The Princess of France

1

Thank you all listeners

for following us tonight.

The first symphony,

"Fruit of a burning time,"

that Schumann wrote,

was composed

in the winter of 1841

in just four days,

between January 23rd and 26th.

Orchestrated by the composer

in less than a month,

it was finished on February 20th

and performed

for the first time,

on March 31st of that same year

under the direction

of Felix Mendelssohn.

The orchestration

is composed of,

two flutes,

two oboes,

two clarinets,

two bassoons,

four horns,

two trumpets,

three trombones,

timpani, triangle

and harp.

We listen now to the first movement,

andante un poco maestoso,

allegro molto vivace.

Duration,

10 minutes, 28 seconds.

Specially dedicated to Lorena.

Lorena!

I'm coming!

LIST OF CHARACTERS

VICTOR, a player

PAULA, the girlfriend

NATALIA, the ex-girlfriend

ANA, the mistress

LORENA, the friend

CARLA, the unknown

GUILLERMO, the unfaithful friend

JIMENA, the cheated girlfriend

ANNOUNCER:

MUSICIANS:

THE PRINCESS OF FRANCE

It's started already.

We're in the fourth act.

Sit down there.

Rehearsal's almost over.

- Do you know the plot?

- No.

The four made a pact not to get

carried away by their lovers,

to not love them anymore,

but now they'll start

to betray each other, one by one,

without saying a word.

- Let's go.

- Okay.

The blackness of his hair

shames black itself.

And the monstrosity of his face

shames monsters themselves.

And beautiful like the day.

- If only...

- If only...

If only...

If only...

I would have liked to have forgotten him.

But he is like a fever.

And the desire...

I want to hear him again.

Again?

I wish the other three

were in love as well.

Misery loves company.

Poor solace is just an excuse.

His love is not charitable

if he sees we share in his anguish.

What an embarrassment!

Come, Olivia, you blush,

as his your case is such.

You chide at him, offending twice as much.

Don't you love a younger fellow?

I have been closely shrouded in this bush,

and mark'd you both

and for you both did blush.

I heard your guilty rhymes,

observed your fashion,

saw sighs reek from you,

noted well your passion.

"Ay me!" says one.

"O Jove!" the other cries.

What will Antonio say when

that he shall hear faith so infringed?

Now step I forth to whip hypocrisy.

What grace hast thou,

thus to reprove these worms for loving,

that art most in love?

But are you not ashamed? Nay, are you not.

O, what a scene of foolery have I seen,

of sighs, of groans,

of sorrow and of teen!

Tell me, Gentle Bassanio.

Where lies thy grief?

Where lies thy pain, Good Olivia?

And yours, Silvius?

Are we betray'd thus to thy over-view?

We are the cheaters

while other are spying.

Not you to me, but I betray'd by you,

I am betray'd, by keeping company with men

like men of inconstancy.

When shall you see me

write a thing in rhyme?

Or groan for love?

Or spend a minute's time in pruning me?

When shall you hear

that I will praise a hand,

a foot, a face, an eye.

Let's go outside.

Soft! Whither away so fast?

A true man or a thief that gallops so?

I post from love.

- Are you okay?

- Yes, fine.

- Need anything?

- No, no.

The guy next to me wasn't feeling well

and I got worried.

- What happened to him?

- I don't know.

He had to go out.

- He's in the bathroom?

- No, still inside.

Want to go back in?

I'll wait for him here.

Guillermo. And you?

Lorena.

Follow me.

But he may come.

Stay here.

- Okay.

- Thank you.

Come on. Come on!

Not that. The quills.

The knife.

Here's the list. Follow the numbers.

I can't read it.

Next, the bows. For Victor.

Thanks.

Natalia saw everything from backstage.

Don't tell anyone, I mean to tell her.

But you know Natalia.

She doesn't even look at me.

And soon after, the same thing with you.

Paula.

Paula.

And nothing. Not a move, not a word.

And then, he comes through the door

in his shorts.

He asks for a ring.

To give him a ring.

I check the list, but it's too dark.

I can't see anything.

Try checking on the table

but I still see nothing.

Victor!

I try to see my hands,

nothing, completely blind.

Sol notice he's nervous.

To calm him down,

I decide to give him my own ring.

And there, you wake up.

Every time I am about

to give him the ring, I wake up.

- Always the same?

- Yes. And with your boyfriend.

I wanted to tell you,

it makes me feel bad.

It's nothing. Just a bit obsessed.

Maybe.

Aren't you sad he's leaving?

Yeah, but there's not much I can do.

How can you be so at ease?

If I were you, I'd go with him.

Did you tell Jimena?

That her boyfriend kept on kissing me?

What are you two up to?

I was thinking of Victor.

Maybe, if Paula stays here, I'll tell him

I could go to Mexico with him.

- You, to Mexico?

- Yes.

Now that his father passed away,

don't you think he had enough?

- He may want to be alone.

- And do as Paula does?

Now step I forth to whip hypocrisy.

That night, as in previous ones,

Lorena didn't say a word to anyone.

Not to me, nor to Victor.

And as it was already planned,

a week later,

Victor traveled to Mexico for a year.

I remained in Buenos Aires,

waiting for him.

During that year,

Lorena went through more

heartbreaks than breakthroughs.

The year went by.

I kept my promise to continue

only with Victor in spite of the distance.

But a month before his arrival,

someone appeared that

complicated everything.

Victor returned

and called everyone to get together again.

He wanted us back in the play

that had brought us

together in the first place.

With Victor in town,

I decided to hide myself for some days

of quiet thinking.

Where are you?

No, I can't talk now.

No, no. Don't come now.

Yes, I want to see you too

but I'm with Jimena.

She'll tell everybody.

Do you want Paula to know?

Come, but I won't pay

much attention to you.

I don't know. Make something up.

I don't know, something like that.

But don't be all happy,

or she'll find out.

I thought you'd arrive next week.

I came early.

- Have you seen Natalia lately?

- No.

I moved up my ticket for her.

To surprise her

but she didn't want to meet me.

You don't know this, but we've been

writing to each other since I left.

Lately, I've been talking

more with her than with Paula.

Natalia told me that Paula

is seeing someone else.

As she told me this,

I drifted more and more towards her.

And what about Paula?

I don't know. Just before my arrival,

she told me she had to go

on a trip somewhere.

- Suspicious.

- Tell me about it.

Any idea who she could be seeing?

No.

Natalia was to help me with that.

Nothing seems to be working out for you.

Maybe not. But I thought it would be best

not to wait any longer,

move up my trip, surprise Natalia,

and resolve everything with Paula.

Sounds good, not to give up

the possibility of change.

Being here will clear up

everything somehow.

I'll continue my life

abroad with one of them.

Or with none?

And all this happened today?

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