Sonata No.9 | MYG 🔞

38| Spotlight

Soundtrack: Sonata No.9 by Beethoven

There was nothing like stepping on stage, the feeling of the spotlights washing over, blinding and so brilliant, the silence of the crowd while the energy of the audience still reached over and bathed the scene with its energy.

Yoongi followed Victoria into the light, her raven hair glimmering, every crease in her dress looking sharper and rawer under the crude white glow. She reached her spot on the scene, wiping her clammy hand on the skirt of her dress before turning to Yoongi, watching him opening the piano lid at the right aperture before adjusting the bench to his height.

Finally he sat down, positioning his hands over the keys and the speakers boomed over their heads, announcing their turn.

"Number 143, Yoongi Min and Victoria Provencher interpreting the Kreutzer Sonata by Beethoven."

There were a few polite applauds coming from the audience and Yoongi saw Victoria swallow thickly from the corner of his eyes, readjusting her shoulder pad and pushing her braids away from her face. At the bottom right of the stage, a cameraman was standing, the big equipment directed right at the girl who uneasily looked away.

She put her violin on her shoulder, looked back one last time at Yoongi who encouragingly smiled at her, then turned to the crowd, letting out a breath before drawing her bow on the strings.

The first chords resonated into the space, Victoria taking charge right at the beginning, loud and slow, with a certain softness to it, a steady vibrato slowing towards the end until Yoongi joined her, the biting notes of the piano asserting its place, answering the violin's chords.

They continued hand in hand, painfully slow and gentle, dragging the notes until the main melody embarked, suddenly rapid and louder, blooming above them to fill the whole space. Each note was perfectly balanced, practised and repeated so many times before, it was now only a matter of habit and confidence to throw them to the audience.

Yoongi was in his happy place. With his entire being focused on what he was playing, he couldn't feel anything else around him than the presence of Victoria at his side, the warmness of her harmonies so tightly intertwining his, the feeling of his fingertips against the ivory, and his heart, pumping blood fast in his veins. It was adrenaline and endorphins all at once, the high of the crowd taking over him, as addictive as ever.

They were doing good so far.

Yoongi gazed at Victoria sideways. Her posture was relaxed, her bow dancing on her strings, an expression of pure focus on her face as she played so superbly, he suddenly lost all of his worries and completely focused on his part.

They reached this point where their music, two sideway melodies, merged in one so perfectly choreographed refrain, it seemed like their souls joined and melded, becoming one. The chemistry between them was so undeniably strong, the pianist could physically feel it on his body, shivers running through his spine as his heartbeat picked up.

Victoria's trills were tighter than usual, her vibrato richer, her intonations so amazingly impeccable, displaying with so much authenticity the emotions conveyed by the piece, Yoongi felt his chest constrict. There was so much passion, so much rage, sadness, and love in the way she played, he could feel the tight knot of feelings in his stomach as his fingers hammered the keys, saying back with his music everything she was expressing.

The end of the first movement was brutal, the slow eerie notes coming back to almost ferocious and fast in an explosive series of arpeggios, until the very end when the chords were simultaneously delivered by both instruments, thundering in the room.

One done, two to go.

The second movement began as very lyrical to become a playful dance, a game of hooky between the violin and the piano, responding to each other in an accelerated, almost flirtatious cadence. Yoongi suddenly understood Tolstoy's idea that the piece evoked erotic feelings. There was just something sensual about the way the violin changed from playful to slow and heavy, the notes sliding instead of hitting and jumping, succumbing to the piano so easily, almost submissive in the way it responded to its dragging chime.