Hye-jae: Book 2 - New Loves

New Lives Part 51

The venue for their concert was a stunner, even more mouth-watering on their return to perform, when the large amphitheatre with tiered seating was now lit from above by atmospheric lighting, setting off the effect of the multitude of long slim tubes of white light suspended from the ceiling.  The downward-sloping floor and the oval-shaped, proscenium stage gave the whole space the feeling of a mysterious, secret cave where magical events might take place.  

The audience were taking their seats with great caffufle and clamour and the performers could watch the build-up on screens in the artists' rooms, which built the excitement back-stage.  Ciara was high on adrenalin and the others were also very keyed up, even In-seo - usually quite implacable - looking tense.  

'1,500 seats and not one to spare,' Dieter muttered - more than once - which was probably less than helpful to his artists, if he had just thought it through.  Seon-jae was studying his music in a quiet corner, Hye-won having noticed before that this was a part of his preparation routine that seemed indispensable to him and she never disturbed him as he did this.  She had noticed that he always read over the whole score - however long it was - before a performance and when she had asked him about it, he told her that as he read, he heard the music play in his head and saw his hands playing the notes.  When she questioned where he learned the technique, he shrugged and just grinned.  So just a Seon-jae Special then.

Leaving Seon-jae to concentrate fully, she and Ciara spent some time talking through the song cycle they would perform together, concentrating on - as Ciara called them, the awkward bits - those parts of the score where the music took an unexpected turn or a new mood entered.  Not having performed in Stuttgart meant that Hye-won was feeling some anxiety and a thought occurred to her.  Baby, are you ok?  Is Mommy making you nervous?   She heard nothing of course but it made her take a moment to close her eyes and consciously breathe away some of her butterflies, remembering what Sabine had said about stress being toxic.  After a few moments, she felt herself begin to relax and realised that - even without her secret pleasure - this was a good technique that she should incorporate into her pre-performance routine, a little like Seon-jae's score-reading.

Opening her eyes with a feeling of calm running through her, she saw the very one she had just thought of crouched down in front of her, looking super tense and worried, but waiting for her to open her eyes so as not to startle her.  As soon as she did though, he took her hand: 'love, what's wrong?  Do you feel faint?  Maybe we need to think about this.'

She put her hand to his face, so close to hers, and gave him a special smile that set his heart singing.  In a low voice, only audible to his ears: 'we are absolutely fine, Seon-jae.  Please do not worry.  I promise that I will tell you if I feel in the least bit wobbly.'

His expression was so relieved, as he leaned into her and brought her into his arms, while leaning to her ear and whispering, tenderly: 'I love you...both.'

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Such an enormous venue was not easily filled but had an immense reputation for attracting the best international talent.  Concerts often showcased performers from all over the world, usually with an underlying theme to draw the evening's entertainment together.  That night's was Love, life and death - which was clever as so much music dealt with these universal themes - and allowed performers to choose a wide range of music, suiting all tastes.

Ciara and Hye-won had chosen to perform Frauenliebe und Leben - A Woman's Love and Life, with the connection to the Schumanns clear - Robert having composed the song cycle during the difficult times when Clara's father refused to allow them permission to marry.  When they had walked onto the enormous stage for rehearsal, the size of the concert hall had caused a tingle of fear to run up Hye-won's back but actually, that first experience steadied her now, as well as the fact that the stage lights were so extraordinarily bright that they really could have been performing to a dark empty cave, for all they could tell.