Johannes Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 1, Op. 25

勃拉姆斯《第一钢琴四重奏》（Op.25）

 Chamber music sometimes gets a bad rap. It doesn''t have the sheer power of orchestral music, nor the narrative aid of lyrics, nor is there a conductor with star appeal to give it a personality. Some people say it''s boring. It''s not.Like their jazz-playing cousins, chamber musicians need to be totally attuned to each other, and there''s no safety net. Each player is vital to the success of the performance. That energy is transmitted to the audience.

 室内乐有时候名声不太好。它并没有管弦乐的纯粹力量，因为它既没有叙述性歌词的辅助，也没有指挥家赋予它个性的感染力。有些人认为室内乐是乏味的，但其实并不是这样。如同与室内乐相似的爵士乐演奏，室内乐音乐家需要与彼此之间完全相协调，且没有防备不测的保障。每一位演奏者都是表演成功的关键，那样能量才能传送给听众。

Brahms''s chamber music — especially the works with piano — have great tunes and momentum that get you out of your seat. The fourth movement of his first piano quartet is a tour de force.

勃拉姆斯的室内乐——尤其是与钢琴相互合作的作品——有着美妙的音调和动能，使你听后想要离开你的座位。《第一钢琴四重奏》的第四乐章是精彩绝伦的一部分。

Frédéric Chopin: Nocturne in B-flat minor, Op. 9

肖邦《降b小调夜曲》（Op.9,No.1）

Experts agree, Chopin was the poet of the piano. Janina Fialkowska, one of the world''s leading Chopin pianists, says, ''There is no composer who wrote better for the instrument.'' Chopin spins such beautiful, singing melodies that pianist Anton Kuerti calls him ''the greatest opera composer who never wrote an opera.''

专家一致认为，肖邦是“钢琴诗人”。世界性肖邦钢琴家领头人Janina Fialkowska认为：“没有哪位作曲家能为钢琴写出如此美妙的作品。”肖邦讲述了如此美妙和歌唱性的旋律，以至于钢琴家Anton Kuerti称他为“从未写作一部歌剧的最伟大的歌剧作曲家。”

（译者注：Janina Fialkowaka，1957-，加拿大古典钢琴家。Anton Kuerti，1938-，加拿大钢琴家，音乐教师，作曲家，指挥家。）

If you have ever fallen in love, paddled a canoe on a lake by moonlight, gotten up early to watch the sunrise, eaten an oyster pulled fresh from the sea, cried during a film or had a baby wrap its fingers around your pinky, then you need to pay attention to Chopin. He understands you.

如果你曾一度坠入爱河，乘着月光在湖中划行一艘独木舟，早起欣赏了日出，吃了一只刚从海里捞起来的新鲜牡蛎，在整场影片中痛哭流涕过或是拥有了一个将他的手指缠绕着你小指的孩子，那么你需要欣赏肖邦，因为他懂你。

Georges Bizet: Carmen

比才《卡门》

Opera is not everyone''s cup of tea. As Will & Grace''s Will Truman said, ''I love the opera. Dressed up, hanging out with fabulous people, drinking champagne. If it weren''t for the damned music, it would be a perfect evening!''Jokes aside, everyone should know at least one opera, and there''s none crammed with greater arias, duets and ensembles than Bizet''s Carmen. The music is brilliant and it''s a great piece of theatre too.

并不是每个人都喜欢歌剧。正如《Will&Grace》中Will Truman所说的那样，“我喜欢歌剧。穿上盛装，与极妙的人儿闲逛，品着香槟。如果不是那可恶的音乐，这将会是一个完美的夜晚！”（译者注：《Will&Grace》，美国情景喜剧。Will Truman，剧中由Eric McCormack扮演的虚构的人物。） 别开玩笑了，每个人都应该知道至少一部歌剧，没有比比才的《卡门》更好的咏叹调、二重唱和重唱了。该音乐是杰出的，同时它也是伟大的戏剧。

The title role is a terrific vehicle for an accomplished singing actress. Carmen marches to the beat of her own drum. Uninterested in a monogamous relationship with the smitten soldier Don José, she prefers the bohemian life and no-strings-attached thing she''s got going with the bull fighter, Escamillo. As always in opera, this love triangle ends badly, but sounds beautiful along the way.

卡门这个角色对于一位技艺高超的女歌手来说，是一个极好的表达媒介。卡门随着她自己的鼓点行进，她对与着了迷的军士唐·何塞（Don Jose）之间一夫一妻制的关系并不感兴趣，她更喜欢放荡不羁的生活和毫无束缚的东西，并和斗牛士艾斯卡米洛（Escamillo）在一起。

Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30

理查德·施特劳斯《查拉图斯特拉如是说》

You already know its opening measures from the soundtrack to 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it''s worth familiarizing yourself with all 30 minutes of Strauss''s symphonic poem Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra).Strauss was an innovator who painted pictures with an orchestral palette unlike anyone who came before him. The symphonic poems he composed between 1880 and the outbreak of World War I were startlingly modern works.

也许你已经从2001年的原声带中知道它开头的几小节：《太空漫游》（A Space Odyssey），但令你自己去熟悉一下施特劳斯这首30分钟的交响诗《查拉图斯特拉如是说》（同为Thus Spake Zarathustra）是有所值的。施特劳斯不同于先于他之前的任何人，他是一位以管弦乐为调色板绘画的创新者。他于1880年和第一次世界大战爆发期间所创作的多部交响诗皆是令人震惊的现代作品。

You don''t really need to know all that in order to appreciate Also sprach Zarathustra, although it is helpful to understand that Strauss based his work on a novel of the same name by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. In it, Nietzsche introduces the notion of the übermensch, the heroic, self-mastered individual to whom humankind aspires.

为了欣赏《查拉图斯特拉如是说》，你无需去了解所有东西，不过了解了施特劳斯的这首作品是基于哲学家尼采的同名小说而作是十分有用的。在这部著作中，尼采介绍了人类渴望的“超人、英雄和自我意识”的概念。

If that all sounds a bit over the top, at least it explains the epic nature of the music. It''s a huge workout for any orchestra, and is probably as much fun to play as it is to hear.

如果这些听起来有点夸张的话，但它至少解释了这部音乐作品史诗般的本质。对于任何一个管弦乐队来说，这是一次巨大的锻炼，也许演奏它与聆听它一样有趣。

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor

拉赫玛尼诺夫《c小调第二钢琴协奏曲》

Concerto is an elegant name for a composition for instrumental soloist with orchestral accompaniment. There are many great concertos: Sibelius''s Violin Concerto, Dvorak''s Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky''s Piano Concerto are favourites among young musicians taking part in music competitions.

作为为器乐独奏和管弦乐伴奏而作的作品来说，协奏曲是一个优雅的名称。有许多杰出的协奏曲：西贝柳斯的小提琴协奏曲、德沃夏克的大提琴协奏曲以及柴可夫斯基的钢琴协奏曲等都是那些参加音乐比赛的年轻音乐家所喜爱的作品。

We recommend Rachmaninoff''s Piano Concerto No. 2 as a good place to start exploring the concerto repertoire. (Call it ''Rach 2'' and sound like a pro.) Rachmaninoff wrote this work around the same time Strauss penned Also sprach Zarathustra, but the two works are worlds apart.

我们推荐拉赫玛尼诺夫的《第二钢琴协奏曲》作为探索协奏曲全部曲目的一个好的起点。（译者注：称其为“拉2”，这听起来很专业。）拉赫玛尼诺夫写作这首作品与施特劳斯写作《查拉图斯特拉如是说》的时间差不多，但两部作品却是截然不同的。

Rachmaninoff''s music is unabashedly lush and tuneful, with lots of opportunities for the piano soloist to impress with powerful chords and dazzling finger work. The gorgeous theme of the slow second movement (12:25 in the video below) is one of history''s greatest melodies. Can you name the famous power ballad that borrowed it?

拉赫玛尼诺夫的音乐是不加掩饰地具有吸引力和优美悦耳的。对于许多钢琴独奏者来说，他们有许多机会利用强有力的和弦和令人眼花缭乱的指法给人留下深刻的印象。第二慢乐章的华丽主题是历史上最伟大的旋律之一。你能说出那首引用它的著名的歌谣的名字吗？