Increasingly, China is promoting Western opera. Chinese conservatories train singers in the classic Italian and German repertoire. Western opera was harshly suppressed during the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76, and singers who train in Chinese opera, a style that can sound high and piercing to Western audiences, tend to have voices that aren't well-suited for Western arias. Today, many singers, like Changyong Liao, one of China's most popular opera singers, perform mainly in China.
(西方歌剧在中国的普及程度在增加,中国的音乐院校用经典的意大利和德文曲目训练声乐学生们。1966-76念期间,西方歌剧在中国受到严厉的压制,歌手们的训练都是以唱中国歌剧为主,而中国歌剧的演唱风格对西方听众来说一般都显得高亢刺耳,因此如此训练出来的嗓音不很适合演唱西方的咏叹调。现如今很多歌手,比如中国最受欢迎的歌剧演员之一廖昌永,主要都在中国演出。)
Edith Bers, chairwoman of the vocal department at Juilliard, says the native Mandarin speakers she's worked with seem well-suited to Western opera. They are exposed to different dialects which helps them form the sounds of new languages, she says. They harmonize Mandarin's four tones, an ability that "translates beautifully into the lyrical line found in Western opera," she says.
Chinese singers need to learn to form their vowels and consonants differently. Mandarin is formed at the back of the mouth, unlike Romance languages which are produced closer to the front, Ms. Bers says.
(朱丽娅音乐学院声乐系主任Edith Bers女士说,她共事过的那些以普通话为母语的同行,似乎都适合唱西方歌剧。他们在中国不同的方言环境中生活过,对他们掌握新语言的语音有帮助。他们能和谐使用普通话的四声,那种能力可以非常优美地转化为西方歌剧中的歌词线条。
Bers女士说,中国歌手们需要学会有区别地发出元音和辅音。普通话的发音一般在口腔后部,罗马语系与其不同,发音通常靠近口腔前部。)