The second talk, by Professor Klaus Kaindl, complemented the first. It thematised the translation of opera and pop music as a process of movement and change: for example, adaptations that update details into modern settings. Particularly interesting was the point that texts are often also adapted in terms of genre – he gave the example of Tom Jones’ “Delilah”, which in German was translated into the “Schlager” genre:
There was plenty of interaction throughout the workshop. In John Lloyd Davies’ talk we had to stand up and sing words in our languages so we could appreciate some of the difficulties involved in translating opera (how to hold a note on a single word like “love” or “peace” if the word has two syllables in your language, for example?) and in Klaus Kaindl’s talk I was summoned on stage to give a bravura one-line performance as Leporello from Don Giovanni (fortunately, no singing was involved that time). We also worked in groups (very different from translators’ normal modus operandi!) to translate choral pieces – that were then performed live by a choir so we could witness first-hand what worked and what didn’t when our translations were actually performed. We also worked in groups to compare different language versions of “La Paloma” – in English, rendered in characteristic crooner style by Dean Martin (in German, a similar comparison might have been made between German and English performances of "Mack the Knife").
After a fascinating workshop, I am not planning to give up my day job and become a full-time musical translator (aside from anything else, I am probably far too tone-deaf). But it was very valuable to hear a variety of different perspectives on the translation process both from the speakers and the group participants, who brought a variety of different experiences and approaches to bear. And aside from that, it was fascinating to gain an insight into a world of music and musical translation I hadn’t previously been especially familiar with.