And thanks to everybody who had sent me those lovely reviews:I had a lot of fun writing this story and it makes me happy that you seem to have fun reading it... By the way, as chapter 14 will be a quite important one, I maintain the ransom, let's say, seven, it's not that difficult... (I know, I'm a bit mean at the moment, but it's also a way to get time to correct the upcoming chapters and writing the last ones!)
Thanx again for my prereaders!
Usual disclaimers here.
Innsbruck, Von Berg's villa, July 23rd 1919, afternoonShe was so happy! A delighted Maria was watching at the presents gathered in front of her.
"Happy birthday Maria!" they all said in chorus. Everybody was here. It was the happiest birthday she ever had. Of course, her Mani was there, smiling broadly. There were Ingrid and poor Stefan, her new friends Peter and Elisabeth. Max had come from Vienna for her too. Then, people she did not know had arrived two days before: big Ivan and his wife Svetlana along with her newest friend, Igor. There was also that skinny man named Isaac. He looked a bit strange but he was kind. Everybody was so kind to her and especially Mani...
"Can I open them now?" she asked tentatively.
"Of course you can ship-girl. It would be a waste to let them wrapped, wouldn't it?" he answered, ruffling her blond hair that Ingrid had arranged earlier in the morning.
She did not need another permission. Jumping with joy, she proceeded to open the presents one by one. She happily discovered a doll, a book of fairy tales by Grimm, a kite, a new blue dress and a big and sweet teddy bear. She was beaming.
"So, d'you like them, Maria?" inquired big Ivan raising a questioning eyebrow.
"Oh, yes! They're so beautiful! She answered with growing enthusiasm. She was about to go out with the kite, the other children following her, when Mani asked with mock severity:
"Aren't you forgetting something, ship-girl?"
Maria stopped on dead tracks, a bit ashamed. She turned back a little to face the adults gathered in the foyer, her face reddening with confusion. Then she ran to give a big kiss to each one, Georg getting a bigger one added to a bear hug. "Thank you everybody. And especially to you Mani!" With that, she ran to the park where the other children were waiting for her.
The group of friends watched her running past the open door, clearly amused by the scene.
"You lucky man," Svetlana said, playfully hitting Georg's head.
The children were finishing the birthday cake, chattering loudly about how well Mani and Ivan had made the kit fly earlier that day.
"My daddy is the strongest! You saw how well managed with the kite," Igor proudly kept on repeating much to Maria's displeasure. She did not agree at all because, to her mind, Mani was the best at everything he did... She was about to jump upon the boy to show him how much he was wrong when she heard the adults' conversation getting louder.
"Why don't you wanna sing, Mani? You're ashamed or what?" was asking Svetlana in a playful tone. "You sang so well the day of our wedding with Ivan..."
"I just don't want right now! That's all!" Georg was protesting energetically. "Just eat your piece of cake and leave me alone, will you?"
Ingrid, who had never lost an occasion to embarass her friend since their childhood, went on:
"Come on Figaro! Just a little song... Today is a day of celebration after all..."
"NO!" he answered back, wondering where those insufferable women got that stupid idea. Actually, it was as if this whole thing at the Naval Academy was really going to follow him till his death...
Flashback, Trieste spring 1914Last year, Georg had sworn never to do that again. Yet, here he was, waiting for the orchestra to finish the opening. Tonight, the cadets at the Naval Academy in Trieste were performing an opera like last year and the year before... In fact, there were two kinds of performances. The first evening was dedicated to a concert by the orchestra of the Academy. During his first years there, he had been part of the orchestra for he played flute quite well unfortunately. He quickly got tired of rehearsing Strauss' waltzes again and again. So he retired from the orchestra. However, old man Müzenberg seemingly did not seem to be happy with him doing nothing during his free time. So he made him enter in the "opera squad" as the cadets used to call them. Soon, Ivan, Stefan and Friedrich joined him much to their displeasure. The old man could be really persuading at times...
"What the hell am I doing here? I'm a sailor, not some bloody opera singer!" he whispered between his clenched teeth angrily. Well, it was not as if the commander had let him the final choice... He started. The opening was coming to its end. If he had not been so unnerved, he would have been able to enjoy that wonderful masterwork by Rossini. Last year, they had performed Figaro's Wedding by Mozart, and tonight, they were performing the "Barber of Sevilla" by Rossini. The first act had begun. Georg looked at the stage curiously, trying hard not to laugh. Friedrich was doing quite well in his dress and his high-pitched tone. Of course, there were no women at the Academy, so they had to manage with the female parts, and poor Friedrich von Stroheim had the misfortune of having a quite high-pitched voice... "After all, I'm luckier than him..." Georg thought with relief. Ivan called him urgently from the backstage:
"Hey Figaro! Get ready! It soon will be your turn!"
"Okay, okay," he mumbled, checking one last time if everything was all right with his costume. The first scene had ended, now it was up to him... Ivan pushed him playfully:
"And don't forget your lines!"
"Go to hell!"
The first notes of his part were sounding. "Come on Mani, it's not as difficult as sailing across the Horn after all..." he thought reassuringly. "Let's go!"
With that, a twenty-three-year-old Georg Von Trapp began to walk slowly to the cheep stage that wanted to represent the Santa Cruz neighbourhood in Sevilla.
"Lalalalela! Lalalalala!"
He appeared at last on the stage with a proud smile.
" Largo al factotum de la cita !"
After all, it was just a five-minute-long bad time...
Walking across the stage, he began to sing Figaro's proud exclamations...
"Con la donetta, lalalalalela !
Con il cavaliere, lalalalalalalalala, laa, laaaa, LAAAAAAAAAAAAA !"
Half of his torture had gone quite well. Now was coming the most difficult part...
"Che piascere! Ah che piascere! Per une barbiere di qualitta! Di qualitta !"he stated happily looking proudly at the audience, curtsing in a majestuous gesture.
" Ah la perruqua ! Presto la barba !"he sang, turning anxiously on the right, on the left.« Per carita ! Per carita ! Per carita! Uno a la volta! Uno a la volta ! Uno a la volta ! Per carita ! » he pleaded, joining his two hands in a praying gesture. He had to admit he quite liked that very expressing part.
" Figaro ?" He asked in a low voice.
"Soi qua!"he answered kindly, wavering on the left.
" Hey, pssitt, Figaro !!" He asked in a high-pitched tone.
"Soi qua!"he answered again, wavering on the right this time.
" Figaro qua ! Figaro la ! Figaro qua ! Figaro la"
The audience was laughing now. They seemed to enjoy themselves very much, as he was also beginning to... He walked to the end of the stage, looking at the audience, crossing his arms in a proud gesture.
" Ah bravo Figaro bravo bravissimo! Bravo Figaro bravo bravissimo!"
It was almost the end. Come on.
"Soi il factotum de la cita! Soi il factotum de la cita ! De la cita ! De la cita ! de la cita ! Deeeeeeeee laaaaaaaaa ciiiiiiitaaaaaaaaa !" He finished, facing the audience, his arms wide opened, his face beaming with pure joy. After all, he had to admit he was coming to like that... From the backstage, Ivan and Friedrich were calling him excitedly: "You did it, man!"
End flashback"Mani? Mani? Is that right you can sing so well?"
Maria's sweet voice woke him up from his reverie. He answered, taking her on his lap:
"You said?"
"I said, is it right that you sang operas when you were younger?" she asked again, quite annoyed he did not hear her on the first time.
"Yes, ship-girl, that's true. However, it was a long time ago, you know. I don't remember anymore," he protested softly, hoping that the girl's curiosity would be satisfied with that.
"Liar!" both Ingrid and Svetlana answered playfully.
Georg desperately looked at his friends, searching for help. However, Stefan was clearly silently enjoying himself in front of his friend misfortune, Ivan and Isaac tried to look as if they were paying no attention to the current discussion, hoping that the women would not remember they were quite good singers as well. As for Max, he was contemplating the scene with a broad smile, not ready to get him out of it at all! "Talkin' about friends!" Georg thought angrily. They were all letting him down...
"Please, Mani just one! It's my birthday!" Maria pleaded, cuddling against his chest. Hell! When she was looking at him in that way, he just couldn't refuse her anything!
"Okay, okay... But just one! If you're not satisfied enough, you always can ask to Ivan... He's quite good, you know, even if he doesn't seem to!" he answered with an annoyed smile.
"Hey, you! Don't make others suffer for your own problems, will you!" the tall Hungarian protested loudly.
"We said once we would share anything, remember?" Georg said ironically while standing up. After all, there were not that much people in that bloody room...
"Lalalalela! Lalalalala!"Life was not that bad, he had to admit.
Author's notes:
Making some poor cadets sing operas is not my idea, it's just a little and humble tribute to one of my favorites movie directors, the Russian Nikita Mikhalkov and his outstanding movie The Barber of Siberia. It's also a tribute for the leading actor Oleg Menshikov who sings operas very well and plays a magnificent Figaro in the movie (the only difference is that in that movie, they're playing Figaro's Wedding by Mozart whereas in the fic, they're playing The Barber of Sevilla by Rossini!)