"The spirit of the time..." "Time" "(Thunder)" "She's dead." "(He shouts) Holz!" "Echeverria!" "(Knocking / distant voices)" "Adolfo's... by the door." "I promise." "Come." "how was I?" "kiss me!" "(Sighs) madame?" "(Sighs) Lilies." "It has to be him again." "'Divine one." "Ever more tightly around our two souls draws the thread between your voice and my ear."'" "Emmanuel Droz."'" " You know what to do." " Yes." "The same as all the others." "He could at least change his florist." "why worry about it?" "I don't even know who the man is." "Quick!" "inside!" "(Sighs) Take me!" "(Gasps) Quick!" "(Clock chimes)" "Ritorno subito." "Ti juro." "Guardami." "(Cicadas chirrup)" "(Audience murmurs)" "(Orchestra tunes up)" "'Malvina.'" "'Nightingale.'" "'You will sing forever in my cage.'" "(Applause)" "(Applause)" "(Plucking)" "(Orchestra strikes up)" "(She sings in Italian)" "(She gasps)" "(Glass rattles)" "Don't move!" "(Hubbub)" "Halt!" "(Man shouts)" "She's dead." "Holz!" "Echeverria!" "She will never sing..." "to your music again." "(Gull screeches)" "(Birdsong)" "(Bird calls)" "(Water laps)" "'Malvina.'" "'My beautiful Lazarus.'" "'I've come to lift the stone.'" "'To raise your voice.'" "(Cicadas chirrup)" "(Birdsong)" "(Door opens)" "Malvina... everything's ready." "All that remains to be addressed is the tuning." "(Train whistle)" "'I'd received a letter." "It was signed "Doctor Emmanuel Droz".'" "I wish to obtain your services most urgently."'" "'I assure you that the work will be professionally stimulating and worthy of your skills."'" "'He promised me that one of his men would meet me at the station.'" "(Cicadas chirrup)" "it felt as though I'd been here before.'" "'But when and how I cannot say.'" "(Man shouts)" "(Crow caws)" "(Man speaks in foreign tongue)" "(Shouts in foreign tongue)" "(Speaks in foreign tongue)" "(Shouts)" "(Speaks)" "(Shouts)" "(Shouts)" " (Speaks) - (Shouts)" "(Shouts)" "(Man speaks gibberish)" "(Gull screeches)" "(Birdsong)" "Emmanuel... the piano tuner is here." "how many pianos does Doctor Droz have?" "Pianos?" "There are no pianos here." "But I'm sure the Doctor will give you his instructions himself tomorrow." "These are your quarters." "(Birdsong)" "Look." "Here we are." "There you are... and here I am." "And over there... are the gardeners." "And here now is the Doctor... approaching to welcome you to Villa Azucena." "Don Felisberto Fernandez the Piano Tuner of Earthquakes." "It's unlocked." "(Whistles)" "no pianos to tune.'" "'Has the Doctor brought me here under false pretences?" "'" "'And that fresco.'" "'Was it me stepping into a painting already painted?" "'" "(Speaks in a foreign tongue)" "(Cicadas chirrup)" "(Rhythmic tapping)" "(Tapping stops)" "(Distant murmuring)" "(Man grunts)" "(Howling)" " (Man grunts) - (All grunt)" " (Man grunts) - (All grunt)" "(Distorted singing in the distance)" "(Cicadas chirrup)" "Assumpta the housekeeper escorted me to meet Doctor Droz.' do you believe in dreams?" "I do." "And?" "Someone once told me that certain signs in dreams could no more explain a dream than the postman's knock could explain what's... what's in a letter." "Oh." "I suppose that would certainly depend on how hard the postman knocked." "And for how long." "(Laughs) and it was of you." "I dreamt dogs were chasing me through the estate." "We ran and ran down rows of trees." "the more excited the dogs became." "Their noses were at my heels." "And suddenly I stopped." "But the dogs all ran past and nothing happened." "I..." "I was... totally devastated." "Then I looked behind me... and you were standing there..." "Asleep... with a handkerchief in your mouth. but only saliva dribbled out." "why did you have a handkerchief in your mouth?" "(Bird screeches)" "well. (laughs)" "Why would anyone sleep with a handkerchief in their mouth anyway?" "here we are." "And here's Doctor Droz." "The piano tuner." "And here the last of the replies to your invitation." "They have all accepted." "excellent." "Excellent." " (Man) Doctor." "Doctor." "Doctor." "Echeverria's gone missing." "er..." "later." "(Clicks fingers)" "Fernandez Felisberto at..." "'The Doctor then led me to the first automaton.'" "Feel that." "Water." "All my automata function by hydraulics." "you're not blind?" "I'm not blind. are no less sensitive for my being sighted. anyway." "I've given you automata instead." "In these machines Mr Felisberto is contained the Dream." "That of music." "The most rational irrationality of all." "Droz... am the heart." "Mr Felisberto." "And all this..." "dependent upon nature." "'The Doctor told me that there are seven automata in total.'" "'And that there was very little time left... '" "Before the final performance." " Final performance?" " Unique." "Timed for a very special hour." "And... with very special guests." "I'm sure you will understand the urgency of my request." "not pianos.'" "'I accepted the challenge.' bear in mind... but delicate and precious instruments.'" "'And that I was to pay special attention to their musical and sound qualities.'" "Please." "'He then presented me with a set of special tools.'" "I bid you good day." "(Cicadas chirrup)" "(Gull screeches)" "(Whistles)" "(Droz) Echeverria!" "(Droz) I'll find you!" "(Droz) Echeverria!" "(Cicadas chirrup)" "Adolfo." "Is that you?" "(Gull screeches)" "(Man shouts)" "(Cicadas chirrup)" "piano tuner?" "Smell the gums of conifers." "Shut your eyes... and listen." "Mr Fernandez?" "This one?" "Or that one?" "The last one." "Mr Fernandez." "Yes." "I..." ""The forest inside the forest." "I was certain you'd lose your way." "Not while my senses are being so well explored." "Who is Doctor Droz?" " Who is Doctor Droz?" " Yes." "He's a forest no one can inhabit." "is it?" "Doctor Droz is what they call an alienist... a healer of broken minds. a man of science whose great passion is music." "But that's the official version." "And the unofficial?" "I'm his living writing paper." "And this place?" "It's an asylum. for those who have undergone the most fatal of traumas." "we call them the gardeners. have been given back to themselves." "Mr Fernandez." "you get used to the confusion. what appeared to be the ruins of a baroque grotto.'" "Mr Felisberto?" "isn't it?" "Do you think it was planned?" "No." "1755." "It was the earthquake in Lisbon." "(Droz) And the tremors were felt as far as Salamanca." "Mr Felisberto?" "It's my only gift." "I can hear anything between a sneeze and infinity." "No doubt you come from a long line of piano tuners." "we Fernandezes have never had children." "Then... how were you born?" "Doctor... that's the secret of our sainted mothers." "'It seemed the Doctor and I had reached an understanding.'" "So we have destiny to thank for permitting us to be what we will become to each other." "(Man shouts in a foreign tongue)" "(Shouting continues)" "(Cicadas chirrup)" "(Man shouts in a foreign tongue)" "'End of my first day at the Villa Azucena.'" "I have entirely retuned the first automaton.'" "'The Doctor was right when he admitted that he failed to predict the effects of the sea air upon his machines.'" "I was close to fainting from repeatedly holding my breath while I scraped an almost microscopic mould off the most intricate flywheel imaginable.'" "'The Doctor's constructs are almost frightening in their subtlety.'" "'The machine revealed a little row of singing teeth that miraculously still retain their pitch.' but I'm certainly enjoying the privilege of working on these mechanical marvels.' but I still cannot quite see their purpose.'" "And was that singing I heard last night?" "(Speaks Spanish)" "(Speaks Spanish)" "(Speaks Spanish)" "(Earring tinkles)" "You play the black keys and I'll sing the white." "(She stomps)" "(She speaks Spanish)" "(Stomps / speaks Spanish)" " (Droz) I think of you..." " (she speaks Spanish) shivering in a stormy sky. which are plunged into the quivering matter of life itself." "(Stomps / speaks Spanish) as if drawn by the gulf of the heights." "(Speaks Spanish) as the wind stirs the leaves along its backbone as my fingernails mount the tender furrows of your back... (whispers in Spanish) ...from the dampness of your thighs... (she moans)" "...to the nape... of your neck." "(She sighs)" "(She sighs)" "(Distorted singing in the distance) I'm thinking that I was a little out of my depth.'" "(Tapping)" "(Sighs)" "Here is the ormolu magnet you asked for." "The Doctor told me to tell you that under no account were you to let the echoes slip behind the vibrating plates." "And that you should remove your thumb first." "And that you'd know what he meant by that." "(Sighs)" "Was that singing I heard last night?" "Mr Fernandez." "Or maybe I was dreaming." "(Sighs)" "Well... it was certainly beautiful." "(Fork vibrates)" "(Rumbling)" "(Banging)" "(Banging)" "(Banging)" "(Banging intensifies)" "Malvina!" "(Cicadas chirrup)" "(He sighs)" "(Footsteps)" "(Woman sings in the distance)" "(Woman sings operatically)" "(Cracking)" "(Footsteps)" "Malvina." "Malvina!" "There is a voice." "I saw her last night." "you mean the Emperor's Canary." "Madame van Stille." "The singer." " Do you know her?" " No." "Hmm." "Well... (sighs)" "The Doctor says she has had a severe trauma and needs complete calm and seclusion." "all I know is that the Doctor is helping her to readapt to the stage." "but how do you believe he goes about such a thing?" " The Doctor's method for her?" " Hmm." "This I don't know." "But he does have an expert knowledge of the electricity in women." "er... does this include you?" " (Fork vibrates) the Doctor's passions are like the rays of the sun when they are caught in a magnifying glass and they immediately set fire to whatever object they find in their way." "And you?" "Did you catch fire?" "yes." "But then the fire eventually burns itself out and... and you just learn how to smoulder." "Mr Fernandez?" "Enough." "I should leave you..." "with the Doctor's toys." "Doctor...!" "(Cicadas chirrup)" "'I went looking for the Doctor and found his mysterious patient instead.'" "Madame." "Madame?" "Madame?" "Adolfo?" "(Softly) I'm sorry." "I didn't mean to disturb you." "the piano tuner." "It's beautiful here." "I wanted to tell you about myself." "I come from over there." "I must leave now." "(Softly) Goodbye." "(Cicadas chirrup)" "Doctor." "Good morning." "This part." "(Laughs) only... rust." "Mr Felisberto?" "It's an ant that lives in the Cameroonian rainforests." "which from time to time becomes infected through inhaling the microscopic spore of a fungus that rains down from the trees above and lodges in its tiny brain..." "where it starts to grow." "this ant is driven to leave the forest floor and starts to climb up the stems of ferns and creepers till it reaches some seemingly pre-determined height." "it clamps its mandibles onto the plant and waits there until it dies." "eating the dead creature's brain and infiltrating its entire nervous system. it excretes a sort of spike through the remains of the insect's head. raining down for the next unsuspecting floor-foraging ant." "(Sighs)" "(Whistles)" "(Cicadas chirrup)" "(Knocking)" "'Three days have passed already.'" "'Nothing is as it seems.'" "'The Doctor's insect story... yet singing so beautifully.'" "'And the strange dreams that come to me in the night.'" "'Perhaps even these automata are not what they pretend to be.'" "(Whistles)" "(Bird calls)" "piano tuner?" "I wouldn't be if I had a shoelace." "do you? is still hanging outside." "you probably weren't paying attention." "where do you think my tongue is now?" "follows me." "(Chuckles softly)" "Mr Felisberto?" "no." "On the contrary..." "I'm totally absorbed." "It feels like I'm living in someone else's imagination." "Has she shown you her tongue yet?" "(Laughs)" "Mr Felisberto?" "(laughs)" "I needn't ask if we are on schedule?" "Doctor." "I thought as much." "are you preparing another automaton?" "yes." "Is it an opera?" "(Laughs) Let's just say it's my own small contribution to the operatic canon." "Then that would explain the voice I've heard at night." "to you." "I have not been to for that voice." "And now it's here." "There is where I hear it from." "What a beautiful soul it must take to produce a voice like that." "Mr Felisberto?" "(Distant shouting)" "(Sighs) There's a big word." "Ah." "How you compliment me." " My every instinct." " (Distant shouting)" "The fourth machine is awaiting you." "There's not much time." "(Distant shouting)" "(Shouting)" "(Shouts)" "(Cicadas chirrup)" "(Crow caws)" "(Cicadas chirrup)" "(Thunder)" "(She gasps)" " (Cicadas chirrup) - (She sighs) the piano tuner." "Be quiet so I can hear." "(Cicadas chirrup)" "(Softly) Adolfo." "the guests." "Tomorrow we marry." "Everyone can hear it in my voice." "he..." "I'm sure the Doctor has your best interests at heart." "They say it's bad luck to look at each other on the eve of your wedding." "(Felisberto) But that's just superstition." "his eyes..." "The Doctor..." "His eyes... burning me." "(Gasps)" "I was singing and then... and then I turned towards you." "Towards me?" "And the walls slid away." "And then?" "I'm neither in this world nor the next." "Tell me... who I am." "Tell me if I'm me." "(Waves lap)" "The singer." "I saw the piano tuner with the singer... on the bench." "She called him Adolfo." "And did he answer?" "being called Adolfo." "Adolfo!" "Do you think Adolfo's his middle name?" "Don Felisberto Adolfo Fernandez." "Adolfo Carino. (gasps)" "No?" " I wonder if he can sing." " I think not." "Then he could whistle." "What might he whistle then?" "he could whistle a tango." "With all that facial excreta and ecstatic nose bleeds!" "I think not." "Assumpta." "Oh." "I already have one." "I've always had one Emmanuel." "Of course." "The illustrious whore." "Whose garments are wiped clean by the epileptic's saliva." "Emmanuel." "Last year." "You're forgetting." "needing... fresh leather?" "(Distant shouting) Assumpta!" "(Distant shouting)" "the gardeners' shouts led me to another automaton.'" "'Malvina.' she held my hand.'" "'But she called me someone else's name.'" "(Assumpta) 'ls that why she's here?" "' and then she tried to take her own life?" "'" "(Whistling)" "Mr Felisberto?" "I've been here..." "I must draw your attention to the fact that the woman with whom you were seen trying to engage in conversation yesterday is a patient of mine." "The lady has suffered a grave illness. terminal." "you will kindly desist from importuning her any further." " Importuning?" "That's the last..." " Have I made myself clear?" "Good." "the Doctor invited me to play a small but special role in his opera.'" "'He explained that it would be a reconstruction and that only by using this therapy could he ever hope to bring her back to her more natural self.' if I may be so bold?" "tragically her fiancé broke off their relationship the very day before they were due to be married. my voice is hopeless." "I can't sing." "You needn't." "You will whistle." "(Thud)" "I am like certain feminine opera fans who listen only with their clitoris." "Look closely at that triangular muscle." "These vocal folds... blood vessels and membranes." "Then imagine Malvina's." "As delicate as ripening grapes. dreaming of succumbing to pollutions of mist and fogs upon the coolest slopes." "Malvasia." "Mammolo." "Marzemino." "And this sublime prolonged weight of her vocal cords slowly breaking the cap of its skin... crushed and glistening vanillas. clearly it's you who's inhaled the spore of Malvina's voice.'" "(Mumbles)" "Malvina." "Adolfo." "See?" "Good." "Once more." "How many times more?" "Kiss me." "The Doctor rests every afternoon from three to five." "Madame?" "Malvina?" "Felisberto." " Piano tuner." "(Malvina) Yes." "Do you... hear that?" "The rocks." "I can hear them at night." "Malvina?" "Where is Adolfo?" "love longest." "Malvina." "Adolfo's by the door." "Can you see him?" "by the door." " Hmm." "Table." "Vase." "And in it?" "Orchids." "There's a window." "a window." "Round window with a girl dropping confetti." "With a girl dropping confetti." "In this room." "'With a girl dropping confetti.'" " In this room." " 'With a girl dropping confetti.'" " In this room." " 'With a girl dropping confetti.'" "What happened?" "With a girl..." "(Felisberto) 'I found steps which led me beneath the stage.'" "'Everything she spoke about had been there.' the round window.'" "'Were they all part of the Doctor's reconstruction for the final performance?" "'" "(Howling)" "(Crash of thunder)" "(Distant shouting)" "'I saw my face.'" "'My reflection.' everything seemed to sag.'" "(Piercing whistle)" "But that's my whistle in there." "my little floor-foraging ant?" "Didn't I tell you?" "Here." "I'll give you a hand. it swallowed my whistle. my reflection." "Did you not think me capable?" "But I might..." "But I might need it." "(Droz) 'Real illnesses here are absolutely essential for the imagination.'" "'Higher.'" "'Higher still.'" "'Back." "Back.'" "'Yes." "And around.'" "I saw two suns.'" "'And my watch has stopped.'" "(Thunder)" "(Droz) 'Higher.'" "'Higher still.'" "'It clamps its mandibles onto the plant and waits there until it dies.'" "it lives on.'" "they used to put out the eyes of birds to make them sing better.'" "who is telling the stories.'" "'One every day for six days.' will surely surely spell the end.'" "'No... ' he can't get away with it.'" "'He mustn't!" "He's the evil one!" "'" "'He's the one who must perish!" "Not the innocent princess!" "'" "'Not the innocent princess!" "'" "I know what has to be done." "It's the door." "The carriage." "I must have left the carriage while I was sleeping." "Malvina." "Malvina!" "Are you listening to me?" "Act three." "You're burning." "I love you." "Feel me Adolfo." "You shouldn't be here!" "The Doctor is coming." "Has she remembered your name yet?" "(Laughter)" "(Felisberto) 'Droz is laughing at me.'" "(Laughter slows down)" "(Laughter stops) then it is also in my power to mistune them." "Droz is making me guess all the correct alignments." "a calendar told me there will be an eclipse tomorrow." "Its trajectory will flood along this path straight to the stage." "Shh!" "It's timed to coincide with the opening of the door." "will you share a drink with me?" "Emmanuel? on the back of the tongue." "Verging... towards leather." "And even violets." "Or violence." "Why not?" "Quite." "(Droz) Violets." "(Glass hums)" "(Felisberto whispers) The door." "(Felisberto) 'And the tremors... '" "(Droz) '... were felt as far as Salamanca.'" "Piano Tuner of Earthquakes." "(Distant thunder)" "Then you've chosen to leave me to sadness." "To an even lesser role." "The future." "listen carefully.' Villa Azucena will have become little more than a memory.' just behind your eyes." "if not by you?" "(Speaks foreign tongue) revenge the stench of waving handkerchiefs at the opera houses that have denied my music.'" "Adolfo." "(Bird sings)" "very quiet music)" "(Mechanical music)" "(Slow music)" "(Mechanical music)" "(Slow music)" "(Mechanical music)" "(Louder music)" "(Operatic singing)" "(Brass music)" "(Operatic singing)" "(Droz) She's dead." "Echeverria!" "(Whispering)" "(Thunder)" "(Gasping)" "I can hear them at night." "Malvina!" "Sing!" "Adolfo... it's me." "Adolfo's by the door." "(Thunder)" "(Adolfo) Malvina!" "soon Villa Azucena will have become little more than a memory." "(Felisberto) 'I never saved Malvina.'" "'I never made it past the sixth automaton.'" "'Didn't Droz tell me he was capable of such a thing?" "' was this only an illusion?" "' where they can never separate us.'" "Malvina." "love the longest."