- I did say that before. And I repeated myself to make it very clear that your ruses do not work with someone who loves music more than anything.
- Aye, aye I cannot stand so much sentiment. You’re getting on my nerves!
- Very well, madam, state right now what you want of me.
- What I want? What I want?
The tone and volume of her voice rose with each syllable.
- To tell you the truth, I want you to be gone from here! But since that won’t be possible and since everything on this cursed night seems to conspiring against me, let’s do the following. You’ll be conducting the orchestra and the girl, right? So, you will only and exclusively conduct. Don’t dare to say one word to help your little protegée, If you open your mouth, you and the two of them lose. You will be my slave, too. What do you say? Do we have a deal? The same goes for that so-called choreographer over there.
With the impressive posture and dignity of a Maestro, the conductor looked deep into the eyes of the Fairy Queen of Easy Fame.
- My friend will stay out of this deal. As for me, I agree. I will not address a single word to Violet until the challenge is over.
While watching the argument between the Fairy Queen and the Maestro, Violet had to make a huge effort not to lose control and start screaming.
When the Fairy Queen and the Maestro seemed to have reached an agreement, Violet’s eyes searched for the Maestro’s. She could see affection and admiration in them. It was what the girl needed to recover her serenity and concentration for the big challenge.
Meanwhile, the Fairy Queen of Easy Fame interrupted again.
- What’s happening? Is this going to take much longer? Let’s get going.
- Madam Fairy, have a little patience, please. I’m trying to concentrate - retorted Violet.
- No! I’m tired of waiting. Patience clouds my beauty.
There was no way to delay more. The piano, as on the two previous occasions, produced strange vibrations and short melodies without any meaning. New scores appeared and the complexity of what had to be played grew even more.
It was an extended variation of a work that had premiered in the wonderful Théatre des Champs-Élysées, in Paris, in 1913, and had scandalized Parisian and European society in a hitherto unknown way.
Violet’s challenge had as its foundations and inspiration that musician who is considered the greatest musical genius of the 20th century, the Russian Igor Stravinsky. The complexity, the intensity, the inspiration and the beauty of the legacy of his work in the kingdom of the Blue Earth are indescribable.
Igor’s fame was greatly boosted by three ballets composed for the Balles Russes dance company: The Firebird, which premiered in 1910, Petrushka, in 1911 and The Rite of Spring, in 1913.
The Firebird, based on popular Russian folk tales, tells the story of a magician and a glittering Firebird, which could be both a blessing and a curse for whoever captured it. In the ballet, the Bird is captured by the hero prince, Ivan, just as he enters the kingdom of a cruel, immortal sorcerer, whose name in the story is Katschei. Because he has a good heart, Ivan is sensitive to the bird’s appeals to be set free. He frees it, and the bird then promises to help him when needed.
Then, prince Ivan meets thirteen princesses and falls in love with one of them. He decides to confront the powerful Katschei, who sends his diabolical creatures to dominate Ivan. The fight begins and Ivan loses. The Firebird appears to save Ivan, and forces Katschei’s servile creatures to dance the “Infernal Dance” until they fall asleep. Then, the Firebird kills Katschei, making a happy ending possible, for Prince Ivan and the princesses find their true loves and marry triumphally, while the Firebird bids them all goodbye in a resounding final apparition.
The music composed by Stravinsky for this ballet is beyond brilliant. There are no adjectives to describe it.
Petrushka was another landmark ballet, whose music, besides being divine, is disconcerting, just as the “disorder” in early contemporary dance was a landmark. When Petrushka premiered in Paris, it was directed by Sergei Diaghilev and choreographed by Michel Fokine and, in the role of the puppet brought to life by its owner, the Charlatan, the unforgettable genius, Vaslav Nijinsky.
The story is set in a square in Saint Petersburg during the Shrovetide Fair. The ballet presents two further characters: the ballerina Liurna and the Moor Omar. They are also puppets brought to life when the charlatan plays his flute. Petrushka falls in love with the ballerina, who flirts with him and the Moor, and is imprisoned by the Charlatan. The end, a tragic one with the death of Petrushka, and the context of the story associated with the indescribable symphonic discourse composed by Stravinsky, address unique thoughts and feelings about love, justice and the sense of freedom.
The Rite of Spring is a ballet in two acts which, at the time, was choreographed by
Vaslav Nijinsky. He was so boldly innovative, introducing jerky movements with folklore
elements, inspired by rock paintings and hieroglyphics, which drove the dancers to the
limit that the human body can achieve. Nijinsky’s choreography brought unique grace and
lightness, which were masked by a vision of the strong and brutish in a bygone era.
The ballet is in two acts: “Adoration of the Earth” and The Sacrifice”. The first act
presents a tribal community, their ritualistic adoration of the Earth and the power struggle in the tribe. In the second act, a young virgin is chosen to be offered to the gods, and dances herself to death.
With the Rite of Spring, Stravinsky’s music, already extremely revolutionary at the time, went beyond all possible limits for that era and customs at the moment of its composition. It addresses dark, ritualistic, sombre archetypes, as well as elements from daily life, employing a sonorous mass full of dissonant sounds and unusual rhythmic structures. In the composition, musicians and instruments are required to give their utmost and must surrender themselves entirely, or they will scarcely be worthy of playing it.
To listen to Stravinsky with due attention is to have an organic sensorial experience, and dive into unknown parts of our subconscious. Thus, it is always good to appreciate him, but with a sense of moderation, because his music contains strength and mysteries that the soul cannot always bear.
Violet barely knew him, but the little she did know, she loved. She was not yet able to understand him in any great depth and, therefore, had no way of realising the risks at that moment.
Before her and the other musicians, on the score pages of the extended version, the notes written in pentagrams were alive and in movement. They were not static, as in normal writing. They could be altered by some external will or on their own. However, what the Maestro soon noticed was that a perverse magic was controlling them. And so perverse was this magic that it could be materialized into real events. In other words, the symphonic poem rewritten each moment on the score would become reality.
The Maestro and his friend the Choreographer protested at once. This had no effect at all. The power of the magic of the Forces of Oppressive Music was extremely intense and on the side of the Fairy Queen of Easy Fame.
- The deal is mine. Hah! Hah! Hah! The deal is mine now. Idiots! Learn this: I always win!
A dark, semi-transparent mist created two tubular bubbles that isolated and separated the Maestro and the Choreographer from the others. The Maestro refused to conduct but, from the top of the mist bubble, a powerful, viscous light fell upon the nape of his neck and, forced by the will of the dark, he began to conduct.
An extended and macabre version of the Rite of Spring began. Without even realizing it, Stefanie was the principal ballerina. She would be the young virgin to be sacrificed on the heinous stage tyrannized by the Fairy Queen of Easy Fame.
The corps de ballet began to make involuntary movements, guided by a greater force. Stefanie knew nothing, but her heart sensed danger. Something was telling her there was no way to give up or fight against a great evil that was approa
ching. The saga of the main character of The Rite was now hers.
The dance began and her performance and expression were perfect. And the more perfect she was, the nearer she came to a tragic end.
Violet soon realised that the character’s anguish and suffering were, at each step of the dance and with each chord, becoming more and more real and dangerous for Stefanie. .
She thought of stopping at once and asking why the Maestro didn’t interrupt the performance. But it didn’t require much mental effort to find the unsavoury answer. They had fallen like utter fools into the Fairy Queen’s trap. Stopping the music would be the same as making a mistake, and this way they would all be condemned. Continuing, would be, in its turn, to condemn Stefanie to a macabre end.
Remorse would therefore be doing the dirty work of the Fairy Queen of Fame, who was already giving her worst smile of victory and disdain, while The Fairy Queen of the Death of Art merely observed the unfolding of the grim events.
Only with supreme effort and strength did the Maestro manage to shake off the viscous light that drove his movements. Bu now it was too late. He could no longer interrupt or protest. The challenge had begun and only at the end would he be free of the bubble imprisoning him.
It was also with his great willpower that part of the front of the bubble had disappeared and he was able to have unhampered visual communication with Violet. They looked at each other, maintaining the most profound silence. Violet and the Maestro were aware that breaking the silence between them would be considered defeat.
The orchestra’s performance of Stravinsky’s work was impeccable. The Maestro was conducing with vigour, but he purposely prolonged each movement as much as possible within an acceptable pace in an attempt to buy time.
Th Fairy Queen of Easy Fame soon perceived his strategy. As the piano and the score were under her influence, she produced another of her tricks. She did a manoeuvre that only someone with deep musical knowledge could notice. That score was the extended, free version of the Rite of Spring. Thus, with each cluster of bars, the notes re-arranged themselves and a new version of Stravinsky’s work was formed. The Maestro, the orchestra and Violet had no option but to perform it as it was re-presented.
Because of the Fairy Queen’s strategy, the ballet’s first act, without losing its unity, lasted half the normal time. The second act, the Sacrifice, was initiated without rest or pause, and was soon half-way through.
Stefanie’s legs were trembling and she leapt in jerky movements. She was becoming one of the best interpreters of the fantastic ballet; which was taking her to the epilogue of her short life.
From that moment on, there was not one being present who was not aware of the drama of the valiant ballerina who had offered herself as a volunteer in the noble, though imprudent, challenge.
The French horns echoed threateningly while the movements made by Stefanie, now trapped inside the circle of fire that had appeared on the stage, were increasingly vigorous in her leaps and twirls. Life was imitating art in the worst way. Her life would soon be taken from her.
The Maestro was trying to think and break the rest of the bubble that imprisoned him. The rats were celebrating along with their queen. The Fairy Queen of the Death of Art and the Wolf Heads were mere observers.
Concentrated and in panic, Violet kept on performing the music as it was presented on the score in front of the piano.
The epilogue was getting closer and closer and the intensity of Stefanie’s dancing, too. Violet decided that in the antepenultimate bar, before the ballerina’s death, she would make a mistake on purpose. Thus, at least, she would keep her friend company and would prevent her death. There was no hope in the face of death, but in the face of condemnation, yes. That was what she thought.
At that very moment, the Maestro, through his magnetism and will power, managed to break the bubble that was imprisoning him. Although he was trapped in the score pact, he had a brilliant idea.
It’s common for the works of a genius to have some form of meta uniqueness between their various compositions. The Maestro waited, like a tiger taking its time before striking its prey, for the moment when the fifth dominant note in a phrase of a musical discourse was about to be executed. Waiting and acting in this way in the Rite of Spring is almost impossible.
But that’s what he thought and that’s what he did. He couldn’t pre-empt or delay even one millionth of a second. The expression in his look told Violet he was planning something.
That was when the Rite reached its climax. When the final musical and ballet frenzy was under way, the moment and right note revealed themselves in the pre-moment of the imminent future. In that shortest broken syncopated instant of the concert, when Stefanie was near death, the Maestro stared fixedly at Violet, who understood him immediately. It was between a very short interval of percussion in rhythm with the wind instruments that the Maestro abruptly altered his conducting and the girl’s fingers slid over the keys, producing the initial chords of the ballet Petrushka.
For a few seconds, a blue-ish light shone from inside the piano. Violet actually closed her eyes partially, so as not to be dazzled, while her fingers, at the Maestro’s command, achieved the impossible.
The Maestro had succeeded in obtaining help from the Forces of Music that Desire Freedom. From far away, the Fairy Queen of Occidental Music had given him strength. The light went out and a new energy began to control the piano. The score for the ballet Petrushka materialized there so that Violet could perform it. The same thing happened to all members of the orchestra. There was no way that the Fairy Queen of Fame could declare a mistake.
In this version and arrangement, the opening of Petrushka had, as its main instruments, the piano and flutes. As in the previous performance, Stefanie and the others were compelled to live through and dance the work without resting. However, their spirits were completely different. A relieved Stefanie continued to give her best. Up to that moment, in this new ballet, she was just another extra. Her pressure on herself had diminished considerably.
It didn’t take long for the Fairy Queen of Easy Fame to notice the brilliant manoeuvre carried out by the Maestro. Surprised, but far from being irritated, she observed him with envy and admiration.
She muttered to herself:
- What a waste it is that I don’t have this pair! I don’t have them, but I will. What I want, I get.
She concentrated, calling from the depths of her fibre the magic that she commanded. A new luminous explosion occurred, coming out from inside the piano. This time, red and lilac rays glowed. She took back control of the piano, which, for its part, controlled all the scores. Although she couldn’t interrupt the flow of the music, she could still make use of the same strategies.
And so, she cast another demonic spell. She took a magic mirror from her dress and pointed it at her squire rat. It immediately became paralyzed. Only its bulging eyes moved from side to side, trying to understand what was happening.
After a short moment of tension, it began to grow until it was two metres tall. It turned into a human being, though a bizarre one because it still had the head and neck of a rat. But now it was wearing a magician’s robes. Having recovered its movements, it walked proudly towards the stage. After the rat’s transformation, the Fairy Queen threw her mirror above the stage, where it floated and grew. It finally stood upright, behind everyone, like an immense curtain. It was not a mirror of good. It triggered a lot of vanity in whoever looked in it. It was like a siren’s song in the form of luminous reflections.
Because of its size and position, it was difficult to avoid looking in it. One by one, the ballerinas, when passing on front of it, saw their reflection and lost all sense of the ridiculous, becoming vain in the extreme. Some began to dance in an exaggeratedly exhibitionist way. Others became falsely shy and shrank into the corners of the stage. They did this because they could no longer bear their own natural, imperfections.
In command and from the height of her bed, supported by rats
, the Fairy Queen was rejoicing at the exhibition of the ridiculous and the suffering of the timid.
The divine melody of the opening of the ballet Petrushka was advancing. Stefanie still hadn’t realized the danger and ended up going towards the mirror. Poor girl! When she saw herself, she felt she was more beautiful than ever. Just three measly seconds looking were enough for her to be transformed into the magician’s dancing puppet. And now the sorcerer was the rat, faithful squire of the Fairy Queen of Easy Fame. He had enough magic to bewitch her and imprison her in the tent that had formed behind the mirror. The notes were walking across the scores and the music became a dark, gloomy variation. The ballerinas who were still moving stopped and witnessed Stefanie being hypnotized by the sorcerer, being drawn to the mirror, where a door opened.
The Fairy Queen of Easy Fame cackled at her victory. At that cackling, Violet and the Maestro froze. The Fairy Queen’s thoughts were clear in her macabre laughter:
“They want to save her from the terrible imprisonment with my rat? Just make one mistake and she’ll be a submissive wife. How wonderful, see what a lovely little wife my rat is going to get. You’re not going to give up trying to save her from my rat’s teeth, are you?” Horror clouded Violet’s mind. She was ready to abandon her post and throw herself against the rat that was bewitching and kidnapping Stefanie to take her on tortuous paths.
But if the forces of darkness never give up, good never gives in. The Maestro used what magic he had in his power and all his musical knowledge. He managed to conduct his orchestra and Violet to a new musical leap. The piano shone with a blue-ish light and the leap was inside the very opening of the ballet Petrushka. The intrinsic magic and spirituality of good freed Stefanie, partially, from the spell of the magician rat. She was still the sorcerer’s puppet, but she was no longer under his command.
The ballet had become partially free, as the malign power of the mirror diminished. However, the dangers and traps hadn’t entirely disappeared.
This time, the Fairy Queen of Fame became furious. She shot a look at the public that would wither the most beautiful rose, and in less than two minutes, counter-attacked. She turned to her dressing table on her huge bed and pointed the mirror there towards the three dozen rats that made up her front column. They turned into bizarre ballet dancers. They leapt vigorously onto the stage, kicking the male dancers off.
The Rainbow Bridge and the Shadow of the Serpent: The Rainbow Bridge and the Shadow of the Serpent Page 8
