Maestro (to James Levine)

Maestro
(To James Levine)
By Tatiana Pahlen

His supple hands, two graceful vessels,
glide in the air;
one holds the wand.
Guides the finest tuning
of an overture to a chord.

Maestro plucks out the sounds –
from left the strings; from right the brass.
One corner streams cellos and violins;
The other casts a double bass.

The magic wand commands an order –
More flutes join with clarinets,
earnest horns engage trombones
To spur tension in the orchestra pit.

A solo tuba against contrabassoons
agrees to produce an explosive flare.
All instruments in fitting succession
Toil together in unison controlled.

The curtains move and there is a castle.
Two vocalists appear on stage;
A baritone of Don Pasquale
Conspires in duet with Dr. Maletesta.

A cunning dottore plots an arrangement
luring an old man to a latent bride.
(He incites a playful widow
To lessen the miser by marrying the fool.)

Whose rebellious nephew, heir Ernesto,
rebuffed his order to wed his choice;
Deeply in love with winsome Norina,
Ernesto is banned from bequest and abode.

A heartfelt tenor of a despairing gent
Finds himself betrayed,
Sees his uncle’s matrimony
Prompt in the rush to punishment.

A sweet soprano easing the woe
Tells Ernesto that the scheme
was a mocking affair
To get hands on an inheritance
and take a bite of the Don’s wealth.

A few laughs
highlight the staging.
Singers exude a comic relief;
all players exuberant and enchanting,
The audience dangling from a cliff.

Maestro's hands turn to the Garden
where lovelorn Ernesto serenades;
his tenor merges with Norina’s soprano,
The lovers' kissing abruptly caught.

The violins weep
The trombones soar
Cellos and flutes follow the wand;
adjourned by horns
and contrabassoons,
The tuba silenced with a final bang.

The eyes now fixed on Don Pasquale,
Conductor’s head violently shakes;
We learn Don Pasquale is pleased to gather
His nephew involved with his wayward wife.

In dulcet culmination
He embraces the set-up;
the gleeful couple over the moon,
The old miser gives his blessing
and all concludes in a happy end.

The curtains down,
The acting over,
The beaming conductor bows left and right;
an ecstatic audience
breaking into applause —
“Bravo, Bravo,”
Maestro James Levine!