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When Bianca was 5 she started piano lessons and she was a natural. When she was seven, she was practising Für Elise in the living room. She couldn’t get the right key, so she was playing the part over and over again without any success. Thank Gods she was patient and she wouldn’t stop until she could play the piece flawlessly.
After 30 minutes of trying, Nico went to the living room and sat next to her.
“Can you please help me?” She asked with her big blue eyes glowing. “I am trying to play it but it doesn’t sound right.” She said.
Nico denying something to his daughter is one of the things he can’t do. “I don’t know a lot about piano but let me try.”
Nico can’t remember how he knew where to put his hands in the write position or how he could read the notes on the music sheet. There were these random things that were sparking in his memory out of nowhere that he had no memory of.
He touched the keys of the piano and something felt different. Something flashed back to Nico’s memory. He was back in Venice, in his family’s house. He remembers listening to his mother playing Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’, sitting on the floor next to her. They had this beautiful piano made of maple wood and the keys were made of ivory. Maria loved playing the piano more than anything else. She would spend hours pressing the keys and Nico would listen to her for hours without even moving. She had been teaching him and Bianca how to play the piano when they were little. Für Elise was one of the first songs she taught them.
Nico took his daughter’s hand and put it on the keys. “I think I found why it doesn’t sound right. Why don’t you try again?”
She nodded and started playing the piano again. This time the piece was perfect. All the notes were combined perfectly making a sweet, bell-like melody. “I did it, didn’t I?” Bianca said smiling.
“Yes, sweetheart. You did it.” Nico kissed her on the forehead.
“Thanks, Papa.”
“I think Beethoven finally has a worthy opponent.”