名人轶事:Isaac Stern

（单词翻译）

By Shelley Gollust

Broadcast: August 1, 2004

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Sarah Long.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA.

Today we tell about one of the world's greatest musicians, violinist Isaac

Stern.

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VOICE ONE:

Isaac Stern was more than a great violin player. He was one of the most

honored musicians in the world. He was an international cultural ambassador.

He was a major supporter of the arts in America and in other countries. He

was a teacher and activist¹.

Isaac Stern 
For more than sixty years, Mister Stern performed excellent music. He

performed in concerts around the world and on recordings³. He played with

major orchestras and in small groups. Here he plays Sergey Prokofiev's Violin

Concerto⁴, Opus Nineteen with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

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VOICE TWO:

Isaac Stern was born in Nineteen-Twenty in what is now Ukraine. His parents

moved to San Francisco, California the following year. His mother began

teaching Isaac the piano when he was six years old. He began taking violin

lessons after hearing a friend play the instrument.

Later, he began studying music at the San Francisco Conservatory⁵. He

progressed quickly. When he was sixteen, he played with the San Francisco

Symphony Orchestra. The next year, he performed in New York City and was

praised by music critics.

VOICE ONE:
During World War Two, Mister Stern played for thousands of American soldiers.

It was the first time many of them had heard classical music. After the war,

he was the first American violinist to perform in concert in the Soviet⁶

Union. Later, he declared that he would not perform there again until artists

had more freedom to leave the country.

Mister Stern had a strong connection to Israel. He supported young musicians

and cultural organizations there. He performed in Israel many times,

including during the Persian Gulf⁷ War in Nineteen-Ninety-One.#p#副标题#e#
VOICE TWO:

Isaac Stern 

Isaac Stern became one of the busiest musicians of his day. He played more

than one-hundred concerts a year. He also became one of the most recorded

musicians in history. This recording² is Ludwig van Beethoven's Romance in F-

Major, Opus Fifty. Mister Stern performs with the Franz Liszt Chamber⁸

Orchestra.

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VOICE ONE:

Carnegie Hall in New York City is one of the most famous places for the

performance of classical music. All of the world's best musicians have played

there. In Nineteen-Sixty, there were plans to tear down Carnegie Hall and

build a tall office building in its place. Mister Stern organized a committee

of citizens, politicians and artists to oppose the plan. He successfully led

the effort to save Carnegie Hall. Then he became president of the newly-

established Carnegie Hall Corporation. He held that office for forty years.

In recent years, he gave a series of classes for young musicians at Carnegie

Hall.

Isaac Stern also supported artistic⁹ development and freedom. He was an

advisor¹⁰ when the National Endowment for the Arts was established. This is the

government agency that supports the arts in America.

VOICE TWO:

In Nineteen-Seventy-Nine, Isaac Stern visited China. He met with Chinese

musicians and students. He taught them about classical Western music. His

visit was made into a film. It is called "From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in

China." It won an Academy Award for best documentary film.

Mister Stern loved to play music by many different composers. He found the

works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to be among the most difficult. Here he

plays Mozart's Adagio¹¹ for Violin and Orchestra with the Franz Liszt Chamber

Orchestra.

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VOICE ONE:

In Nineteen-Eighty-Four, Isaac Stern received the Kennedy Center Honors Award

for his gifts to American culture through music. He expressed his thoughts

about the part that music plays in life. He said he believed that music makes

life better for every one, especially children. He said music is an important

part of a civilized¹² life. He said people need music as much as they need

bread.

Mister Stern supported and guided younger classical musicians. They include

violinists Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, cellist¹³ Yo-Yo Ma, and pianist

Yefim Bronfman.

Isaac Stern died in Two-Thousand-One at the age of eighty-one. He was a major

influence on music in the Twentieth Century. He leaves the world richer with

his many recordings. This one is "Humoresque" by Antonin Dvorak performed

with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra.

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VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced

by Caty Weaver¹⁴. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Sarah Long. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA

program on the Voice of America.