BOOK II by Through the Alps PDF

Author:Through the Alps PDF
Format: epub

THROUGH THE ALPS bask in the heated train, and admire the luxurious paneling and the comfortable berths, Those boarding make in themselves a brilliant assembly but, especially tonight, a large crowd is gathered on the platform, throwing roses at a vibrant young woman. She is Caterina Cavollaro, the Italian soprano whom Veronique Lorien praised so highly, and her many Parisian admirers are seeing her off. She came off-stage at L Opéra little more than an hour ago, and now she is on her way to Teatro alla Scala, Milan's famous opera house, to perform the title role in Verdi's Aida. Signorina Cavollaro is still excited after the performance, and about her journey to her beloved Milan. She and her friends sit up in the salon car, drinking and laughing. The investigators may join them, and will be welcomed as if they were old friends. Some of the Express staff discretely hover about, at her invitation. Cavollaro's compartment proves to be next to the investigators. She speaks to them in glowing terms of the beauty and generosity of Milan. She promises to show them the city, to take them to “The Last Supper.” (What? No, no—Da Vinci's! And yes, the food is very good in Milan.”) She even insists on booking rooms for them at the most beautifully-situated hotel in the world, in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. 126 Miss Cavollaro AN Ara То REMEMBER At about two in the morning, Cavollaro sways to her feet, and says she will be back in a moment. Fifteen minutes later she sweeps in, dressed in a silver gown, eyes heavily darkened with mascara, with an ankh on a chain about her neck. She announces that she would like to sing them the aria she will be performing three nights from now. The gathering claps their hands in delight. This song is important to her, she says, because it was Aida she saw at Teatro alla Scala when she was five— her first opera. She was transfixed. Believing a tradition her grandmother told her of, she sang along with this aria, keeping in mind her fondest wish so that it might come true. She had entered La Scala that evening wanting a pony, but then the opera started and she knew she wanted to be a singer more. And so, she says laughing, for her, the opera has always been magical. The aria she is about to sing is “Ritorna Vincitor”. She explains that Aida is divided in loyalty between the man she loves, Radames, and her father Amonsro, who are the two opposing leaders in a great war between the Egyptians and the Ethiopians. She sings, the aria so clear and rich that the tone and the words etch into the investigators memories. Cavollaro explores the very limits of human song and the human soul. Horror on the Orient Express

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