首爾愛樂樂團內鬥醜聞繼續發酵

SEOUL, South Korea — When the respected Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra announced this month that it was canceling its United States tour set for April, it cited fiscal woes. Left unsaid were the lurid allegations of sexual harassment and financial improprieties that have rocked the orchestra recently, culminating in a police raid of its offices here.

韓國首爾——本月宣佈將取消原定於4月舉行的美國巡演時，受人尊敬的首爾愛樂樂團(Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra)給出的理由是經費困難。沒說出來的，是有關性騷擾和財務違規的駭人指控。相關指控最近讓樂團動盪不安，並導致警方突擊搜查它在這裏的辦公地。

The infighting is threatening to slow the progress that the orchestra has made since Myung-whun Chung, who has conducted many of the world’s major ensembles and is a towering cultural figure here, became its music director in 2005. Since then, as he has remade the orchestra, attendance has risen, international tours have been well reviewed and a contract with Deutsche Grammophon has allowed it to release a number of recordings.

這場內訌可能會放慢該樂團自鄭明勳(Myung-whun Chung)於2005年擔任音樂總監以來取得的進步。鄭明勳指揮過世界上的很多大樂團，是韓國文化界的重量級人物。自任職以來，鄭明勳重組了樂團，使得它的上座率增加，國際巡演取得好評，並與德意志留聲機公司(Deutsche Grammophon)簽訂了一份合同，得以發行大量唱片。

The first casualty of the chaos was a tour that was supposed to take it to Los Angeles; San Francisco; Seattle; Ann Arbor, Mich.; and Chicago in April. The orchestra said in a statement that a significant cut in tour funding from the City of Seoul had forced it to cancel. Mr. Chung said in a statement that he was “deeply saddened” by the decision. But the backstage troubles of the orchestra, whose appearance last year in London at the BBC Proms won praise, go back much further. They burst into public view in December, when an anonymous statement claiming to be from orchestra employees was sent to news organizations and called for the resignation of the president of the orchestra, Park Hyun-jung, claiming that she had abused women on the staff with insults, sometimes sexist, since she joined the organization in 2013.

混亂局面首先波及的，便是原定於4月在洛杉磯、舊金山、西雅圖、密歇根州安娜堡和芝加哥舉行的巡演。樂團發表聲明稱，首爾市政府大幅削減巡演資金迫使其取消相關計劃。鄭明勳則在另一份聲明中稱，他對這一決定“深感遺憾”。去年亮相倫敦BBC逍遙音樂會(BBC Proms)時，首爾愛樂樂團贏得讚譽。但其幕後的麻煩要回溯到更早的時候。去年12月，一封自稱出自樂團僱員之手的匿名信寄至新聞機構，問題旋即暴露在公衆面前。匿名信要求團長樸賢晶(Park Hyun-jung)下臺，宣稱自2013年加入樂團以來，樸賢晶一直辱罵女員工，還不時帶有性別歧視色彩。

Ms. Park defended herself, saying that while she might have used some rough language, she had simply been trying to jolt staff members out of complacency. She in turn raised questions about how public money was being spent by the orchestra, and charged that she had been the victim of a plot by Mr. Chung — saying that he saw her efforts to reform the organization as a challenge to his leadership and the perks he enjoyed.

樸賢晶爲自己辯護，表示儘管有時候可能使用了粗魯的語言，但她只是在努力讓樂團成員不要自滿。她轉而質疑樂團支出公款的方式，並控訴自己是鄭明勳設計的陰謀的受害者。她聲稱，在鄭明勳眼裏，自己改革樂團的種種努力挑戰了他享受的領導地位和好處。

Mr. Chung later said that he had spoken with city officials in Seoul about Ms. Park’s conduct at the orchestra. “My position is simple,” he was quoted as saying in December. “It’s a human rights violation.”

鄭明勳隨後表示，他同首爾市的官員談論過樸賢晶在樂團的所作所爲。“我的立場很簡單，”有報道在去年12月援引他的話說。“那是侵犯人權。”

Ms. Park resigned from the orchestra at the end of December. But officials in Seoul also began looking at Mr. Chung’s pay and perks, and in January city auditors raised questions about air travel that some of his relatives had taken, and about whether his outside appearances, including with the Vienna State Opera, had disrupted the Seoul Philharmonic’s schedule.

樸賢晶於去年12月底辭職，但首爾的官員也開始調查鄭明勳的薪水和補貼。今年1月，市級審計機構對他的一些行爲提出了質疑，包括他部分親屬的航空旅行，以及他與維也納國家歌劇院( Vienna State Opera)等外部機構的攜手亮相是否擾亂了首爾愛樂樂團的日程安排。

Mr. Chung comes from South Korea’s best-known musical family. He rose to prominence while playing in a trio with his sisters — the violinist Kyung-wha Chung and the cellist Myung-wha Chung — before embarking on an international conducting career. He has been paid more than $1 million a year by the orchestra, and defended himself and his pay at a news conference in January. He criticized city officials for failing to build a new concert hall for the orchestra and for cutting its budget, and warned that he would not agree to renew his contract at the Seoul Philharmonic unless it receives more resources.

鄭明勳來自韓國著名的音樂世家。通過與姐姐——小提琴家鄭京和(Kyung-wha Chung)與大提琴家鄭明和(Myung-wha Chung)——表演三重奏，他嶄露頭角，後來又在國際上開始了音樂指揮生涯。他在首爾愛樂樂團的年薪超過1百萬美元（約合620萬元人民幣）。今年1月，他召開新聞發佈會爲自己及薪酬進行了辯護。他批評市裏的官員不僅沒有爲樂團建造新的音樂廳，而且還削減了預算。他發出警告，除非首爾愛樂樂團獲得更多資源，否則他將拒絕與樂團續約。

“In the old days, people didn’t attend Seoul Philharmonic performances even if they were given free tickets,” he said at the news conference. “Now, those who invite foreign orchestras complain to me that they can’t do business because of the Seoul Philharmonic.”

“過去，人們即使有免費的票，也不來看首爾愛樂的演出，”他在新聞發佈會上說。“現在，邀請外國交響樂團來韓國演出的人向我抱怨，因爲首爾愛樂，他們的生意都沒法做了。”

He declined a request for an interview. Orchestra officials would not comment publicly on the recent events, citing pending investigations.

鄭明勳拒絕了本報記者的採訪請求。愛樂樂團的官員也不願公開評論近期的事件，理由是調查仍在進行當中。

“At the heart of this scandal is the clash of two gigantic egos,” said Lee Yong-il, a former conductor and an honorary chairman of the Korean Society for Music Education. “Chung thinks he is a world-class conductor and Park thinks she is an expert in management. This was a scandal waiting to happen because the two obviously did not respect each other.”

“這起醜聞的核心是兩個極其自負的人之間的矛盾，”韓國音樂教育協會的前指揮、榮譽主席李永一（Lee Yong-il，音）說。“鄭明勳認爲自己是一名世界級的指揮家，樸賢晶認爲自己是管理專家。這樁醜聞遲早要發生，因爲兩人明顯不把對方放在眼裏。”

The battles have made headlines in South Korea. An editorial at the liberal Hankyoreh newspaper recently decried the “mud-pit fight” at the orchestra, while the conservative Chosun Ilbo newspaper warned in an editorial that the squabbling would alienate audiences.

這些內鬥引發了韓國媒體的關注。自由派的《韓民族日報》(Hankyoreh)近期的一篇社論譴責了首爾愛樂樂團的“泥坑大戰”，而保守派的《朝鮮日報》(Chosun Ilbo)則在其社論中提醒，這些爭吵會疏遠觀衆。

The scandal took a new turn this month when the police raided the orchestra’s offices here and confiscated computer equipment, cellphones and a fax machine. The authorities were apparently investigating a claim by Ms. Park that the whistle-blowers at the orchestra had defamed her. (Defamation is a criminal offense in South Korea.)

這樁醜聞本月出現了新的動向：警方突訪了首爾愛樂樂團的辦公室，沒收了電腦設備、手機和一部傳真機。當局似乎在調查樸賢晶的指控，即樂團的告密者對她構成了誹謗。（誹謗在韓國屬刑事犯罪。）

A few days later the orchestra said that the American tour was being canceled because the Seoul Metropolitan Council would not allocate the money needed for the tour and corporate sponsors were not stepping in to help.

幾天之後，樂團宣佈，取消美國之行，因爲首爾市議會不願提供此行所需的資金，也沒有替代的企業贊助者伸出援手。

Recently, members of the orchestra issued a statement supporting Mr. Chung. They said the controversy had “spun out of control” and was damaging the ensemble’s hard-won international reputation, and accused critics of Mr. Chung and the orchestra of politicizing the scandal with damaging results.

最近，一些樂團成員發佈了一份支持鄭明勳的聲明。他們表示，這次的爭議已經“失控”，正在破壞樂團來之不易的國際聲譽。他們還指責，批評鄭明勳本人及樂團的那些人使得醜聞政治化，造成了破壞性的後果。

“An orchestra, which is a cultural and artistic entity, should not be interpreted or used with political and economic logic,” they said in the statement. “We hold deep trust in Maestro Chung’s musical capabilities and leadership in helping the Seoul Philharmonic win international recognition, as well as his contribution to the orchestra as its musical director.”

“一家樂團，是一個文化藝術實體，不應該以政治經濟邏輯加以解讀或利用，”他們在聲明中說。“我們非常信任鄭明勳大師幫助首爾愛樂樂團贏得國際認可的音樂才華和領導力，以及他作爲音樂總監對樂團的貢獻。”