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 the controlled unison.

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 into 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
of marriage was a mocking affair
To get hands on an inheritance
and take a bite of the Don’s wealth.

A few laughs
highlights the staging
Singers exhume a comic relief;
all players exuberant and enchanting,
The audience dangling on a cliff.

Maestro 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 is 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!