Je T'aime.

XXX. The Opera

Night came as swiftly as Apollo could drive his chariot away from the sky. The court was in a frenzy trying to fit into carriages to take everyone to the opera house on such a short notice. For once, my younger siblings were in bed when the court went on some excursion. The youngest of my siblings that came along was Amalia, a girl of fourteen.

The darkness of night was cast over the palace and the city as Marianna, Liesl, Amalia and I climbed into a carriage, struggling to see in the dark. There was quite a bit of shuffling as four luxurious gowns were folded into the carriage.
   
Amalia glanced at her reflection in the window of the carriage and adjusted the feathers in her hair. "Are you nervous, Li-li?" Liesl asked, elbowing Amalia with a grin. "Your first big girl court function."
  
Amalia glanced over to our sister with an irritated glare that could have cut diamonds. "Yes, if you wouldn't elbow me and mess up my hair."
   
"Oh, come on. Lighten up. Maybe they'll be cute boys," Liesl squealed, excitement nearly beaming out of her bright blue eyes.
   
"You'd get a sideways glance from a gardener and you're satisfied," replied Amalia with a roll of her eyes. "As long as he's male, you don't care."
   
"Amalia! You're the only one who can crush on boys with me!" Liesl insisted. "God knows Marianna and Mimi aren't going to!"
   
"Whatever. You can scope out boyfriends, I'm going to watch the opera."
   
We came to the operatic theatre, a brilliant building that nearly glimmered in the night. We came out of the carriages and were immediately ushered into the lobby. Thousands of candles glimmered across perfectly polished marble. Conversation echoed against the dome ceiling, which was painted with the constellations of the stars.
   
I barely had time to admire the lobby before we were rushed into the theatre, taking the place in one of the box seats near the stage, high above the ground. The theatre itself was truly grand. Everything was either in red velvet or gold, and even the tiniest place had a carving of decoration. In the closest box to the stage I sat with my sisters, an empty place to my left and Marianna to my right. In the orchestra pit just below the stage, the orchestra was beginning to warm up. The sound of distressed violin notes and shuffling papers echoed throughout the entire theatre.
   
There was a sound of shuffling behind me. A green gown passed my vision, and soon Isabella sat next to me. "I love that gown, Christina, a very lovely color."
   
I looked over to her. Over a petticoat and stomacher of a rich cream, Isabella wore a gown of sage green with matching embossing. A collection of daisies, a rather nondescript flower for such a court occasion, were tucked into her gently powdered hair. But her gown seemed to make up for it. "Thank you. You look rather grandiose yourself." 
   
"Thanks," Isabella said with a smile. She turned around in her seat. "There you are, Joseph. Hurry up, it's about to start!"
   
Joseph came into the box and moved a chair over to sit next to his wife. I pulled out my hand-fan and began to direct air onto myself. "Rather stuffy in here, don't you think?"
   
Isabella followed suit. "Yes, though I wasn't going to say it outright."
   
Joseph sighed and crossed his legs, leaning back slightly in the chair. "I never liked the opera. Especially when it's a sudden performance. There aren't any windows in here. It's always stuffy."
   
"Really?" inquired Isabella, "I love the opera. You should see the opera house in Paris. It's the most beautiful place that I've ever seen in my life."
   
"Does it have windows?"
   
"Not in the audience, no."
   
"Then I doubt I could enjoy it, my dear."
   
Applause spread across the theatre as a white-haired man took his bow at the director's podium. "Is that the composer?" asked Isabella, leaning to whisper to me.
   
"Indeed, that's Herr Christoph Gluck," I replied. "He's the music teacher of my siblings and I."
   
The gas lights around the stage began to brighten, and servants put out the candles in the hall, darkening the theatre everywhere but the stage, which shimmered with light. "Shh, shh!" Isabella said cheerfully. "It's starting!"
   
The actors soon took the stage, Orfeo with his lyre and crown of laurels, accompanied by a band of sprites and spirits. The orchestra struck up a chord, and the opera began. I had always loved opera, and this was no different. By the first note that left Orfeo's lips, I was enchanted. And Isabella, gently fluttering her fan beside me, was just an added bonus.
   
The plot was fairly simple- Orfeo was a young musician who had found love in a nymph named Euridice, and he was heartbroken when she died suddenly of a snake bite. He was then instructed by love incarnate that he could travel to the underworld and retrieve her. In the underworld he was met by spirits and ghosts who performed a simply lovely number. It was so lovely, in fact, that I was startled by the curtains drawing for intermission. 
   
"By God," Isabella said as she rose from her seat. "Beautiful. Truly beautiful. Don't you think, Joseph?"
   
Joseph squinted as he stretched his back. "Very nice, yes," he glanced over at the next booth, full of laughing gentlemen. "If you do excuse me, I must go over and talk to the Duke of Bavaria and the Count of Palatine for just a few moments. A simple political matter, it won't take long."
   
"That's alright, Christina and I are going to stretch our legs for a little while," Isabella said as she took my hand. "Come on, Christina." As I departed from the box with the Princess, Liesl gave me a warm smile over her shoulder.
   
Isabella and I wove through the crowds of the finely dressed and highly noble, who hissed whispers to each other as we passed through. Isabella pressed open a door, and we went down a narrow stairway that spit out into the lobby of the theatre, which somehow was empty. The candlelight glimmered magnificently, and it almost looked better than Hofburg Palace. "It's so much more wonderful empty," I commented.
   
Isabella hopped off of the last stair and admired it with me. "It is, isn't it?"
   
From our right side, muffled singing came from a room attached to the lobby. It was just a simple scale, something to keep the pipes warmed up while sets and costumes were changed, but it was an incredible sound nonetheless. Isabella turned to me. "That must be Orfeo."
   
"Still singing for his Euridice. What a depressing plot."
   
"Singing and playing the harp for a girl that mellows in melancholy," Isabella said as she gave my hand a squeeze. "A bit like us, don't you think?"
  
"Oh, Isabella, you're not dead. You glimmer with life," I contradicted her.
   
Isabella glanced down to the floor, a smile slowly spreading across her face. "'Tis the harp-player that keeps me so."
  
"Then that's who we shall be for Joseph's masquerade. I'll be Orfeo, and you'll be Euridice."