you’re jittery，they urge; some excitement is natural, even necessary for dynamic playing. And play in public often, simply for the experience.

Psychotherapist Diane Nichols suggests some strategies for the moments before performance, “Take two deep abdominal breaths, open up your shoulders, then smile,’’ she says. “And not one of these ‘please don’t kill me’ smiles. Then choose three friendly faces in the audience, people you would communicate with and make music to, and make eye contact with them.”She doesn’t want performers to think of the audience as a judge.

Extreme demands by mentors or parents are often at the root of stage fright，says Dorothy Delay, a well-known violin teacher. She tells other teachers to demand only what their students are able to achieve.

When Lynn Harrell was 20，he became the principal cellist of the Cleverland Orchestra, and he suffered extreme stage fright. “There were times when I got so nervous I was sure the audience could see my chest responding to the throbbing. It was just total panic. I came to a point where I thought,‘ If I have to go through this to play music, I think I’m going to look for another job.”5 Recovery, he said, involved developing humility-recognizing that whatever his talent, he was fallible，and that an imperfect concert was not a disaster.6

It is not only young artists who suffer, of course. The legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz’s nerves were famous. The great tenor Franco Corelli is another example. “They had to push him on stage,”Soprano Renata Scotto recalled.

Actually，success can make things worse. “In the beginning of your career, when you’re scared to death, nobody knows who you are, and they don’t have any expectations,”Soprano June Anderson said. “There’s less to lose. Later on, when you’re known, people are coming to see you, and they have certain expectations. You have a lot to lose.”

Anderson added，“I never stop being nervous until I’ve sung my last note.”

詞匯：

veteran / ?vet?r?n / adj.經驗豐富的

jittery / ?d??t?ri / adj.緊張不安的

mentor / ?men?t?: / n.指導者

soprano / s??prprɑ:n?? / n.女高音;女高音歌手

cellist/ ?t?el?st / n.大提琴演奏家

abdominal / ?b?d?m?n?l / adj.腹部的

fallible/ ?f?l?b?l / adj.易犯錯誤的

tenor /'ten?/ n.男高音

注釋：

1.Stage Fright：舞臺恐懼

2.The veteran cellist Mstislav Rostropovich tripped him purposely to cure him of pre-performance panic…資深大提琴家米提斯拉夫?羅斯特羅波維奇故意把他絆倒，因而治愈了他的上臺前的恐懼癥……cure somebody of illness (problem)：醫治好病(解決問題)

3.… its symptoms：icy fingers, shaky limbs, racing heart, blank mind…：……舞臺恐懼的癥狀有：手指冰涼、四肢顫抖、心跳加快和大腦一片空白……

4.Teachers and psychologists offer wide-ranging advice, from basics like learning pieces inside out…：老師和心理學家給出了方方面面的建議，從基礎的做法，比如詳細地學習曲目…… inside out：in great detail詳細地，從里到外地

5.I came to a point where I thought，‘If I have to go through this to play music, I think I’m going to look for another job’.：我曾經一度認為，如果演奏音樂就必須過怯場這一關的話，那我可能得換其他工作了。

6.Recovery, he said, involved developing humility-recognizing that whatever his talent, he was fallible, and that an imperfect concert was not a disaster.：他后來說，要克服恐懼重要的是學會謙遜，即認識到不論自己多有才，總有可能會失誤，一個有瑕疵的音樂會絕對不是世界末日。

練習：

1.Falling down onstage was not a good way for Vladimir Feltsman to deal with his stage fright.

A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

2.There are many signs of stage fright.

A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

3.Teachers and psychologists cannot help people with extreme -stage fright.

A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

4.To perform well on stage, you need to have some feelings of excitement.

A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

5.If you have stage fright, it's helpful to have friendly audience.

A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

6.Often people have stage fright because parents or teachers expect too much of them.

A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

7.Famous musicians never suffer from stage fright.

A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

答案與題解：

1.B　本文第一段講的是鋼琴家弗拉基米爾?菲茲曼被米提斯拉夫?羅斯特羅波維奇絆倒后，他的舞臺恐懼被治愈的經歷。

2.A　第二段的最后一句點出舞臺恐懼的諸多癥狀為：手指冰涼、四肢顫抖、心跳加快和大腦一片空白。

3.B　本文的第三、第四、第五和第六段都在講老師和心理學家為舞臺恐懼者提供全方位的建議。

4.A　依據第三段的倒數第二句：some excitement is natural, even necessary for dynamic playing.適度的興奮對于精彩演出是正常甚至是必要的。

5.C　第四段提到克服舞臺恐懼的方法之一是：在觀眾中選擇三位友好的面孔，與他們做眼光交流。而克服舞臺恐懼是否需要觀眾友好文中未提。

6.A　第五段講了舞臺恐懼的根源在于指導者或父母對表演者要求太高。extreme demands就是expect too much of them的意思。

7.B　第七段講的是：不只是年輕藝術家有舞臺恐懼，鋼琴家弗拉基米爾?霍洛維茨和男高音弗朗科?科萊里亦不能幸免。never一詞不恰當。

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（責任編輯：vstara）

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