Spot the Reference, Akt 17

[ingvild.livejournal.com]

And we're back on a Monday. From now on, I'll be keeping to my old posting schedule. Last post was here.



Subtitle: Carmen Aragonaise

Introduction:
Once upon a time, there was a young man with a beautiful face.
The people loved the handsome young man, but he never showed interest in loving anyone. This was because all he loved was himself.
When the young man, who neglected to love and sought only to be loved, found someone he truly cared for, he realized that he had lost the words to even express those feelings.

Crow victim: Femio

Music:
The Monster Raven’s rage: Mussorgsky, Modest (orch. Ravel): Pictures at an Exhibition: Gnomus
Femio’s approach: Debussy, Claude: Prelude to an Afternoon of a Faun
Pike & Lilie take off and leave Ahiru to face Femio alone: Bizet, Georges: Carmen: Act IV – Prelude “Aragonaise”
Femio offers a rose and speaks of being a true Prince: same: same: Habanera (orch. arr. of Act I “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle”)
Femio in languorous mode: Debussy, Claude: Prelude to an Afternoon of a Faun
Femio appears at the mention of the word “Prince,” Ahiru tries to restrain the impulse to quack: Bizet, Georges: Carmen: Act IV – Prelude “Aragonaise”
Femio rhapsodizes randomly, Ahiru flees, Femio regrets his beauty and notices Rue: same: same: Habanera (orch. arr. of Act I “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle”)
Femio speaks again of being a true Prince and of his desire for everyone to love him, Rue remembers the Monster Ravens threat that only he and the Mytho are capable of loving her, Rue sees a use for Femio, Femio’s agent suggests pursuit: Dvořák, Antonin: Symphony No..9 “From the New World”: Mvt 3 – Molto vivace
Femio tries to break into the regular class with his search for “true art” unfettered by concern for skill, Femio offers Ahiru another rose and explains that there are feelings that can be expressed without words, Mytho pained by thoughts of Tutu, Mytho presents a pose of love and collapses, Drosselmeyer wonders if the Prince is reviving or screaming silently: Debussy, Claude: Prelude to an Afternoon of a Faun
Neko-sensei visits Mytho in the infirmary, Mytho asks if love is brightest when it drives one to death, Rue visits Mytho and he mocks her, Fakir finds a story with its ending torn out, a mysterious figure is seen for a moment: Mussorgsky, Modest (orch. Ravel): Pictures at an Exhibition: The Old Castle
Femio rhapsodizes absurdly by the fountain, everyone flees: Bizet, Georges: Carmen: Habanera (orch. arr. of Act I “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle”)
Rue draws Femio away with her: Debussy, Claude: Prelude to an Afternoon of a Faun
Femio asks what Rue intends for them to do, she hopes that he will make a good sacrifice, Femio agonizes over the depth of his sins, Kraehe appears, Ahiru realizes where Femio & Rue are and changes into Tutu, Femio is unable to say he will love only Kraehe and breaks the sacrificial spell, Tutu misunderstands and tries to free Femio, Kraehe & Tutu are both shocked by his weirdness, Femio’s punishment arrives in the form of a stampede: Bizet, Georges: Carmen: Act IV – Prelude “Aragonaise”
The townfolk wonder at the herd of cattle, Ahiru surprises Fakir by demonstrating the pose of love that Mytho had shown earlier, Mytho mocks Rue for being unable to tempt anyone into loving her as he can: Saint-Saëns, Camille: Carnival of the Animals: Aquarium

Okay, first off, Femio speaks French occasionally, and apart from the Dvorak symphony and Mussorgsky (the version of which they are using was orchestrated by French composer Ravel), all the composers in this Akt are French. Carmen, however, is set in Spain, where bullfighting also comes from.

The title Crime and Punishment is the same as the novel by Dostoyevsky, which has NOTHING in common with this Akt.

A few red threads going through the story:
- Mytho is starting to act more cruelly towards Rue/Kraehe
- Fakir finds torn books
- A mysterious person in a cloak is briefly glimpsed
- Autor shushes Uzura in the library
- Uzura starts her fascination with "lovey-dovey-zura!"

Other things: Mr. Cat says that sacrifice is not enough for love to shine.

The dance Femio performs in class was first performed by ballet genius Nijinsky. The composer, Debussy, was one of the people at the head of the new movement in music, impressionism.

Femio is truly a narcissist, and there are some paralells to Narcissus, but not too many.

In Akt 14 we learned the pose of death, now we learn the pose of love. (Fakir is doing that one in the intro music, isn't he? At the "dance the pas de deux of life" part?)

Until next week, then, Tutuistas! Take it away.