The Voice of Inspiration

The recording sound engineer turned on the red light for the finale. The audience hushed as did everyone back stage. Jim, the head of fifteen-year-old Lilia’s security, had Bill and Kimo, members of his security team, positioned on either side of the stage. Jim stood in the wing closest to wherever Lilia happened to be, his responsibility as her bodyguard boyfriend.

Jim knocked on her door, “You’re on, sweetheart.” He didn’t say too much because he knew that Lilia didn’t want to be engaged in conversation and lose her focus. She was now “Princess Marie” from the operetta Naughty Marietta.

Lilia only smiled and followed Jim to the stage. The announcer said with a deep bass voice, “We have the honor of welcoming back to our stage the renown, youngest diva, Lilia Faith Christian.” The audience jumped to their feet and clamored in appreciation. Lilia raised her chin and walked onto the stage like the princess she had become. Her grace and beauty overwhelmed the audience. Gasps of awe from the audience filled the air at her presence.

Her mom held her dad’s arm and felt tearful. Her dad grasped her mom’s hand in his. He also felt overwhelmed by the moment. Her grandpa had guessed many years ago what she was capable of accomplishing. Here was yet another indication that he had been right. He held his beloved Mandy’s hand in speculative anticipation and tried desperately to hold back his tears.

The orchestra played the introduction to the “Italian Street Song,” Lilia’s last number, the finale of the program. The recording of this song at the Hawaii Opera had played on public radio every Sunday for months. Everyone recognized it. It was the reason they had come to hear her record with the Boston Pops in the first place. It was also the reason that there was not an empty seat in Boston’s Symphony Hall. The audience, rapt, fell silent.

Lilia began, “Ah! My heart is back in Napoli, dear Napoli, dear Napoli and I seem to hear again in dreams her revelry, her sweet revelry.” She sang with the beauty of an angel with so much precision and accuracy that she astonished the audience. She played the part of “Princess Marie,” royal and yet playful. The audience adored her. When Lilia began the chorus, she took the performance to a higher level.

Her grandpa thought, Lilia is setting a new high watermark tonight. A tear slipped down his cheek. He had known when Lilia had been just a little girl. He had known then that she would become a star.

Lilia sang the audience into a silent frenzy. They listened to every nuance, every note, enamored with the young diva. She began the second chorus and sang the obbligato adding a perfect trill, as pure and tight as the warble of a nightingale just before the grace notes. It took the song to a higher level than what the audience had heard on the radio. The audience realized that they were in the presence of greatness and held their collective breath. Lilia sang the sixth C for seven plus measures ending in a faultlessly executed run. Then, she jumped and sang through the entirety of the chorus with perfect cadence and accuracy as she delivered the full sound of a dramatic coloratura soprano. Lilia held the last “Boom” in the coda, and landed on the F. She belted it out with brilliant clarity and finished it abruptly with a shake of her head.

The audience leaped to their feet, and clamored and clapped. They hollered, “Brava! Brava!” People tossed roses to the stage from every direction. Lilia bowed humbly, then raised her arms up slowly from the sides to the ceiling, pointed at God, and looked up to give God all the glory. That motion sent the audience into hysteria.

Her mom couldn’t control the tears. They rolled down her face, and she knew she would have to redo her makeup. This remarkable young genius was her very own daughter. That knowledge threatened to overcome her.

Mandy looked on with awe that words could not express. “Oh, Lilia,” she whispered.

The announcer walked out onto the stage to join Lilia. The audience quieted so that they could hear. He asked her, “Lilia, please tell us from where you get your inspiration.”

Lilia answered with perfect aplomb and without hesitation, “God is the original storyteller. The story is simply told through us.”

The announcer said, “I present Lilia Faith Christian, the youngest diva.” The audience increased their applause audibly.

Lilia graciously delivered her final line that always created a delirium, “Thank you, thank you for listening.”