令人厌恶的粗鲁的伴奏者

Performing for the great Henri Vieuxtemps wasn’t bad enough, violinist Leopold Auer had to put up with one of the worst accompanists imaginable—the wife of Vieuxtemps.[1]

It happened about 1859, when Auer was a student. Auer and his father went to visit Vieuxtemps and the violinist received them cordially, but his wife—who was also his accompanist—was icy. After some small talk[2] about his studies, Auer was allowed to take out his violin—not a very good one—and play. Madame Vieuxtemps sat down at the piano, looking bored. Auer had a nervous disposition as it was and he was trembling as he began to play Vieuxtemps’ “Fantasie Caprice.”[3]

Years later when he told the story, Auer couldn’t remember whether he had played well or not so well, but he remembered pouring his whole soul into each note even though his technique wasn’t the best. Vieuxtemps encouraged him with a friendly smile.

Suddenly, in the middle of the performance, Madame Vieuxtemps jumped up from the piano and began prowling[4] around the room, bending to the floor, looking underneath the furniture, and under the piano as if she had lost something.

Auer was at a complete loss. He stood open-mouthed, feeling as if he had been knocked from a bright pinnacle[5] by a fiery explosion from a pit. Even Vieuxtemps seemed amazed as he watched his wife scouring the room. Finally he asked her what she was doing.

“A cat or two must be hiding in the room,” she said, “meowing[6] in every key.”

When Auer realized that she was referring to his playing, he fainted. His father caught him before he fell to the floor. Vieuxtemps turned the entire debacle[7] into a joke, though, patted Auer on the cheek and told him everything would be all right. Leopold Auer went on to become one of the world’s great violinists, but he would never forget the setback he suffered at the age of fourteen.

能够为伟大的亨利• 维奥克斯腾普斯(比利时小提琴家——译者注)演出，应该不至于太糟吧，但小提琴家李奥坡• 奥尔却不得不忍气吞声，因为伴奏者——维奥克斯腾普斯妻子的粗鲁简直出乎他的想象。

这事儿大约发生在1859年，当时奥尔还是个学生。奥尔和他父亲去拜访小提琴家维奥克斯腾普斯，他很热情地接待了他们，但他的妻子——也是他的伴奏者却冷若冰霜。在闲谈了一阵奥尔的学业后，维奥克斯腾普斯让奥尔拿出小提琴演奏，奥尔那把小提琴质地并不太好。维奥克斯腾普斯夫人坐在钢琴旁，很不耐烦的样子。奥尔很紧张，颤抖着开始拉维奥克斯腾普斯的作品《幻想随想曲》。

多年后，当奥尔说起这段往事，他无法回忆起当时他到底拉得好不好，但他还记得，尽管他的技艺还不完美，却对每个音符都全神贯注。维奥克斯腾普斯微笑着鼓励他。

在演奏中，维奥克斯腾普斯夫人突然从钢琴旁跳起来，在房内东找西找。她弯下身去，朝家具下、钢琴下张望，好像她丢了什么东西。

奥尔大吃一惊，他站在那里目瞪口呆，就像在快乐的巅峰突然被地坑里的剧烈爆炸炸翻了。甚至当维奥克斯腾普斯看见他的夫人在房间里折腾个没完时，也大为惊讶。最后，他问她到底在干什么。

“一定有一两只猫藏在屋里哪儿了，”她说，“每个音符都是喵啊喵啊的。”

当奥尔意识到她是在对他的演奏含沙射影时，他昏厥了。父亲及时扶住了他他才没昏倒在地上。还是维奥克斯腾普斯出面，将这场灾难转变成一个笑话。他拍着奥尔的脸颊，告诉他没事，一切都会好起来的。李奥坡• 奥尔后来成为世界上最伟大的小提琴家之一，但他永远无法忘怀14岁时所遭受的挫折。