Director Atom Egoyan is known for his work on films such as 'The Sweet Hereafter' and 'Chloe,' but the Armenian-Canadian filmmaker has also directed a number of stage productions. On July 26 his latest project, the Chinese opera 'Feng Yi TIng,' will open at the Lincoln Center Festival.
加拿大籍亚美尼亚裔导演阿托姆•伊戈扬（Atom Egoyan）凭借《意外的春天》（The Sweet Hereafter）和《克洛伊》（Chloe）等影片享誉盛名，不过他也执导过多部舞台剧。7月26日，他的最新作品──中国歌剧《凤仪亭》（Feng Yi Ting）──将亮相林肯中心艺术节（Lincoln Center Festival）。
'Feng Yi Ting' tells the true story of Diao Chan (played by Shen Tiemei), a Chinese courtesan caught in a rivalry between an aristocrat and his godson during the Han Dynasty. To visualize a score by composer Guo Wenjing, Mr. Egoyan employs shadow projections of Terracotta Warriors and the actors' faces. He also uses traditional shadow puppetry and animates the English and Chinese subtitles in dynamic ways.
Getty Images阿托姆•伊戈扬在林肯中心执导《凤仪亭》。《凤仪亭》讲述的是中国汉代歌妓貂蝉（沈铁梅饰演）周旋于贵族官僚董卓及其干儿子吕布之间的真实故事。为将作曲家郭文景的配乐视觉化，伊戈扬运用了兵马俑和演员面部的投影。他还用了传统的皮影手法，将中英文唱词用动态方式呈现出来。
'As an opera director, I never lose sight of the fact that my primary responsibility is to frame these supernatural voices,' said Mr. Egoyan, who worked with a translator on the Mandarin-language piece. 'That's the experience of opera, that's what we get thrilled by.'
伊戈扬在一名翻译的协助下导演这部中文歌剧。他说，作为一名歌剧导演，我从不会忘记这样一个事实，那就是我的主要责任是为这些天籁之音搭建构架；这些声音是歌剧的魅力所在，也是我们为之激动的东西。
With the Lincoln Center opening of 'Feng Yi Ting' three weeks away, Mr. Egoyan is already in Atlanta filming 'Devil's Knot,' a feature about the three Arkansas teenagers who were convicted of killing three boys in 1994, maintained their innocence, and were set free last year after agreeing to an Alford Plea.
距《凤仪亭》在林肯中心开演还有两周时间，伊戈扬目前在亚特兰大拍摄电影《魔鬼绳结》（Devil's Knot），该片讲述的是1994年阿肯色州一起真实的杀人案。三名青少年被控谋杀三名男孩，但他们坚称自己是无辜的，三人已于去年同意奥尔福德式认罪（Alford Plea，即被告声称自己是无辜的，但承认有足够证据证明自己有罪）后获释。
The 51-year-old Egyptian-born director spoke with the Journal from Atlanta recently.
这位生于埃及的51岁导演最近在亚特兰大接受了《华尔街日报》的采访。
Q: You've directed a number of operas, but a Chinese opera is unexpected.
《华尔街日报》：你导演过很多歌剧，但选择中国歌剧很让人意外。
A: Guo Wenjing's music is just so beautiful and complex. I was attracted to these long periods of music without text, so I thought that would really be something that could be visually treated, and was rare for an opera to have these spaces. I was attracted to this collision of old and new throughout the actual project. I thought it would be interesting to continue that through the visual eye, this clash of old and new through costume, through the use of old theater technology like shadow work, puppetry and digital wizardry.
伊戈扬：郭文景的配乐太美太复杂了。我被那些大段大段没有唱词的音乐所吸引，所以我觉得这些真的可以用视觉形式表现出来，歌剧有这么多没有唱词的间隙是很罕见的。贯穿整个剧的古今碰撞也吸引了我。我觉得在视觉效果上延续这种碰撞，通过服装，通过投影、皮影等传统戏剧效果技术以及数字技术的使用表现这种古今碰撞会非常有趣。
Q: How well does 'Feng Yi Ting' translate to Western audiences?
《华尔街日报》：西方观众对《凤仪亭》的反应如何？
A: The main experience with opera is the sung voice - the phenomenon of seeing a human being emit that sound. Unamplified, it's unworldly. This particular vocal technique with these two brilliant singers [Ms. Shen, a soprano, and tenor Jiang Qihu] is unlike anything we've heard in a Western context. The Western voice is grounded in a very different place from where these people are singing from. The music is wonderful and it's a very rich chromatic score using traditional ideas of Chinese music, using a pentatonic scale and certainly the vocal lines are very traditional.
伊戈扬：歌剧的魅力在于唱腔──观看一个人发出那种声音的体验。不用话筒放大，超凡脱俗。这两位优秀歌唱家（女高音沈铁梅和男高音江其虎）的这种特殊发声技巧和我们在西方歌剧中听到的完全不同。西式唱法和中国戏曲唱法的发声部位完全不同。配乐很棒，是非常丰富的采用传统中国音乐理念的半音音律，用的是五声音阶，而且演唱的部分也非常传统。

Q: You're now filming 'Devil's Knot,' a feature film about the West Memphis Three. Reportedly, securing the rights and attaching the real-life players to the project has been exceedingly difficult.
《华尔街日报》：你现在在拍《魔鬼绳结》，一部有关“西孟菲斯三人帮”的故事片。据说当时取得拍摄版权以及寻求当事人的合作都极其困难。
A: Yes, it has been very complicated. I think that ultimately what has emerged that I'm very happy about is that two of the West Memphis Three, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, are executive producers on this project. It gives them a chance to own some of their own story. I think that Damien [Echols, the third member] feels he has his own story to tell and I totally agree with him. I think there are many stories to tell - this is a piece of mythology now. But the very real fact is these three young men were in prison for 18 years and that to me is so shocking in and of itself. Our story is set very much in 1993, in what happened in West Memphis around the case.
伊戈扬：是的，确实非常复杂。我觉得最后让我很高兴的是，“西孟菲斯三人帮”中的其中两位，杰森•鲍尔温（Jason Baldwin）和杰西•米斯凯利（Jessie Misskelley），是这个片子的执行制片人。这给了他们呈现自己故事的机会。我认为达米恩（达米恩•埃克尔斯（Damien Echols），第三位成员）也会觉得他有自己的故事要讲，对此我完全认同。我觉得这其中会有很多的故事可讲──现在这已经成了一个神秘事件了。但最基本的事实是，这三个年轻人在监狱里待了18年，这太让我震惊了。我们的故事背景基本设定在1993年，围绕发生在西孟菲斯的这个事件展开。