小瓊：秋天即将来临，美国表演艺术季又要隆重回归了！在经历了18个月的麻烦和不确定性之后，许多歌剧院与乐团正在重新开启工作，为公众献上安排周到而精彩的表演。
　　小薇：而这些形形色色的艺术团体的复苏新迹象中就包括美国最大的表演艺术组织——大都会歌剧院！
　　小琼：事实上，组织歌剧制作绝非易事，复杂的劳资谈判更是难上加难。但是，当大都会歌剧院在8月底与其管弦乐团工会达成协议后，就宣布在9月27日新演出季搬演特伦斯·布兰查德的《骨子里的烈火》之前，举行两场特别音乐会。
　　小薇：我看到，在9月4日和5日，大都会歌剧院的管弦乐队和合唱团在他们的音乐总监雅尼克·涅杰-瑟贡的指挥下，演奏了马勒的《第二交响曲》“复活”。
　　小琼：是的，当时我就在那里！这是林肯中心达姆罗施公园的一场户外表演，这是一场免费音乐会，人们通过在线注册登记取票资格。被系统随机幸运抽中的2500人可以参加音乐会（因为有两场演出，所以幸运儿共5000人）。令我兴奋的是，音乐会的独唱家中，有女高音方颖和女中音丹尼斯·格雷夫斯。
　　小薇：看到方颖能在世界各地歌剧院的大放异彩，这真是太棒了。这也让中国的音乐爱好者为我们的歌唱家在舞台上获得认可而感到自豪！
　　小琼：一些具体的统计数字，能让你看到9月4日的演唱会规模，是如何让我们想起“过去的美好时光”的。相当拥挤的舞台上有116名管弦乐队成员，以及独唱家和指挥。前面是由100人组成的合唱团，他们在最后的乐章中演唱。
　　小薇：我看到大都会歌剧院也在几天后用威尔第的《安魂曲》来纪念“9·11”恐怖袭击20周年，但这次的演出地点是在歌剧院内。
　　小琼：看到人们坐得如此近（当然是佩戴口罩的！），听到如此具有纪念意义的《安魂曲》，而且还通过公共电视向全美转播，真是令人激动！每一位参与者的艺术性都向我们指明了前进的道路：向观众传达的勇气和积极的能量也提供了一种巨大的宣泄渠道。马勒万岁！威尔第万岁！

　　Joan： Autumn is in the air and the American performing arts season is returning with a bang！ After 18 months of trouble and uncertainty， many companies are getting back to work and providing the public with thoughtful and wonderful performances.
　　Valery： And these new signs of life include none other than the largest performing arts organization in the United States—the Metropolitan Opera House！
　　Joan： Indeed， it’s never easy to organize opera productions. It’s even more difficult with complex labor negotiations. But once the Metropolitan Opera House reached an agreement with its orchestra union in late August， they announced two special concerts to take place before the season officially opens on September 27， with Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones.
　　Valery： I read that on September 4 and 5， the Metropolitan Opera House’s orchestra and chorus performed Mahler’s Second Symphony（“Resurrection”） under their Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
　　Joan： Yes， I was there！ It was an outdoor performance at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park， a free concert where people signed up for tickets in an online lottery. A lucky group of 2500 could attend each of two concerts. What made me so excited were the soloists， soprano Ying Fang along with mezzosoprano Denyce Graves.
　　Valery： It is so wonderful to see Ying Fang’s meteoric rise in opera houses around the world. It also makes Chinese music lovers proud that our singers are gaining recognition on the concert stage too！
　　Joan： Just to give you some statistics so you can see how the grand scale of September 4 reminds us of the “good old days，” the quite crowded stage had 116 orchestra members along with the soloists and conductor. In front was the 100-member chorus， which sang in the final movement.
　　Valery： I see the Metropolitan Opera also commemorated the September 11 attack a few days later with Verdi’s Requiem， but this time inside the opera house.
　　Joan： It was emotional to see people sitting so close to each other （masked， of course！） and hear such a monumental Requiem， which was also televised to the entire nation through public television. The artistry of everyone involved has shown us the way forward： the courage and the positive energy communicated to the audience also provided a great sense of catharsis. Viva Mahler， Viva Verdi！