THE FIRST TIME I SAW
JAAP VAN ZWEDEN 梵志登
The HK Phil’s music director Jaap van Zweden on the Maldives
WORKING WITH ORCHESTRAS,
much of my life is spent in cities: Hong Kong, New York, Amsterdam, Dallas. So when I do manage a rare break, I crave the opposite: a warm, tropical island.
This summer, my wife and I visited the Maldives. To go from the clustered skyrises and 24/7 energy of Hong Kong Island to the laidback, low-rise luxury of a Maldivian island felt like a true escape.
There are over 1,000 islands dotted across 26 atolls, each offering you your own little parcel of paradise in the vast Indian Ocean. Our nirvana came in the form of the One & Only Reethi Rah, an all-villa resort in the North Malé Atoll.
The rhythm of life here is very different. It’s like driving a slow car down a country lane: you observe more of the scenery, let your mind drift back to reflect on things and spend quality time talking and listening to each other. It makes for a very relaxing state of mind.
I spent my days studying musical scores, toes dug into the sand; my wife worked on her new book. We swam in the ocean, rode bikes and saw an enormous amount of sharks. We made plans for the year and for our charity, the Papageno Foundation, which provides music therapy for autistic children. When you have an autistic child, as we do, it takes a lot of time and energy, so this was the perfect chance to recharge.
I am definitely an island type of person, as is my wife, who was born in Haiti; whether that’s the buzzing city kind, like Hong Kong and Manhattan, or the remoteness of our new favourite spot in the Indian Ocean.
Jaap van Zweden is the music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, which performs Mahler’s Symphony No 7 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre over 16-17 November. hkphil.org 我與不同的管弦樂團合作，大部分時間都在城市裡生活，例如香港、紐約、阿姆斯特丹、達拉斯等。因此難得有假期時，我總希望離開城市，到一個溫暖的熱帶海島上度假。
今年夏天，我與太太一同造訪馬爾代夫。從摩天大樓林立、24小時都繁忙熱鬧的香港，前往一個人煙稀少、生活節奏悠閒的馬爾代夫小島度假，可以令人徹底擺脫煩囂，洗滌身心疲勞。
馬爾代夫位於遼闊的印度洋上，有26個環礁，數以千計的小島散佈其中，任何人都可以在這裡找到自己的一片樂土。而我們找到的人間天堂，就是位於北馬累環礁的瑞提拉島One & Only唯逸度假酒店。
這裡的生活節奏跟大城市有天壤之別，感覺就像在鄉間小路上駕車慢悠悠地前行：你可以盡情欣賞四周的風景，隨意思考各種事情，並且與家人談天說地，共度美好時光。這樣的生活令人心境亦變得輕鬆自在。
我坐在沙灘上研究樂譜，將腳趾埋進沙裡；我太太則埋頭在寫她的新書。我們一起在海洋中暢泳、騎單車，並在岸邊觀看大群的鯊魚游過。我們為自己成立的慈善團體帕帕堅奴基金會籌劃來年的活動，這個基金會為患自閉症的兒童提供音樂治療。如果你像我們一樣，家裡有患自閉症的兒女，就會明白照顧他們要花大量時間和精力。因此，在海島上度假是讓自己充電的大好機會。
無論我們身在香港或曼克頓等繁華熱鬧的城市，還是最近愛上的、位於印度洋上的偏遠之地，我和在海地出生的太太肯定都是對海島情有獨鍾的人。
梵志登是香港管弦樂團的音樂總監，樂團於11月16至17日在香港文化中心演奏馬勒的《第七交響曲》。hkphil.org