Music of the Wandering Stars

 In February, Nina went for her audition at the Canadian Opera Company.  The loyal Larissa left small baby Michael with Boris and went with Nina. For her audition, Nina decided to sing an aria that she performed during the third tour of the competition: “Casta Diva”. Nina sang majestically and the adjudicators were enthusiastically nodding their heads and smiling.
After the audition, everybody shook Nina's hand and she was told that she would be informed of their decision soon. It was not a question of her qualifications, she was assured, just a matter of budget and verification of the available positions. Nina was ecstatic: she made it! She went looking for Larissa and found her in the lobby of a theatre. Larissa looked gloomy and angry.
“What's wrong, Larissa? Aren't you happy for me?” Nina asked worriedly.
“There's nothing yet to be happy about,” Larissa replied.
“Why not? They said…” Nina started.
 “That they will inform you. They didn't offer you an actual contract yet, right? Nina, while you were `schmoozing' with two of the judges the other two men were leaving and I overheard their conversation.”
“What did they say?”
“One of the members of the audition committee was saying to another with an overwhelming enthusiasm, “Wow, what a talent! A real diva… How many sopranos today can sing `Casta Diva' like that?”
“Yes,” the second man had agreed but added, “It's too bad we can't hire her.”
“What are you saying? We can't afford not to hire her. She is so superior to our leading women…”
“Precisely. We've painstakingly built this company and if we hire this Russian woman we would have a real revolution on our hands. She's different, she will not fit. If she was a prima in some other company and came here as a guest performer, that would be another story.”
“But…”
 “Then these two men disappeared. I hope that the first opponent will prevail. However, Nina, your position with the Company is far from certain.”
Nina felt deflated. Maybe, if she picked up an easier aria, and didn't try that hard… It never occurred to Nina that she may be `overqualified'.
“Larissa, let's not tell Anton about that conversation. Just tell him that everything went smoothly. I don't want to worry him for nothing.”
“As you wish, Nina.” Larissa agreed, but wondered how different her marriage was from Nina's. She would go to Boris and tell him every little detail of the audition and that worrisome conversation. They would discuss it for hours and Boris would comfort and reassure her. Isn't it hard to keep everything inside and not to share those important things with your husband? But maybe she, Larissa, was simply selfish to burden her husband with her problems. Generous and kind Nina was much nobler. In fact, too noble for Larissa's taste.
Three weeks later, Nina received an official letter: “We appreciate your interest in our company, unfortunately, currently…”
Nina was stunned. Anton was furious and disappointed. However, two weeks later, Nina received a surprise call from one of the men who had listened to her audition. He assured Nina that her talent was noticed and appreciated and it was a matter of the budget. Nina could not understand more than fifty percent of what the man was saying; however, even her English was sufficient to comprehend the reason for this call. The man gave Nina his name and credentials, as well as the names of the people in New York that he suggested Nina should see. He told Nina to use his name as a reference and wished her the best of luck in the States.
Anton went to another agency, then another. He had several auditions; some of them were successful, some not. He talked to Toronto musicians and befriended several. Only being in Canada he realized how difficult it was to achieve real success in the world of music and how slow was the road to fame. He looked at Boris's life from a new point of view and he did not like what he saw. Boris was working six to seven days a week. His work hours were erratic and so was his income. Boris was playing weddings and bar-mitzvahs; he was working in the restaurant; he was picking up any engagements that the agencies could give him. Despite all of this, Larissa had to take several students soon after the baby was born.
That was not the life that Anton wanted for himself. He calculated that even with Nina's income from the restaurant it would take years before they could buy a decent house and a nice car and afford a good vacation. He hoped for some major contract or some other opportunity that would provide them a steady income and, definitely, interesting and exciting work.
Anton was considering a trip to the States and they applied for a visitor's visa. Meanwhile, they needed to pay rent every month, buy food and pay for transport - money was very tight.
One day, Anton came to Nina with an idea, “Nina, you always liked to style women's hair and everybody loved your work. Why don't you take several clients?'
“Anton, but I work several evenings as it is, and I must practice every day. I want to be in the best shape possible when we go to New York.”
“I agree with you, Nina. But several clients would not take much of your time. It will be a real help. You know how hard I'm working. One of these days I will get a real contract and our money problems will be over.”
Nina made a small advertisement and posted it in the elevator of her apartment. In addition, she asked several women that she met to come over for a free haircut. Slowly, Nina started to build her clientele.