Intermission (Got to Tune the Voices)

[Soft, ambient strings. A single, sustained note. The sound of an orchestra tuning — scattered, dissonant, beautiful. Signor Sammartino's voice, quiet, almost whispered:]

"Ladies and gentlemen. Signore e signori. The intermission. A moment to breathe. A moment to reflect. A moment to check on the bodies in the aisles."

[A soft, distant laugh. The orchestra continues tuning.]

"The voices are tuning. Can you hear them? They're warming up for the second half. They're stretching their chords. They're sharpening their blades."

---

[The strings settle into a soft, eerie chord. A soprano voice — distant, ghostly — hums a single note.]

"That's the first voice. The one who sings the highest. The one who sees the faces before they fall. She's been with me the longest. She never leaves. She never sleeps. She only sings."

[The soprano's note fades. A tenor voice — Signor Sammartino's own — hums a response.]

"And that's me. The tenor. The axe. The thing that makes the voices real. I sing with them. I swing with them. I am them. They are me."

---

[The orchestra tuning becomes more organized. A melody begins to take shape. Fragile. Beautiful. Wrong.]

"The second half will be louder. The second half will be faster. The second half will be the thing that makes the audience forget they were ever alive."

[A pause. The sound of a blade being sharpened.]

"The intermission is almost over. The voices are almost ready. The axe is almost warm."

[The melody swells. The orchestra falls into a soft, haunting harmony.]

"Take this moment. Breathe this air. Feel this quiet. Because when the music starts again… you won't have time to breathe. You won't have time to feel. You will only have time to swing."

---

[The music fades to a single, sustained string note. Signor Sammartino's voice, soft, satisfied:]

"The intermission is over. The voices are tuned. The axe is warm. The second half begins now."

[The string note holds. Silence. Then, a whisper:]

"Welcome back. We've missed you. The bodies have missed you. The voices have missed you. I have missed you."

[Silence.]

Opera, symphonic interlude, male