Yati

The music for this chapter: Spotify link

After joining back up with Axelle after her exam, we went around and watched several other performances as a group. Some were fine, but most lacked any depth. None however reached Axelle’s level. Even Axelle’s friends were an utter disappointment. I was wondering what they were even doing here if that was all they could muster. But Aleksei had said “They aren’t bad to become orchestra chaff. Not everyone is cut out to be a solo player. Some musicians can be honed as an instrument for the conductor. Your father was a master at sniffing those people out.”

It seemed that Aleksei could not stop talking about my father now that he knew my lineage. I focused on my breathing to keep my calm and did my best to just nod from time to time and just ignore him.

The time for Sara’s performance was getting closer and closer and when it was time for Nastya’s performance, it was time for Sara to get ready.

“Are you coming?” she asked expectantly. I did not mind accompanying her, but that privilege was normally reserved for her teacher.

“What about your actual teacher? Isn’t he here?”

“Didn't I tell you? I quit the academy more than a month ago. I told him I did not need him since you were doing a way better job. I filled out your name on all the papers as my teacher.”

I stood perplexed. For someone so shy, Sara could be quite bold. Poor teacher. That must have been a blow to his ego... Wasn’t that a bit exaggerated of Sara? She only visited me a couple of times and I did not actually teach her anything. She did it all herself. I just gave her a little push in the right direction each time that she got stuck. Well, at least that guy wasn't here to put unnecessary pressure on her like that time he told her she was not talented enough to take this exam.

When we arrived backstage, Nastya was tuning her instrument. Her focus was intense, so we did not bother her. There was a man fussing around her. I suppose he was her teacher, but she was just ignoring him with her usual aloof attitude while she applied rosin to her bow*.

When it was time for her performance, Sara and I wished her good luck. Nastya looked back at us and said “Luck has nothing to do with it. I will show you that the mathematical approach to music is vastly superior.” Her stride exuded her arrogance.

“What does she mean with mathematical approach?” Sara then whispered to me. That brought a smile to my face, and I replied, “You don't need to know. Never change.” Sara looked a bit confused at my reply.

The atmosphere in the big hall changed the second Nastya walked on the stage. This was clearly the moment everyone had been waiting for. I could see the tv-crew running around and shouting some orders nervously.

 The second she started playing, the difference from anything we had seen so far was pretty clear. The bar had just been raised tenfold. This was way above the level of what she played in the introduction video and was way beyond the level of what you would expect of anyone our age.

Nastya was playing Paganini’s* caprices. Without a doubt one of the most technically difficult pieces ever written for the violin. Paganini was even jailed at one time because his skill on the violin was said to be so high, that it could only have been achieved by selling his soul to the devil.

Even though she was giving a brilliant performance, I could feel she was still holding back, by playing everything as close to the original score and the intention musical historians give to it. It was nothing like our duet from earlier. Nothing of the vibrant playfulness was present.

Nevertheless, Nastya was capturing the heart of anyone listening to her with a solid performance nearing perfection. There wasn’t any remark that could be made.

Sara on the other hand was getting nervous again.

 “Why did I need to pick something technical too?”

“You’ve got your Poulenc too.” Well, that was rather technical too, but the way I made her approach it was at least musical.

“But I never played with the pianist they assigned to me. I do not even know who they are, except for their name: A. Hoekstra. They did not even bother to show up at our rehearsal, so I had to practice with the audio files they sent me. Who knows what they will do?”

That name immediately rang a bell.

  “Yes, I am sorry about missing that rehearsal. I was down with the flu on that day. But I promise you that I practiced it as well as I could with the recordings you sent me.” Axelle interrupted us. I had not even noticed she joined us.

“Y-You’re my accompanist? Why did you not tell me earlier?”

“You’d have wanted to practice, and I needed to focus on my own performance.”

That was rather selfish of her… But not that uncommon in this world. Nevertheless, I think I would have been angry beyond words, but Sara seemed to be powered up now that she knew Axelle would be the one to accompany her.

“I wonder if anyone will outperform her today. She’s next level.” Axelle then said about Nastya’s performance. Then she immediately turned to Sara “But don’t let that get to you. The jury also knows she already plays on a high professional level. You have to focus on your own music.”

But Sara wasn’t getting nervous again. She was still in her fight mode and said “You clearly haven’t heard Fleure play. She’ll show her alright. There is a reason Nastya says she is her rival!”

Suddenly all eyes in the backstage room were fixed on me and I noticed someone on the tv-crew immediately checking their schedule to make sure they filmed me too. They seemed to have picked up on the rival story.

When Nastya finished her last piece, even though the hall was at maximum half-filled, the applause was impressive and by the time Sara got on stage, you could see that everyone was still talking about Nastya. Breaking their concentration to get the crowd's focus on her, wasn’t going to be easy for Sara.

As Sara’s teacher, I walked up to the jury and presented a copy of her pieces for everyone, and to my surprise, the president of the jury for this hall was no one other than Frank. “Ahum, is it time for your student? Let us see what she makes of it.” He said amicably but at the same time, he was already studying the scores that were presented to him. The jury seemed interested in the fact that she had been trained by another candidate and made special note of that. I just hoped that exaggerating my role like this would not backfire for her. Frank then called out which pieces Sara would play, her age, and how long she was playing and named me as her teacher.

Mellow applause went through the crowd as Sara walked up the stage. I could see that she was nervous, but at the same time she was wearing that disarming smile of hers, immediately winning over a large part of the crowd.

I could hear people whisper about her age. She had the minimum age required to be here, so with a birthday in December, she was probably the youngest participant.

She started out with the very bright and joyful arrangement of Popper’s etudes that I made for her. Even though she was not at the level of Nastya, it was in stark contrast to what Nastya had brought and not immediately something someone would expect from a cello that is usually asked to play the more melancholic parts. Her bright smile remained on her face throughout the piece, and little by little, she managed to get the attention of the crowd. There were some small mistakes here and there, but just like I taught her, she perfectly covered them up, making it sound like she intended them that way.

After she finished the etudes, she brought her version of Poulenc’s cello sonata. This was something I wasn’t prepared for. The moment Axelle walked on the stage, the way she whispered something to Sara before moving to her piano. It was just as if Lise was there in front of me on the stage. But instead of supporting me, she was supporting Sara. I knew she wasn’t Lise, but my mind created a sting of jealousy that pierced through my chest, no matter how much I told myself she was not Lise.

The second Axelle started to play, my jealousy subsided though, because every note confirmed once again that she wasn’t and never could be Lise. Their performance gave me more and more determination for my own performance later. My chance to become reunited with the real Lise was finally here. The results of the contest could go to hell for all I cared. The only thing I worked toward was Lise.

When the performance was over, the large applause that ensued brought me out of my trance and I noticed Axelle and Sara bowing before leaving the stage. Frank gave me a wink and a big thumbs up. It seemed like she had done it.

I made my way backstage again, only to witness Nastya confronting Sara.

“Your performance was sloppy. You’ll need to become a lot more aware of the math in music and stay truer to the scores. But it was interesting. I’ll be keeping my eye on you, Sara.”

I could see that Axelle wanted to step in and defend Sara, but Sara overwhelmed Nastya with a hug and said, “Thank you!”

“What is this? I just said you played sloppily!” Nastya said shocked at the sudden way too close for comfort attention she was getting.

“I heard about how your family does things. If you are using my name, that means you acknowledged me and that is enough for me!”

Nastya started blushing and shouted, “The nerve!” Before stepping out. I am not sure if being so direct with Nastya was the right approach though. Axelle looked amazed at Sara and patted her head. Another pang of jealousy struck me, and I had to remind myself once again that Axelle wasn’t Lise. How long was this going to keep on happening? I needed to get a grip. Instead of being jealous, I should be happy to see that Sara had found another friend, but why did that friend need to be the spitting image of Lise?

Yati

Hi!

I hope everyone is doing well.

I wanted to let you all know that I joined the Yuri garden writing competition. Entries have been closed and it is time to read and vote. I am not allowed to say which story was mine, but I am sure you will manage to pick it out.  You will receive my eternal gratitude if you give me one of your votes too. Voting can be done here. 

The next chapter of Phantom Adagio will be up next Friday!