RSVP

Music's healing power. The week his lover Andrew has died of AIDS, Sid comes home to an empty apartment and turns on the radio to CBC's classical music program, RSVP. Jessye Norman sings Le spectre de la rose, from Berlioz's Les nuits d'ete. The song brings memories to Sid, then he is caught up short when the announcer thanks Andrew for making the request. Sid calls Andrew's sister in western Canada and tells her to listen when it's broadcast there. She calls her mother. Sid packs off Andrew's things: pills, clothes, a hospital bed, but he keeps one particular sweater. A week later, the funeral over, Andrew's father calls Sid, haltingly, to connect.