AMELIA’S ARIA
PIP
The Amelia Project would not be possible without the generous support of our patrons. This episode is dedicated to super patron Tom Putnam, who, in return for his death has promised to provide us with a recipe for a cocoa that glows. Les Deux Maglow. We wonder if it will include some of Ant’s bioluminescent watercress…
And now, let’s start the show!
BACKSTAGE AT THE NAPLES OPERA. THE SET WORKSHOP.
INTERVIEWER
I'm so excited about this Luigi!
LUIGI
Are you ready Signor?
INTERVIEWER
As ready as a virgin in a bordello.
LUIGI
Sorry?
INTERVIEWER
I'm ready!
LUIGI
You're sure?
INTERVIEWER
Yes! Unveil the monster!
LUIGI
Alright! Here we go!
(LUIGI PULLS A LEVER. SWISHING, SWIRLING, RATTLING, RUMBLING OF PULLEYS, ROPES, CHAINS, CANVAS, AS SOMETHING GIGANTIC IS HOISTED INTO THE AIR. THE INTERVIEWER SCREAMS AND GASPS)
LUIGI
I warned you, signor!
INTERVIEWER
(OUT OF BREATH) It... it's terrifying! The gleaming eyes... the scales... the fangs... the forked tongue!
LUIGI
I am very proud of the tongue. It can protrude and retract. Here push this.
(THE INTERVIEWER PUSHES A LEVER BACK AND FORTH. EXCITED INTERVIEWER SOUNDS)
INTERVIEWER
(GIGGLING) In, out! In, out! Most impressive! Where is Giuseppe? I want to show this to Giuseppe!
LUIGI
I think he snuck into the auditorium.
INTERVIEWER
Oh? What's playing? Anything good?
LUIGI
Il castello di Kenilworth. A new opera by Gaetano Donizetti.
INTERVIEWER
Ugh, well it can't be more exciting than a giant serpent! You've done a splendid job Luigi! How did you build it so quickly?
LUIGI
Well. Last season we staged a production of The Magic Flute.
INTERVIEWER
Ah! (SINGS) "Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja, stets lustig, heissa, hopsasa!"
LUIGI
Ah, yes.
INTERVIEWER
Oh wait, so this is the serpent slain by the Three Ladies?
LUIGI
I took it out of storage and made some improvements.
INTERVIEWER
What kind of improvements?
LUIGI
Something I originally suggested to the director of The Magic Flute, but...
INTERVIEWER
Yes? …but?
LUIGI
But ever since the unfortunate incident thirteen years ago, we're not allowed to use fire in Teatro di San Carlo.
INTERVIEWER
Ah, yes, yes, I heard about that. The theatre burned down during a dress rehearsal, is that right?
LUIGI
Yeah yeah.
(WAVING AWAY THE THOUGHT OF THAT INCIDENT)
But look at this!
(LUIGI PULLS ANOTHER LEVER. A ROAR OF FIRE)
INTERVIEWER
Shrieks
Luigi!
LUIGI
You like it?
INTERVIEWER
Well cover me in diamonds and call me a diva! You have surpassed yourself! Francis is going to be very happy!
LUIGI
Francis? Who's Fra-
INTERVIEWER
No one!
LUIGI
What are you going to use it for? Are you and Giuseppe theatrical producers?
INTERVIEWER
Ah look. Here he comes! Giuseppe!
KOZLOWSKI
Arturo!
INTERVIEWER
What do you think?
KOZLOWSKI
Of what?
INTERVIEWER
Oh wha- Of the sixty foot serpent right in front of you.
KOZLOWSKI
(Lost in thought)
Oh. It’s… Big.
INTERVIEWER
It's exactly what we asked for! No, no it's better! Definitely better. It breathes fire Giuseppe! Fire!
KOZLOWSKI
That's nice.
INTERVIEWER
(STAMMERING) Is everything alright?
KOZLOWSKI
Oh, yes, yes, I just... I had the most incredible experience...
INTERVIEWER
Oh really?! More incredible than a fanged, fire breathing beast?
LUIGI
You enjoyed the opera? I don't think the production has enough special effects...
INTERVIEWER
There was a most unusual instrument... One I have never heard before. There was this song -
LUIGI
Ah, you mean Amelia's Aria!
INTERVIEWER
Amelia... What a lovely name...
LUIGI
Amelia is the main character in Il castello di Kenilworth and she sings an aria that is accompanied by a glass harmonica.
INTERVIEWER
A glass harmonica?
KOZLOWSKI
Ah… It produces the strangest sound, incomparably sweet and devastatingly sad all at once.
INTERVIEWER
(Changing topic)
Well, we need to find a way to carry this beast out of here.
LUIGI
Once the show is finished, I can ask some stage hands to deliver it to you.
INTERVIEWER
That would be very kind Luigi. Here is our address…
(HE SCRIBBLES DOWN AN ADDRESS)
And here are two hundred ducats, as discussed.
(HE HANDS OVER A BAG OF COINS)
LUIGI
Grazie signor!
INTERVIEWER
Oh, nonono. You've earned it.
LUIGI
If you ever need my services again...
INTERVIEWER
We will certainly be in touch!
LUIGI
Arrivederci signori!
(HE LEAVES)
INTERVIEWER
The king will be very happy.
KOZLOWSKI
(Mumbles in agreement)
INTERVIEWER
And once we've faked the death of King Francis, word will soon reach noblemen throughout the Two Sicilies that The Brotherhood of The Phoenix has taken up residence in Naples. We will be set for the next decade at least!
The clergy and nobility here have deep pockets and are terrified of the rise of the Carbonari. Fertile ground for death faking! And I think Luigi will prove very useful. I mean, what he did with that snake! I know two hundred ducats is extravagant, but believe me, once news gets out that Francis the First was devoured by a serpent, I mean - the right people will read the signs and come flocking, the Ducats will come gushing in and we can even buy a boat again and set sail for - Giuseppe!
KOZLOWSKI
(STARTLED) What?
INTERVIEWER
Are you even listening to me?
KOZLOWSKI
Sorry.
INTERVIEWER
You're still thinking about Emily's Aria?
KOZLOWSKI
Amelia's Aria.
INTERVIEWER
And that glass xylophone?
KOZLOWSKI
Glass harmonica. It really does produce the most hypnotic tones...
INTERVIEWER
Bah!
KOZLOWSKI
Oh… You should have heard it Arturo, you should have heard it…
(THEME TUNE. GLASS HARMONICA VARIATION)
INTRO
The Amelia Project, by Philip Thorne and Oystein Ulsberg Brager, with sound direction by Fredrik Baden, and sound design by Adam Raymonda. Episode 67 - Amelia’s Aria. 1829
(WE GO FROM THE FULL GLASS HARMONICA THEME, TO THE SOUND OF ONE SOLITARY GLASS BEING PLAYED. WE'RE AT THE NAPLES HOME OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE PHOENIX AND KOZLOWSKI IS RUNNING HIS FINGER AROUND THE RIM OF A GLASS TO PRODUCE THE SOUND. THE INTERVIEWER IS IN THE MIDDLE OF A RANT)
INTERVIEWER
I can't believe he just bottled out!
KOZLOWSKI
It is not unusual for clients to get cold feet at the last minute.
INTERVIEWER
But the revolutionaries are snapping at his heels! I mean- He just visited Paris and saw the reign of terror first hand!
KOZLOWSKI
Hmm… things have really spiralled out of control in France. A second revolution is nigh, I guess..
INTERVIEWER
Chuckles
Yes. We were too successful.
KOZLOWSKI
Yes… Good thing we got out of Paris just in time!
INTERVIEWER
Revolutionary fervour is travelling beyond France! Just a few months ago they attempted an insurrection in Cilento for goodness sake! Francis lives in daily fear of assassination! Why doesn't he want us to fake his death?!
This was meant to be a showcase disappearance for us!
KOZLOWSKI
I know...
INTERVIEWER
And what are we going to do with that snake?
KOZLOWSKI
Hmmm... The snake…
INTERVIEWER
We paid a fortune for that thing! Now we're broke and without a single lead!
KOZLOWSKI
I sometimes wonder if we should not employ someone to make contracts.
INTERVIEWER
(DISGUSTED) Contracts?
KOZLOWSKI
Get clients to commit before we make extravagant purchases.
INTERVIEWER
Pathetic idea. He's a king! He does what he wants!
KOZLOWSKI
I guess… He may still change his mind and come back...
INTERVIEWER
You know… You're being awfully cavalier about this.
KOZLOWSKI
I'm -
INTERVIEWER
And stop that racket, it's giving me a headache!
KOZLOWSKI
I'm - Hey, what are you - Arturo!
(THE INTERVIEWER GRABS KOZLOWSKI'S GLASS AND THROWS IT AGAINST THE WALL. IT SHATTERS)
That was unnecessary.
INTERVIEWER
Oh my. Yes. I'm sorry.
KOZLOWSKI
Are you?
INTERVIEWER
Yes.
(KOZLOWSKI HUFFS)
Listen, I spoke to Luigi this morning and -
KOZLOWSKI
The two of you spend a lot of time together.
INTERVIEWER
Well he's a lot more fun than you at the moment -
KOZLOWSKI
Arturo!
INTERVIEWER
Yes, I’m sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean- Listen, what I was about to say: I spoke to Luigi this morning, and I know how obsessed you are with that glass thingy, so he's arranged for you to meet Fiorella Bedeković.
KOZLOWSKI
Who?
INTERVIEWER
The musician who played that music you heard.
KOZLOWSKI
Amelia's Aria!
INTERVIEWER
Yes.
KOZLOWSKI
Ah! Thank you.
INTERVIEWER
You're welcome.
KOZLOWSKI
When do I see her?
INTERVIEWER
Eleven o' clock tonight.
KOZLOWSKI
Tonight! Thank you Arturo!
INTERVIEWER
Please. Don’t mention it.
KOZLOWSKI
That will be very interesting... Very interesting indeed...
INTERVIEWER
(FLATLY) Indeed.
(A CLOCK STRIKES ELEVEN IN THE BACKGROUND. KOZLOWSKI ARRIVES AT FIORELLA'S HOUSE AND KNOCKS ON THE DOOR. NO RESPONSE)
KOZLOWSKI
Hello?
(KNOCKS AGAIN)
(HE PUSHES THE DOOR LIGHTLY. IT SWINGS OPEN WITH A SLIGHT CREAK)
Hello? (IN ITALIAN) Is anyone there?
(STILL NO RESPONSE. HE STEPS INSIDE. FROM ABOVE, THE FAINT ETHEREAL SOUND OF SINGING GLASS. HE LISTENS, ENTHRALLED BY THE SOUND)
Ahhhh.
(HE CLIMBS THE STAIRS TO FIND THE SOURCE. THE SOUND GROWS LOUDER AS WE FOLLOW HIM)
Fiorella Bedeković?
FIORELLA
from behind the door
(ITALIAN)
(KOZLOWSKI OPENS THE DOOR AND WALKS INTO THE ROOM)
KOZLOWSKI
I apologise, I did not wish to disturb you. Please, keep playing.
FIORELLA
Who are you?
KOZLOWSKI
Oh... Oh, oh… You were not expecting me? Sorry, Luigi from the opera said you had agreed to see me...
FIORELLA
Ah. Si. Scusate. When I play I lose all sense of time and place.
KOZLOWSKI
Of course. I am not surprised. I heard you play Amelia's Aria at the opera house...
FIORELLA
Ah! "Par che mi dica ancora."
KOZLOWSKI
"Par che mi dica ancora." Yes... and... well, I feel like I lost myself in that music and have been trying to find back to reality ever since. It… is true. Does that sound silly?
FIORELLA
Not at all. The glass harmonica allows us to access a different realm.
KOZLOWSKI
(LAUGHS)
Grazie. For humouring me.
(KOZLOWSKI STEPS FURTHER INTO THE ROOM, EXAMINING THE INSTRUMENT FROM ALL SIDES)
Would you look at that. It is a beautiful instrument.
FIORELLA
Oh, uh, should I light some more candles? It is very gloomy in here.
KOZLOWSKI
Oh, nonono, no need I can see perfectly well. And the sparkling glass is most magical. Please, continue playing.
FIORELLA
(CHUCKLES) Would you like to try?
KOZLOWSKI
Me?
FIORELLA
Si.
KOZLOWSKI
Me?!
FIORELLA
Si!!
KOZLOWSKI
May I?
FIORELLA
Give me your hand.
(KOZLOWSKI STEPS BEHIND THE INSRUMENT, NEXT TO FIORELLA)
First you will need to wet your fingers...
(KOZLOWSKI DIPS HIS FINGERS INTO A BOWL OF WATER, GUIDED BY FIORELLA)
KOZLOWSKI
Oh, it’s quite warm…
FIORELLA (CON’T)
Then dip them into chalk…
KOZLOWSKI
Chalk…
(KOZLOWSKI DIPS HIS FINGERS INTO A BOWL OF CRUSHED CHALK)
Now, I will tread the pedal to make the glass bowls spin. You choose a bowl and apply pressure to the rim with your wet fingers. Pronto?
KOZLOWSKI
Ready!
(FIORELLA PEDALS, KOZLOWSKI TOUCHES A BOWL, BUT IT MAKES HARDLY A SOUND)
KOZLOWSKI
Oh...
FIORELLA
You have to increase the pressure...
KOZLOWSKI
More pressure… Of Course… (MUMBLES TO HIMSELF) More pressure…
(KOZLOWSKI INCREASES THE PRESSURE, CAUSING AN UNPLEASANT GRATING SOUND)
FIORELLA
Not so much! (THEY BOTH LAUGH) Softly!
KOZLOWSKI
(chuckles) Softly…
(RELINQUISHES A BIT, AND THERE IT IS: THE STRANGE, ETHEREAL SOUND)
FIORELLA
Bravo.
KOZLOWSKI
It does not feel like I am the one playing. The sound does not seem to come from the instrument at all... It is coming from the walls, the ceiling, the floors... it is floating... floating in through the windows... carried by the wind...
FIORELLA
Yes! The glass vibrates at a pitch that cannot be located in space. Now, if I increase the speed of the rotation...
(FIORELLA PEDALS FASTER AND THE SOUND CHANGES)
See? The sound changes with friction, rotation and humidity. Get all of these elements right and the glass sings!
KOZLOWSKI
The glass sings! It is most peculiar hearing a material we are so familiar with sing.
FIORELLA
Glass holds many secrets.
KOZLOWSKI
Indeed! Did you know that glass is not a solid material... yes, it’s true! it is neither solid nor liquid... something in between... ethereal... like this sound...
FIORELLA
Let me guess... You are a glass blower? No?
(EXCITED)
I have always wanted to learn more about glass blowing.
KOZLOWSKI
(CHUCKLES)
Sadly I am not.
FIORELLA
(DISAPPOINTED)
Ah. I was so sure. I find there is nothing more magical than the ability to breathe life into glass... (ITALIAN)
KOZLOWSKI
Although… I did once help a glass blower on morano… (??) That was a very strange case. I also spent several months with a maker of stained glass windows.
FIORELLA
(ITALIAN) Really? Tell me more.
KOZLOWSKI
We created replicas of the windows of Chartres Cathedral. Those windows date back to the twelfth century
KOZLOWSKI
Yes! And the cobalt blue is quite spectacular.
FIORELLA
Oh, I wish I could see them…
KOZLOWSKI
We exchanged the originals with fakes in the cover of night.
FIORELLA
What?! You stole the stained glass windows?
KOZLOWSKI
Oh no! We put in replicas so we could send the archdeacon of Chartres crashing through them.
FIORELLA
What?!
KOZLOWSKI
We posed as conservationists the following day to reinstall the originals, of course.
FIORELLA
Oh, you are a strange man.
KOZLOWSKI
Enough about me! I am here to learn about you and your wondrous instrument. Now. How many bowls are mounted on this spindle?
FIORELLA
Thirty seven. From the big glasses over here with their deep round sounds-
SHE STARTS PLAYING AGAIN. WORKING HER WAY DOWN THE SCALE ONE GLASS AT A TIME.
to the tiny glasses here with their angelic tones...
(THEY SPEND A WHILE LISTENING TO THE EXTRAORDINARY HIGH PITCH OF THE SMALLEST GLASS)
KOZLOWSKI
Ah… Wonderful.
FIORELLA
Now. Run your hands over all the bowls at once.
KOZLOWSKI
All of them?
FIORELLA
Si!
KOZLOWSKI
Alright...
(KOZLOWSKI SPLASHES WATER ONTO HIS HANDS)
FIORELLA
(ITALIAN) Caress them.
(KOZLOWSKI RUNS HIS HANDS UP AND DOWN THE SCALE, CREATING A WEIRD CACOPHONY)
Si, si. Now hold your hands still.
(HE STOPS MOVING HIS HANDS, KEEPING THEM ON THE MID-RANGE OF THE INSTRUMENT WHILE FIORELLA PEDALS HARDER. A GHOSTLY SOUND, WEIRD AND BEAUTIFUL)
Si. Bravo.
KOZLOWSKI
Listen!
FIORELLA
What?
KOZLOWSKI
I have taken my hands off the instrument, yet still it sings.
FIORELLA
The vibrations linger on...
KOZLOWSKI
Well ff I did not know better I would say the harmonica is playing itself...
FIORELLA
Maybe it is...
KOZLOWSKI
So. When do we start?
FIORELLA
Start what. What?
KOZLOWSKI
My lessons.
FIORELLA
I have just given you a demonstration. That is enough.
KOZLOWSKI
Wait, no! I want more than just cursory knowledge! I want to be able to play! Like you! Be my teacher Fiorella!
FIORELLA
(STERN) You must leave.
KOZLOWSKI
What?
FIORELLA
Now.
KOZLOWSKI
But-
FIORELLA
This was a mistake. This- This. I should never have agreed to this.
KOZLOWSKI
What are you talking about? Are you not proud to share your knowledge of this wonderful instrument?
FIORELLA
I see it has already begun to work its spell on you...
KOZLOWSKI
Spell on me? What?
FIORELLA
It was the same with me... I became obsessed, suffered from poor appetite and sleeplessness, all I wanted to do was play and play…
KOZLOWSKI
Is that not the mark of any great musician? Becoming obsessed with their instrument?
FIORELLA
But this is no ordinary instrument.
KOZLOWSKI
True. It is a magical one.
FIORELLA
And deadly.
KOZLOWSKI
Excuse me?
FIORELLA
I urge you to forget about the instrument before the sadness begins to fester inside of you.
KOZLOWSKI
Sadness?
FIORELLA
The sweet tones weigh heavily on the soul.
KOZLOWSKI
The sweet tones are transcendent.
FIORELLA
Transcendent, yes. They make you more sensitive... to pain, beauty, fear… Death...
KOZLOWSKI
What are you saying?
FIORELLA
That everyone who spends time with this instrument is stricken by a terrible melancholia.
Beat.
And this is why the glass harmonica is banned in Milan and Bologna.
KOZLOWSKI
Banned! No!
FIORELLA
In Austria, on the emperor's orders, all known instruments were confiscated and destroyed.
KOZLOWSKI
How terrible! On what charge?
FIORELLA
Invoking spirits and driving listeners mad.
KOZLOWSKI
Invoking–
FIORELLA
Here is Naples the instrument is still tolerated. Largely because Donizetti likes to use it in his operas. He is writing a new opera, Lucia di Lammermoor. There will be an aria with glass harmonica accompaniment, a song in which Lucia, the main character, goes insane.
KOZLOWSKI
I am glad that at least in Naples your career can thrive.
FIORELLA
But maybe they are right, maybe this instrument should be destroyed...
KOZLOWSKI
Do not say that! All music strives to transport its listeners, to allow them access to their deepest emotions, to make them feel. If the glass harmonica has such a profound effect, you should wear that as a mark of pride!
FIORELLA
Even if the effect is dangerous?
KOZLOWSKI
What proof is there for that?
FIORELLA
You want proof?
KOZLOWSKI
Yes I want proof!
FIORELLA
(Takes a deep breath, then starts listing)
Richard Pockrich, inventor of the glass harp and first musician to play goblets filled with water: killed by a fire in his room while he was playing.
Marianne Davies, the instrument's first great star: fell victim to a deep depression and suffered from an unexplained fear, laughing, crying and speaking without meaning.
Marianne Kirchgessner, muse for Mozart's Adagio for Glass Harmonica: suffered from hallucinations and panic attacks whilst playing, her health deteriorating with every recital. She died at the age of thirty nine.
Vittoria Baroni, Beethoven's favourite glass harmonist: spent six months at the Maddalena lunatic asylum to be treated for depression and hallucinatory outbursts. She was let out to play the glass harmonica for Beethoven's Eleonore Prochaska and was found dead in the orchestra pit.
I could go on. Every serious player of this instrument has had their career cut short.
(PAUSE)
KOZLOWSKI
And you fear the same will happen to you.
FIORELLA
I know it will.
KOZLOWSKI
You sound very sure.
FIORELLA
I am.
KOZLOWSKI
Why?
FIORELLA
Because I have seen my death.
KOZLOWSKI
You mean like... a vision?
FIORELLA
Do you remember when I told you the glass harmonica allows us to access a different realm?
KOZLOWSKI
I do...
FIORELLA
I was not speaking metaphorically.
BEAT.
KOZLOWSKI
When you spoke of the unlucky harmonica players, you mentioned hallucinations...Are you saying that playing the instrument allows you to... see things?
FIORELLA
Yes.
KOZLOWSKI
(INTRIGUED) What kinds of things?
FIORELLA
I cannot speak for the other players...
KOZLOWSKI
But for you...
FIORELLA
For me, I travel forward, I have visions of what is to come. I can see deep into a person's future.
KOZLOWSKI
(EXCITED) This instrument is becoming more mysterious and magnificent by the minute! An instrument whose ethereal tones allow you to traverse time... (FIORELLA TRIES TO INTERRUPT HIM BUT DOES NOT MANAGE TO) A crystal ball... Thirty seven crystal balls!
FIORELLA
I was trying to warn you!
KOZLOWSKI
You have failed! You have intrigued me instead!
FIORELLA
What do you want then?!
KOZLOWSKI
What is it that I want? What is it that I want?! I want to know.
FIORELLA
Know? Know what?
KOZLOWSKI
The future.
FIORELLA
No!
KOZLOWSKI
Yes!
FIORELLA
In any case, I cannot see into the future -
(KOZLOWSKI TALKS OVER HER)
KOZLOWSKI
But you just said -
FIORELLA
Yes, but not in a general sense. I can only see into a person's future.
KOZLOWSKI
Well I would like you to look into my future.
FIORELLA
You are not taking this seriously.
KOZLOWSKI
I am very serious indeed.
FIORELLA
You haven't thought this through.
KOZLOWSKI
How so?
FIORELLA
If I look into your future, I will see your death.
KOZLOWSKI
(Confidently) Fiorella. You will not see my death.
FIORELLA
How can you be so sure?
KOZLOWSKI
(AMUSED) I have my own mysteries...
FIORELLA
(CHUCKLES)
You really are a curious man. Most people would tell me I should seek help at Maddalena or San Servolo, but you... You did not bat an eyelid when I told you I could see the future.
KOZLOWSKI
I am very comfortable around magic.
FIORELLA
Grazie. I had forgotten what it is like to talk to someone who doesn't think I am mad.
KOZLOWSKI
I have told you Fiorella, you impress me. You impressed me when I first heard you at the opera, and you impressed me again tonight conjuring those otherworldly tones.
BEAT.
FIORELLA
You really want me to access another realm and look into your future?
KOZLOWSKI
Yes.
FIORELLA
(ITALIAN. THEN:) Alright.
(FIORELLA WETS HER HANDS, DIPS THEM IN CHALK, AND BEGINS TO PLAY. ETHEREAL TONES FILL THE ROOM. THEY SEEM TO BE COMING FROM ALL DIRECTIONS SIMULTANEOUSLY)
(FIORELLA HUMS, ABSORBED BY HER MUSIC, SINKING INTO A TRANCE)
KOZLOWSKI
Fiorella? Fiorella? What do you see?
(SHE CONTINUES PLAYING AND HUMMING)
FIORELLA
You have a restless spirit...
KOZLOWSKI
Yes...
FIORELLA
I see a life of adventure... a life full of people, places and stories...
KOZLOWSKI
(CHUCKLES)
FIORELLA
You will not be with us for long.
KOZLOWSKI
What?!
FIORELLA
Oh, in Naples. You will not be with us for long in Naples.
KOZLOWSKI
Oh, I see.
FIORELLA
You will soon exchange our steep narrow streets, our bustling markets and ornate churches, for a vast barren expanse where the sun shines fiercely and blood flows freely.
KOZLOWSKI
The American West! Ah yes! We are saving our ducats for another trip across the Atlantic. We miss our seafaring days... But… Will our time in America be successful?
(EXCITED KOZLOWSKI SOUNDS)
FIORELLA
Yes. Success... Stories... New encounters... in bars, wagons, palaces and prisons... In the new world and the old... the road ahead is paved with adventure...
KOZLOWSKI
chuckles contentedly
FIORELLA
Until...
KOZLOWSKI
Yes?
FIORELLA
I have never had access to a realm so distant before...
KOZLOWSKI
What do you mean?
FIORELLA
This is too far into the future for any human lifespan... How strange...
KOZLOWSKI
Impatient
Yes yes, what do you see?
FIORELLA
A hundred years from now, to the day... a hundred years to the day...
KOZLOWSKI
A hundred years to the day, yes!
FIORELLA
Delirium, decadence, dance, death...
KOZLOWSKI
What?
FIORELLA
The world shall be plunged into great darkness...
KOZLOWSKI
The world? Now you're predicting the state of the world? I thought you could only foresee the fate of an individual?
FIORELLA
You will not be ready for the changing times, will not notice the shadow fall... You will be... too distracted, self satisfied, absorbed...
KOZLOWSKI
Never!
FIORELLA
Your success has gone to your head. It has blunted your wits and numbed your judgement. You want me to go on?
KOZLOWSKI
…yes?
FIORELLA
You will flee...
KOZLOWSKI
Flee?
FIORELLA
From a world at war… And from your own narcosis... No more people, travels, stories...
KOZLOWSKI
No more stories? How long? Forever?
FIORELLA
For... a decade...
KOZLOWSKI
(A SIGH OF BOTH DESPAIR AND RELIEF)
FIORELLA
After no contact with the outside world for many many years...
KOZLOWSKI
Yes?
Beat
Go on Fiorella, go on!
(THE MUSIC SWELLS, FIORELLA'S VOICE IS ALMOST DROWNED OUT BY WAILING GLASS)
FIORELLA
(HER WORDS HAVE GROWN FAINT AND SLURRED)
Hello? Anybody there? This is AE. Seeking assistance. Over. This is AE calling from Electra. Requesting immediate assistance. Over.
KOZLOWSKI
What?!
FIORELLA
You will meet an extraordinary person.
KOZLOWSKI
Who?
FIORELLA
She will arrive from the skies!
KOZLOWSKI
From the skies?! She??
FIORELLA
"Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace. The soul that knows it not, knows no release from little things..."
KOZLOWSKI
I do not know what that means.
FIORELLA
You will start afresh.
KOZLOWSKI
With this woman?
FIORELLA
Learning, evolving...
KOZLOWSKI
We will keep collecting stories?
FIORELLA
For many years...
KOZLOWSKI
Good.
FIORELLA
Until one day...
KOZLOWSKI
Yes?
FIORELLA
Oh, I see a man...
KOZLOWSKI
A man? Which man?
(SHE IS SCARED)
Which man Fiorella?
FIORELLA
A dangerous man.
KOZLOWSKI
I need to know more...
FIORELLA
Mmmmmmm.... mmmmmm....
KOZLOWSKI
Fiorella? Are you there?
FIORELLA
His name starts with an M.
KOZLOWSKI
What does this M man want?
FIORELLA
Everything.
KOZLOWSKI
That is very vague!
FIORELLA
It is very far into the future!
KOZLOWSKI
Alright, well. Will M be successful?
FIORELLA
Not at first... But he will try again.
KOZLOWSKI
Fiorella! Try what? What does he want? What happens the second time? Please!
(THE MUSIC ENDS)
FIORELLA
I can see no further.
KOZLOWSKI
Why not?
FIORELLA
I believe this is where your story ends.
KOZLOWSKI
Oh.
BEAT.
Oh. Ends.
I am unsure what to make of this.
FIORELLA
As am I... Looking into your destiny has allowed me to travel hundreds of years into the future!
KOZLOWSKI
Not as far as I would have liked...
FIORELLA
What do you mean?
KOZLOWSKI
(TRYING TO REASSURE HIMSELF) Maybe there is a limit as to how far you can see. Yes. That must be it.
FIORELLA
Well, it is true that the further I go the dimmer the visions become. Oh, when it comes to my death I can tell you every last detail.
KOZLOWSKI
Really?
FIORELLA
Oh yes. I can see it crystal clear. You see, my death takes place tomorrow.
KOZLOWSKI
You die tomorrow?!
FIORELLA
Yes.
KOZLOWSKI
But, Fiorella - you have so much ahead of you! The new Donizetti -
FIORELLA
What about it?
KOZLOWSKI
If you die you will never get to play it!
FIORELLA
Are you trying to argue with fate?
KOZLOWSKI
I dislike death.
FIORELLA
So I've noticed. Well, it seems you are sustaining an indecently long lifespan...
KOZLOWSKI
Indecent?
FIORELLA
I mean… I don’t know who you are but… Without death, it seems to me life has no meaning!
KOZLOWSKI
You want to die?
FIORELLA
Not tomorrow. I would have liked more time.
BEAT.
Isn't it ironic?
KOZLOWSKI
What?
FIORELLA
It is only when you are faced with death that you discover what you truly want.
KOZLOWSKI
And what is that?
FIORELLA
One summer when I was a girl, my father took me to his home village in Croatia. A village of glass blowers.
KOZLOWSKI
Oh!
FIORELLA (CON’T)
Glass blowing had been his profession, though he gave it up when he came to Naples, exchanging the blowpipe for a fishing rod... But back in his village, I watched my uncles blowing, pouring, sculpting glass and was mesmerised. I adored that place on the Adriatic. It is the happiest memory of my childhood.
KOZLOWSKI
You were there only once?
FIORELLA
My father died when I was fifteen and I lost touch with the Croatian side of my family. I told myself that one day I would go back and become a glassblower. But...
KOZLOWSKI
…Yes? But...?
FIORELLA
But I kept postponing it.
KOZLOWSKI
Well… Is that not where you should be now? I mean, if you are really about to - die tomorrow…
FIORELLA
I only found out about my death yesterday, and now it is too late to make the journey. This is a wish that will be left unfulfilled...
KOZLOWSKI
You never looked into your future before?
FIORELLA
I swore I would only ever look into the futures of those around me. The oboist who will plummet into the Bay of Naples. The first violinist who will eat a bad oyster. The conductor who will stab himself through the eye with his baton during Otello.
KOZLOWSKI
(LAUGHS)
FIORELLA
It is not funny!
KOZLOWSKI
(STILL LAUGHING SOFTLY) Sorry (CALMING HIMSELF) So… You were not curious about your own fate?
FIORELLA
Of course! But I was cautious not to act on that curiosity.
KOZLOWSKI
What changed?
FIORELLA
The opera last night...
KOZLOWSKI
Of course. Amelia's Aria...
FIORELLA
I played with such a passion... I lost control, fell into a trance... and by the time I regained a grip, it was too late. I had done what I had vowed never to do, I had seen my own demise.
KOZLOWSKI
Tell me about your demise.
FIORELLA
You will mock me.
KOZLOWSKI
Why do you say that?
FIORELLA
Well… It is... a very unlikely death...
KOZLOWSKI
I promise I will not judge. And I doubt you will shock me. I am something of a connoisseur when it comes to unlikely deaths, believe me.
FIORELLA
It is ridiculous really.
KOZLOWSKI
Even better.
FIORELLA
I will be killed by a serpent.
KOZLOWSKI
(SHOCKED) A serpent?!
FIORELLA
It is more dragon than snake, it even...
KOZLOWSKI
Yes?
FIORELLA
You will laugh.
KOZLOWSKI
I promise you. I will not.
FIORELLA
It breathes fire!
(KOZLOWSKI LAUGHS)
See. You’re laughing.
KOZLOWSKI
I’m sorry. And what happens then?
FIORELLA
What do you mean?
KOZLOWSKI
After it devours you?
FIORELLA
After it devours me?
KOZLOWSKI
Yes.
FIORELLA
Life after death, if such a thing exists, is a realm to which I have no access. And anyway, after I saw the serpent lunge, I woke from my trance in shock.
KOZLOWSKI
Fiorella.
FIORELLA
Yes.
KOZLOWSKI
Let me tell you something.
FIORELLA
What?
KOZLOWSKI
It is a pity your trance ended when it did.
FIORELLA
Why?
KOZLOWSKI
Had it continued, you would have seen yourself learning how to blow glass, quietly living out your days by the Adriatic.
FIORELLA
What?! Why do you say that?!
KOZLOWSKI
What you saw was not your death, (GIGGLES) but a simulation.
FIORELLA
A simulation of my death?
KOZLOWSKI
Yes.
FIORELLA
Who would want to simulate my death?
KOZLOWSKI
Me.
FIORELLA
(IN UTTER DISBELIEF) Why?
KOZLOWSKI
To give you the new start you deserve. Far from the glass harmonica and its grip on your mind.
FIORELLA
You planned this?
KOZLOWSKI
Not at all! I am as surprised as you are. I simply came here for music lessons... but fate has a curious way of asserting itself.
FIORELLA
Fate...
KOZLOWSKI
Fate. You are meant to die tomorrow, and we are meant to arrange it.
FIORELLA
Who's "we"?
KOZLOWSKI
The Brotherhood of the Phoenix.
BEAT.
FIORELLA
(ITALIAN) I will be separated from my instrument?
KOZLOWSKI
Yes. You see, I do not believe you fell into that trance against your will.
FIORELLA
But I just told you-
KOZLOWSKI
Curiosity got the better of you. It is only normal.
FIORELLA
I... I suppose you are right...
KOZLOWSKI
What you saw was not your real death, but at some point, perhaps in a few years, perhaps in one, two or three decades, you will die. And your instrument poses the terrible temptation of finding out how. How can you live with that knowledge quite literally at your fingertips?
FIORELLA
What will happen to my instrument?
KOZLOWSKI
I shall take good care of it.
FIORELLA
You will keep it?
KOZLOWSKI
Yes.
FIORELLA
But you have now admitted that it is dangerous!
KOZLOWSKI
I think that it is complicated.
FIORELLA
What do you mean?
KOZLOWSKI
Well, in your case, as long as you are willing to part with it, it actually did some good.
FIORELLA
How?
KOZLOWSKI
It allowed you to taste death, did it not? And this made you understand what is important to you.
FIORELLA
But if, as you say, I do not die tomorrow, there is no rush, I can stay in Naples a few years more, I can play the new Donizetti, I can -
KOZLOWSKI
Fiorella please! No! No more postponing! You told me without death, life has no meaning, remember?
FIORELLA
Yes...
KOZLOWSKI
Well, what meaning does death provide if not to say that time is finite and must be treasured? You must live now! You must fulfil your dream now, it is time to start a new adventure!
FIORELLA
And you are really going to fake my death?
KOZLOWSKI
It seems that this is what fate has in mind.
FIORELLA
Tomorrow?
KOZLOWSKI
Yes.
FIORELLA
By fire breathing snake?
KOZLOWSKI
(CHUCKLES) Yes.
FIORELLA
How will that work?!
KOZLOWSKI
All you have to do is come to Castel dell'Ovo at eight o' clock and the serpent will rise from the bay.
FIORELLA
Now you're the lunatic.
KOZLOWSKI
Strictly between us… This death was planned for a different client…
FIORELLA
Client?!
KOZLOWSKI (CON’T)
Yes, but it was probably meant for you all along.
FIORELLA
This has been a very strange evening...
KOZLOWSKI
Very strange indeed. Do you have glasses?
FIORELLA
(CHUCKLES)
I have thirty seven of them!
KOZLOWSKI
No, I meant drinking glasses! Although come to think of it, let us replace a toast with a concert. Your last concert on the glass harmonica. What do you say?
FIORELLA
My last concert?
KOZLOWSKI
Your last concert.
FIORELLA
Very well.
BEAT.
To near death.
KOZLOWSKI
To near death.
FIORELLA PLAYS.
CREDITS.
Stay tuned for the epilogue, but first the credits.
This episode was dedicated to Tom Putnam and featured Hemi Yeroham as Kozlowski, Eugenia Caruso as Fiorella, Alan Burgon as The Interviewer and Michael Smulik as Luigi.
It was written and edited by Philip Thorne, with story editing by Oystein Brager, music and sound design by Adam Raymonda, direction by Philip Thorne and Oystein Brager, production assistance by Maty Parzival and graphic design by Anders Pedersen.
We could not make this show without listeners choosing to support us, so we’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who is pitching in. And a shoutout to our super patrons, that’s Celeste Joos, Heat 312, Rodney Daliege, Jem Fidyk, Alban Ossant, Amélie and Alison, Stefanie Weittenhiller, Rafael Eduardo Wefers Verastegui, Aislinn Brand, Alison Thro, Patricia Bohnwagner, Bryce Godmer, Cliff Huizenga, Michael West, Tom Putnam, Deanna Berchenbriter, Tim McMackin, Blythe Varney, Parker Pearcy, Sophy H, Nitali Arora, Emre çebi, Posh Baby Rentals Florida, Lee & Vee Hewerdine, Mr Squiggles, David Livingston, Toni Fisher, Tibbi, Florian Beijers, Courtney Mays Rensen, Sunny D. Anomaly, Boo and Jacqui Bee.
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And now, the epilogue.
(MUSIC FADES OUT INTO A CRACKLING FIRE)
EPILOGUE
FIELD IN SCOTLAND.
JACKIE
What happened to the instrument? You still have it?
KOZLOWSKI
Ah, I treasured it throughout our stay in truecisselies. After the false start with King Francis, we had a very productive period in Naples. The prince of Sansiviero gave us a room in his palace. The apartment of the Phoneix. The prince had a keen interest in experimental medicine, and commissioned me to make anatomical machines for him. They are actually still on display in the Sansiviero palace! If you are ever in Naples, you must take a look! I wonder if Fiorella’s Glass Harmonica is still there too… I had to leave it behind when we went on our second American voyage in 1832.
MIA
Second American voyage?
KOZLOWSKI
Yes, there was one before. Although, on our first voyage, our ship was invaded before we reached America and things took a very different turn. But… We will get to that.
JACKIE
Probably a good thing you left the instrument behind.
KOZLOWSKI
Well. I was very attached to it. I begged Arthur to let me take it, but he never liked the glass harmonica.
JACKIE
Yes, but all those musicians dying early!
KOZLOWSKI
Ah… Well. Nowadays they say it is because the glass back then contained high quantities of lead...
MIA
Of course! Lead poisoning!
KOZLOWSKI
But I am not so sure... I still believe it is an instrument that can connect us to a different realm.
JACKIE
Did you learn to play?
KOZLOWSKI
Very badly.
JACKIE
But did you, you know, have visions?
MIA
Yeah, what is up up with this M person?
JACKIE
Was that... your death she saw?
KOZLOWSKI
I am telling you my stories backwards, now you want me to look into the future? Let us keep going in one direction or this will get very confusing indeed.
JACKIE
But -
KOZLOWSKI
Let us keep the future for the future.
MIA
Right. So what's the next story?
KOZLOWSKI
A Beach On the west coast of France. The year is 1783.
(FADE TO MONMARTRE CEMETERY)
INTERVIEWER
I hated that instrument!
ALVINA
So I've gathered.
INTERVIEWER
So gloomy! I mean! Give me an accordion, a banjo or some bongos any day.
ALVINA
(Chuckles)
INTERVIEWER
But it made me think.
ALVINA
Think about what?
INTERVIEWER
It made me think about what I still need to do before I die.
BEAT.
ALVINA
And what's that?
INTERVIEWER
(STERNLY) I really really need to see Lorraine.
END OF EPISODE.