— I? To be Malú's piano teacher? – asks Maria, surprised. It never crossed her mind that her son would consider her doing something like that. She smiles, with a mixture of shyness and surprise, for she is at a loss for words.
— Yes, what's the reason for the surprise, Mom? – asks Thiago, curious. Never in her life had she seen her mother surprised by something.
—Well, it's not that simple being a piano teacher. Excellence is needed in what makes you know how to pass on knowledge... Not every musician was born to be a teacher and I don't see myself capable of doing such a thing, especially when it comes to Maria Luísa, a rough stone in every way.
—Mama, please, I know you are the best for her. – Says Thiago.
—My son, I'm not even close to being a teacher. – Maria argues, reticent.
— I think the opposite… – Thiago retorts, heading towards his mother. He touches Maria's shoulder forcing her to face him — I still remember the lady trying to teach me and Ícaro on the piano, with all patience, zeal, care... Even though he was against it.
—That's in the past, today I'm a totally different person. I don't have the patience I used to have and Malú has a very difficult temper. – Maria claims, walking away.
— Just like grandma. – Shoots Thiago putting his hands in the pocket of his pants while watching his mother turn towards him — Malú and you not only share the same name, appearance, but also the personality of the two is exactly the same. Because of this, I know that you are the only one capable of teaching Malú.
— I don't know, I need to think... – explains Maria, fearful.
—Let's make a deal: Give her a class today, and if you don't think you can teach her, I'll let you choose the best teacher for her. Are we in agreement?
—Fine. – Maria accepts with some reluctance. —But the teacher I choose for her must fully follow my guidelines.
— As you wish – agrees Thiago, smiling.
— Alright, I'm going to teach this class today, but I can already tell that it will be the last one – guarantees Maria turning and leaving the office.
— I'm sure it will be the first of many. -thinks Thiago.
***
Aline walks towards the music room, finding Malú strumming on the piano, she is amazed at her niece: that is one of the rare moments when she notices happiness in the young woman who had not existed for some time. Malú smiles every time she hits the note of the song Moonlight from the last class, so her aunt sits next to her playing a whole stretch without the slightest mistake, her agile hands run across the piano, surprising her niece who looks at her, curious:
— I learned from the service people – justifies Aline, shrugging her shoulders.
— Rumpf, rumpf! –Coughs Maria, delicately, behind Aline, startling her granddaughter who immediately stops playing. —Nice to know at least the warm–up she taught you.
She walks over to the beautiful solid wood closet, totally ignoring Aline's presence as she walks away. He opens the closet, where he keeps his scores, in folders with year, style and musician. Get the folder named Clara Schumann. He lets out a brief smile as he remembers the first time he heard that name.
It was a rainy afternoon, her father had just ordered her to marry Alexandre, the son of a jurist who was following his father's path. She was sitting across from her best friend in no mood to play when her teacher arrived and found her there.
"What happened? asked his beloved teacher.
“My marriage has already been arranged, which means I won't be able to follow my dream of being a conductor. He replied, lightly playing the piano. He smiles and then faces his teacher saying: What a fool I was to think it would be possible to be a conductor like Chiquinha Gonzaga.”
“Why do you think you can't?”
"It is not obvious? I will marry, I will be forced to be a good housewife, mother and ideal wife. There is no room in the life of a married woman for her dreams.”
“How foolish you are to think so. comments the teacher. He fiddles with his scores for a few moments and then pulls out one with the name Clara Schumann: I invite you to meet one of the piano pioneers, married, mother and housewife. Today we will play your songs and you will see that your dreams only depend on you”
Maria approaches Malú, sits on the bench next to her granddaughter, puts the sheet music for the song Allegro in its proper place and then faces the young woman, saying:
—Today I will teach you. Unlike your teacher, I won't just teach you how to play the notes and listen to the music... A musician is not just about playing the music in its perfection. If you want to be a musician, you will have to learn to treat this gentleman in front of you with respect, because he is the one who will make your dreams come true. He will be your friend, partner, companion, lover... With him you will learn to dance, express yourself, give sound to your feelings. If you don't have the capacity for such a thing, please let me know so we won't waste time. Any questions?
“Why didn't Jaqueline come today?” writes Malú.
—Jaqueline quit and that's all you need to know. – Maria replied, harshly.
—Can I stay to watch or will I be fired too? – asks Aline, ironically.
—If you want to stay, fine. – Maria replies without turning around. She holds Malú's hands placing them on the keyboards — Feel the keys, they are the extensions of your fingers, they act according to what you desire, but this desire has to come from the heart. The keys will convey everything you feel with the music faithfully.
Malú looks at the score, the notes are much more difficult than those brought by the teacher, he is afraid of making mistakes, especially in the presence of his grandmother who has already proved to be an excellent pianist. Maria touches the young woman's hand, attracting her attention:
—I know it sounds like a complicated song, but you need to understand that you won't play it perfectly the first time. The first time, I want to see how much heart you're putting into the classes. Now I will briefly tell Clara 's story and only then will it play. Clara started taking piano lessons from the age of five with her father, an exceptional pianist, but he was very strict, unlike her mother, Marianne, an excellent musician. With the divorce of the two, Clara ended up staying with her father. At the age of 13 she was already developing her career as a pianist around Europe. She strived to be the best both as a songwriter and in performance, learning the most challenging songs from Chopin, Car Weber, Brahms and others.
At the age of fifteen, he fell madly in love with Robert Schumann, a student of his father's, bohemian and totally mentally unstable. Her father was against it, but they went to court to be able to live this love and then Clara got married at 21. After the wedding Clara and Robert started to work together, but it was not the same thing. Clara could not consolidate her career even further with eight consecutive pregnancies, and an abusive husband who always put his career as a priority.
After fourteen years of marriage based on her husband's nervous breakdowns and Clara taking on family responsibilities alone, Robert passes away. Clara is left alone with the children, and starts teaching and giving presentations to support the family. But that didn't last long, as she managed to consolidate her career, being free to compose and give her concerts.
Clara suffered for years from chronic pain attributed to overtraining in an attempt to perform Brahms' orchestral works, but she did not give up. The composer's last years were marked by a brilliant career as a teacher and recognition as a concert performer. – Maria finishes facing Malú — Now touch Allegro with everything you feel now.
Malú places her fingers lightly on the keyboard looking at the score that now doesn't seem to be as difficult as Clara's life was. The first notes come out with fear, slow, fearful, with long pauses, the discovery of the music's sonority impresses Malú for being so sweet, romantic, with time her fingers become more agile, wild, the young woman hardly looks at the score as if she knew the next notes by heart, some wrong ones make her curl her lips, reminding Maria of the gesture she also made when she made a mistake. Aline admires the young woman playing, she seems to have been born for that, as much as she didn't want to admit it, the probability of Malú learning to play the piano was remote if he were living with her.
First, because I wouldn't be able to afford piano lessons. Second, she herself is not a fan of the piano. You still remember how difficult it was for you to learn all those scores when you were younger. Just by closing your eyes you can hear your German teacher screaming for a minor mistake made in the first part of Hammerklavier. Third, she couldn't afford to buy a piano, let alone invest in her niece's career. Malú is already panting when he finishes the song, receiving heated applause from Aline and the employees, making Maria turn and face them, just by looking they understand that it's time to go back to work. Mara turns to Malú:
—Well, now I need you to practice this song three hours a day until you have the ability to recreate it without all those grotesque beginner mistakes. Lucky for you, I've decided to accept and will be your piano teacher. And you, Malú, will be the best musician this Brazil has ever seen. You can withdraw now.
Malú gets up with a mixture of happiness and insecurity. She's happy that her grandmother believes she can be a great musician, but unsure if that's what she really wants to do in life. Aline notices Malú's insecurity that passes her by giving her a slight smile.
Maria arranges the piano delicately, one of the things she will have to teach Malú in the next class is to be more careful with the piano. He's putting the sheet music away when he realizes Aline is still in the music room with her arms crossed, watching her intently.
—What do you want Aline? – asks Maria, closing the closet without looking at Malú's aunt.
— I want to congratulate you on today's class. I thought you were going to be an executioner teacher...
—Today's class was just an appetizer – Maria interrupts, staring at Aline, seriously. —I know you haven't stayed until now to praise me, so cut to the chase.
— I don't think it's right for you to force Malú to be a musician.
—I'm not forcing Malú to do anything she doesn't like. I'm just giving her the opportunity to be more than she really would be with the opportunities she's had – Maria claims, needling Aline.
—She's too young to make such an important career decision.
— New? Malú is 16 years old, it's high time she started making decisions for the good of her future. – argues Maria approaching Aline.
—But forcing her is not the way...
—So what's the way?' Will she be like you?
—And what's wrong with her being like me?
—The problem is, we won't allow her to turn her back on our family and become a wanderer, or a waitress in some hotel.
—I still don't see what's wrong with her wanting to be like that...
—Are you sure you don't see it? – asks Maria enigmatically. —You know how difficult this is and I'm sure you don't want this fate for Malú.
—You don't know anything about me. – Aline snaps, irritated.
—That's where you're wrong, Aline. I know everything about you, everything .