正文翻譯

Nannette Streicher has been marginalized by history, but she was one of Europe’s finest keyboard manufacturers.

蘭麗緹·施特賴歇被歷史忽略了，但她是歐洲最好的鍵盤樂(lè)器制造商之一。

With a warehouse that produced 50 to 65 grand pianos a year, Nannette Streicher’s firm was considered by many to be the finest in Vienna.

蘭麗緹·施特賴歇的公司被許多人認(rèn)為是維也納最好的公司，每年可生產(chǎn)50至65架大鋼琴。

The Morgan Library & Museum owns part of an original sketch of Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” Piano Sonata. In the margin, the British publisher Vincent Novello writes that the document was given to him by “Mrs. Streiker” — “one of Beethoven’s oldest and most sincere friends.”

摩根圖書館&博物館擁有貝多芬《為槌擊鍵琴而作的鋼琴奏鳴曲》（Hammerklavier）的部分草稿。英國(guó)出版商文森特·諾韋洛在頁(yè)邊空白處寫道，這份稿件是“弗朗索瓦夫人”交予他的——“貝多芬最真誠(chéng)交往最久的朋友之一?！?/p>

Born in Augsburg, Germany, in 1769, Nannette was the sixth child of Johann Andreas Stein, a renowned manufacturer who developed an innovative piano action, improving on the mechanism that causes the hammers to strike the strings. It became known as the “Viennese action.”

蘭麗緹1769年出生于德國(guó)的奧格斯堡，是著名鋼琴制造商約翰·安德里亞斯·施泰因的第六個(gè)孩子。施泰因發(fā)明了一種革新性的鋼琴琴膽，改進(jìn)了琴錘敲擊琴弦的機(jī)制。它被稱為“維也納琴膽”。

At 8, Nannette played in front of Mozart, who criticized her posture and grimacing, but admitted that she had “genius.” Two years later, she had mastered many of her father’s building techniques, earning a reputation as a mechanical wunderkind.

8歲時(shí)，蘭麗緹在莫扎特面前演奏，莫扎特批評(píng)她的姿態(tài)和鬼臉，但承認(rèn)她有“天賦”。兩年后，她掌握了父親的許多制作技術(shù)，贏得了機(jī)械神童的聲譽(yù)。

After her father’s death in 1792, Nannette, then 23 and recently married, transported the pianos by raft and set up the business in Vienna. She partnered with her 16-year-old brother, Matth?us, changing the company’s name from J.A. Stein to Geschwister (siblings) Stein. It was a time of rapid developments in piano design. With concerts moving beyond aristocratic salons into larger halls, manufacturers were under pressure to produce heavier, more resonant instruments.

1792年蘭麗緹的父親去世后，當(dāng)時(shí)23歲的蘭麗緹剛剛結(jié)婚，她用木筏把鋼琴運(yùn)到維也納，開始了自己的生意。她和16歲的弟弟馬特索斯合作，把公司的名字從“J.A.施泰因”改成了“施泰因姐弟”。那是一個(gè)鋼琴設(shè)計(jì)迅速發(fā)展的時(shí)代。隨著音樂(lè)會(huì)從貴族沙龍進(jìn)入更大的大廳，制造商們承受著生產(chǎn)更重、更有共鳴的樂(lè)器的壓力。

Beethoven, who had met Nannette in Augsburg years earlier, asked to borrow one of her pianos for a 1796 concert in Pressburg (now Bratislava). Writing to Andreas, Beethoven joked that it was too “good” for him, because he wanted the “freedom to create his own tone.” In a follow-up letter, he complained that the piano was still the least developed of all the instruments and that it sounded too much like a harp.

貝多芬?guī)啄昵霸趭W格斯堡見過(guò)蘭麗緹，1796年在普雷斯堡(現(xiàn)在的布拉迪斯拉發(fā))的音樂(lè)會(huì)上，他向蘭麗緹借了一架鋼琴。在寫給安德烈亞斯的信中，貝多芬開玩笑說(shuō)，這對(duì)他來(lái)說(shuō)太“好”了，因?yàn)樗搿白杂蓜?chuàng)作自己的音調(diào)”。在隨后的一封信中，他抱怨說(shuō)，鋼琴仍然是所有樂(lè)器中最落后的，聽起來(lái)太像豎琴了。

A keyboard made by the company inherited by Nannette and her brother Matth?us from their father.The Metropolitan Museum of Art

這是由蘭麗緹和她的兄弟馬特烏斯從父親那里繼承下來(lái)的公司生產(chǎn)的鋼琴。大都會(huì)藝術(shù)博物館

The comment was sadly prescient. Beethoven had just begun to notice a decline in his hearing, but had told no one. Though he would later need a louder instrument to compensate for his deafness, he was at this point mainly concerned with finding a piano that accommodated his dynamic extremes.

令人遺憾的是，這番評(píng)論頗有先見之明。貝多芬剛開始注意到他的聽力在下降，但沒(méi)有告訴任何人。雖然他后來(lái)需要更響亮的樂(lè)器來(lái)彌補(bǔ)他的失聰，但此時(shí)他主要關(guān)心的是找到一架能適應(yīng)他極富活力演奏風(fēng)格的鋼琴。

Nannette had already expanded her keyboards’ range from five octaves to six and a half, but she was slow to make other major alterations to her father’s original design. It was a stressful time. By 1802, she was the mother of two small children, and a 6-year-old son had recently died. She was also engaged in a dispute with her brother; the siblings eventually decided to dissolve the company and strike out separately.

蘭麗緹已經(jīng)將鋼琴的鍵盤從五個(gè)八度擴(kuò)展到六個(gè)半，但她在對(duì)父親的原始設(shè)計(jì)進(jìn)行其它重大修改時(shí)動(dòng)作遲緩。那段時(shí)間壓力很大。到1802年，她已經(jīng)是兩個(gè)孩子的母親了，一個(gè)6歲的兒子不久前剛夭折。她也和她的兄弟起了爭(zhēng)執(zhí)；兄弟倆最終決定解散公司，各干各的。

By 1809, Nannette had considerably reworked her father’s design, turning out some of the largest, loudest and sturdiest pianos in Vienna. With a warehouse that produced 50 to 65 grand pianos a year, the Streicher firm was considered by many to be the finest in the city.

到1809年，蘭麗緹對(duì)她父親的設(shè)計(jì)進(jìn)行了相當(dāng)大的修改，制作出維也納最大、最響、最堅(jiān)固的鋼琴。施特賴歇公司每年可生產(chǎn)50至65架三角鋼琴，被許多人認(rèn)為是該市最好的鋼琴公司。

In 1812, the Streichers built a 300-seat concert hall adjacent to their showroom; it was decorated with busts of well-known pianists, including a life mask of Beethoven by the sculptor Franz Klein. Concerts there, which attracted the likes of Archduke Rudolf, Beethoven and Andreas’s piano students, became a hub of Vienna’s musical life.

1812年，施特賴歇夫婦在他們的陳列室旁邊建造了一個(gè)能容納300人的音樂(lè)廳。大廳里裝飾著許多著名鋼琴家的半身像，包括雕塑家弗朗茨克萊因創(chuàng)作的貝多芬真人面具。那里的音樂(lè)會(huì)吸引了魯?shù)婪蚬?、貝多芬和安德烈亞斯的鋼琴學(xué)生，成為維也納音樂(lè)生活的中心。

Nannette added another job when, in August 1817, she agreed to manage Beethoven’s chaotic household. The composer was going through one of the many crises that marked his life. His hearing had worsened and he was in a creative slump. Having wrested control of his young nephew from his sister-in-law, he needed to give the appearance that he was providing the boy a good home.

1817年8月，蘭麗緹又多了份工作，她同意管理貝多芬混亂的家庭。這位作曲家正在經(jīng)歷他人生中的一個(gè)危機(jī)。他的聽力惡化了，創(chuàng)作力也陷入了低谷。他從他的嫂子那里奪取了他年輕侄子的控制權(quán)，他需要表現(xiàn)出他給這個(gè)男孩一個(gè)好家的樣子。從嫂子手中爭(zhēng)來(lái)了小侄子的監(jiān)護(hù)權(quán)，他需要給人一種他正在給這個(gè)男孩提供一個(gè)優(yōu)越家庭環(huán)境的印象。

Over the next 18 months, Beethoven wrote Nannette over 60 letters, ordering her to take care of his laundry, mend his socks and buy groceries, dusters and shoe polish. Increasingly paranoid, he was convinced that the “beastly” servants were out to rob and poison him, and that they were colluding with his “immoral” sister-in-law.

在接下來(lái)的18個(gè)月里，貝多芬給蘭麗緹寫了60多封信，命她幫他洗衣服、補(bǔ)襪子、買日用品、抹布和鞋油。他越來(lái)越偏執(zhí)狂，他確信那些“可惡的”仆人是要來(lái)?yè)尳俨⒍舅浪?，而且他們與他“淫蕩的”嫂子勾結(jié)。

Nannette agreed to manage Beethoven’s chaotic household when the composer was going through one of the many crises that marked his life.

蘭麗緹同意在貝多芬經(jīng)歷其人生危機(jī)之際，管理他混亂的家庭。

Beethoven’s relationship with her may have been his most successful with a woman. She wasn’t oblivious to his shortcomings, telling Vincent Novello, the publisher, that he was “avaricious and always mistrustful.” But by that point, the pianist and piano builder had known each other for over two decades; they had a connection, and were united in their devotion to the piano.

貝多芬與她的關(guān)系可能是他與女人關(guān)系中最成功的。她并沒(méi)有忽視他的缺點(diǎn)，她告訴出版商文森特·諾韋洛，他“貪得無(wú)厭，總是不信任別人”。但在那個(gè)時(shí)候，這位鋼琴家和鋼琴師已經(jīng)認(rèn)識(shí)了20多年；他們有一種默契，在對(duì)鋼琴的熱愛(ài)上是一致的。

By assuming his household duties, Nannette cleared the way for Beethoven to write his most ambitious piano sonata, the colossal “Hammerklavier.” It was longer and more difficult than any of his other piano works, ending with a wild fugue. It ushered in some of his greatest works: the “Missa Solemnis,” “Diabelli” Variations and Ninth Symphony. Though he was now using an English Broadwood piano, he confided to Nannette in a letter that the post-1809 Streicher had always been his favorite.

蘭麗緹承擔(dān)起他的家務(wù)，為貝多芬寫下他最雄心勃勃的鋼琴奏鳴曲——鴻篇巨制《為槌擊鍵琴而作的鋼琴奏鳴曲》掃清了道路。這首曲子比他其他的鋼琴作品都要長(zhǎng)，難度也更大，以一首狂野的賦格曲結(jié)束。他的一些最偉大的作品由此誕生:《莊嚴(yán)的彌散》、《迪亞貝利變奏曲》和《第九交響曲》。盡管他現(xiàn)在用的是一架英國(guó)的布羅德伍德鋼琴，但他在寫給蘭麗緹的一封信中透露，1809年后的“施特賴歇”牌鋼琴一直是他的最愛(ài)。

Nannette outlived Beethoven by five years, dying in 1833, at 64. The Streicher firm continued to thrive under her son, Johann Baptiste, and then her grandson, Emil, who built pianos for Brahms. When Emil retired, in 1896, the company closed.

蘭麗緹比貝多芬多活了五年，卒于1833年，享年64歲。在她兒子約翰·巴蒂斯特和為勃拉姆斯制造鋼琴的孫子埃米爾的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下，施特賴歇公司繼續(xù)蓬勃發(fā)展。1896年，當(dāng)埃米爾退休時(shí)，公司倒閉了。

A replica of an 1816 Nannette Streicher piano.

一架1816年蘭麗緹·施特賴歇鋼琴的復(fù)制品

That would seem to have been the end of Nannette’s legacy. But her instruments live on, in museums around the world and in the strong, nimble hands of women she inspired. In the mid-1960s, as Margaret Hood, an artist and calligrapher, raised two young children, she started making harpsichords. After doing research in Europe, she began specializing in reproductions of Streicher pianos, producing them in her Platteville, Wis., workshop. She was building an 1816 Streicher six-and-a-half-octave grand when she died, in 2008.

這似乎是蘭麗緹遺產(chǎn)的終結(jié)。但她的樂(lè)器流傳至今，在世界各地的博物館里，在她所激勵(lì)的女性強(qiáng)壯靈活的手中。20世紀(jì)60年代中期，藝術(shù)家和書法家瑪格麗特·胡德養(yǎng)育了兩個(gè)年幼的孩子，她開始制作羽管琴。在歐洲做了研究之后，她開始專門生產(chǎn)施特賴歇鋼琴的復(fù)制品，并在她位于威斯康星州的普拉特維爾的車間生產(chǎn)。2008年，她去世的時(shí)候，她正在建造一臺(tái)1816年的施特賴歇 6.5個(gè)八度的大鋼琴。

Anne Acker, who trained as a concert pianist before studying mathematics and computer science, met Ms. Hood in Wisconsin. They bonded over their love of music, and Ms. Hood became Ms. Acker’s mentor. While caring for her children, Ms. Acker began building and repairing harpsichords and antique pianos, and after her friend’s death, she purchased the reproduction Streicher from Ms. Hood’s husband.

安妮·阿克在學(xué)習(xí)數(shù)學(xué)和計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)之前，曾接受音樂(lè)會(huì)鋼琴師的培訓(xùn)，她在威斯康星州遇到胡德。兩人因?qū)σ魳?lè)的熱愛(ài)而結(jié)緣，胡德成了阿克的導(dǎo)師。在照顧孩子的同時(shí)，阿克開始建造和修理?yè)芟仪俸凸哦撉?。在朋友去世后，她從胡德的丈夫那里買了這架施特賴歇鋼琴的復(fù)制品。