You
You
You
You
This is your last time
Should you be in class?
Maybe teaching your class?
Practice
Every year they invite 20 pianists nationwide to play for them in New York.
Of those 20, they select three to study in Russia.
Now you need to select three pieces and they have to be chosen carefully.
But the first piece, you must be friendly audience.
The second piece is the passion.
Something bold.
Beethoven.
Everybody plays Beethoven.
Let's see how you do with this.
The consequence, you have to leave a lasting impression, something moving.
Chopin again?
Beauty and simplicity, and that's what you'll leave them with.
Me and these pieces have a lot of history together.
First concert I ever attended, the pianist spoke to me so clearly with her music.
Who was she?
She was a genius.
A lover?
Ravel once said the only love affair I've ever had was with music.
You have to be ready to give up everything for your music, Annika.
Michael, you can't have her skipping class for private lessons.
Gordon, I didn't know.
I've got students in with these passes all the time, am I supposed to check every single one?
But she's in your class every single day.
And where are you supposed to be, Ms. Lawrence?
You've been forging hall passes.
You have no right to go through my stuff.
Wrong.
Two weeks detention, starting this afternoon, I've already spoken with your parents.
And you won't be needing these.
Give that back!
This is school property.
Now get going.
Well, if you have to punish her, punish her, but don't...
No, don't take away her music.
You know, if anything, it's the only thing keeping her in school.
Not until she gets back on track with her stuff.
And I got a lot of work to do.
What do we do now?
I don't know.
Can't meet at school.
Well, we can't just give up.
The audition's in two months, and I haven't even started the second piece yet.
I'm going to call some colleagues in mind.
They might have a piano we could use for a couple of hours on the weekend.
Well, that's not going to work.
What are you going to practice?
Don't you have a grand piano at your house?
You could practice there.
Stop.
Stop!
I didn't feel a second of that.
You're just hitting the keys.
You're not playing.
You're not telling me a story.
What would you like me to change?
Change everything.
Again.
Stop depending on the pedal to mask your mistakes.
Ponzi, I've been at this piece for days.
It takes months to master this piece.
We only have weeks.
On the top, without the pedal.
These chords are monstrous.
Stop using your wrists.
Let the power come from your shoulders and down into the keys.
Stop.
There are two melodies fighting to be heard.
They mustn't neglect either of them.
Every note speaks its mind.
Stop.
Stop.
Stop.
Stop.
I shouldn't be making mistakes like that.
It's too close.
You're disappointed.
Hey, come on.
Listen, that's enough for today.
Come on.
It's alright.
It's okay.
I'm so fucking nervous.
Wait, there's no reason to be.
Stop.
Stop.
Stop.
Stop.
Look, we can't do this anymore.
This has to stop.
But I need you.
Nah, you don't need anybody.
Annika, you're gonna be great.
I'm not going anymore.
Don't be silly.
I'm not going to the audition.
Annika, do you realize what you're saying?
You're acting stupid.
Stop.
Stop.
Stop.
Stop.
Stop.
