King of Classical Music

The Centennial Celebration was an important event for Huaxia's classical music industry. In fact,as early as a year ago, there was already media coverage on the anniversary.Now, in the tense month of preparation leading up to it, there were severalnational-level media outlets speciallyreporting on it, causing tremendous exposure.

The first day he came to S City, Qi Mu assured Zhu Wen Junthat three days of practice was all he needed. Since he dared to promise that,naturally he would not let Zhu Wen Jun down.

At noon on the third day, Qi Mu knocked on the conductor'sdoor and carried in his violin case with a smile. Then, before Zhu Wen Jun'sastonished eyes, he played a magnificent 《D Major》to the man's thorough approval.

Now that he had mastered both songs, the next step was tocooperate with the orchestra.

As the top orchestra in Huaxia, S City Symphony had an indisputable first-class standard, even onthe world stage where the strong werelike trees in a forest. The orchestra wasdisciplined, and each of their members were highly skilled, and their teamwork was bound together with years of experience.

Since Zhu Wen Jun became their permanent conductor eightyears ago, the orchestra had undergone training and done several performances.Even when such an excellent orchestraworked with someone for the first time, they could make anyone feel that levelof first-class music.

Perhaps because they so rarely practiced Min Chen's 《ViolinSonata in D major》, Zhu Wen Jun stopped at almost every movement during their firstrehearsal and pointed out corrections in detail. By the end of the day, oncethe song was about to end, he set down his baton, and the orchestra began coordinating.

It had to be acknowledged that Min Chen's D minor was indeedtricky. When Qi Mu rehearsed the next dayfor 《Liang Zhu》, he had a much clearerimage of things. The beautiful melody echoed in the S City Symphony Orchestra'shall and the media outlets set to work on their reports.

Within a month, media even not in the music circle madereports on it, and the Huaxia National Radio decided to broadcast the concertlive that evening. So everyone could enjoy the musical feast in the comfort oftheir own home.

Qi Mu's rehearsal began the first few days, and Zhu Wen Juntold him he only had to take part once every two days in the afternoon.However, while things Qi Mu felt awkward with the arrangement, the orchestrawas busy.

Qi Mu was only performing the last two songs, but what aboutZhu Wen Jun? The S City Symphony Orchestra?

They needed to rehearse with all the musiciansthey invited!

Take the opening erhu musician for example. She was young,under 25, and she took first prize in the Golden Bell Award last year. She hadnever cooperated with such a formal orchestra before. The song she was going toplay was "Er Quan Ying Yue," the most popular erhu song in Huaxia. Thedifficulty wasn't high, but the girl had terrible stage fright.

After all, the musicians invited to this celebration were all under the age of thirty. Most of themhad yet to leave their mark on the world of classical music, so they did nothave the confidence or maturity to perform so suddenly. It was understandablethat they were a bit timid.

"Say, Xiao Qi,ah. . . the other day, Cheng-jietold me that you didn't have any stage fright at all. I thought it was a bitweird." Zheng Wei Qiao came to S City a week before the event. He was afreelance writer so he would never miss such an occasion. "You've performed onlarger stages before, but it was in your childhood. . . this time, even theconductor's praised your fortitude."

While they talked, Qi Mu and Zheng Wei Qiao were listeningto Zhu Wen Jun conduct Prokofiev's 《Piano Concerto No. 2 inE minor》 in the rehearsal hall.

The piano's smooth melody echoed across the hall, and Qi Mu lowered his voice to laugh, "Zheng-ge, isn't it good that I'm not nervous?Why are you worried?"

Zheng Wei Qiao shook his head. He spoke while typing on thetablet he brought with him, "It's a good thing that you aren't nervous, butit's a bit unexpected. . . This Wang Zheng also won second in Xiao Sai lastyear, but he still makes mistakes while working with the orchestra."

Among pianists under 30, Wang Zheng was one of the best. Ifone did not count Min Chen, who wasunable to participate. By eighteen, he won second in the TchaikovskyInternational Piano Competition, and lastyear, he won second place in Chopin International.

Xiao Sai was one of the heavyweight competitions in thepiano industry, globally. There were six places and one special place awarded each year. It also had a special feature. If the judges thought no onewas worth the first place, they would rather leave it empty than give it tosomeone undeserving.

When Wang Zheng won second last year, the first place wasempty. So in essence, Wang Zheng's skill was best among the young pianists inHuaxia—so long as Min Chen was not counted.

Whenever he performed 《G minor》 solo, WangZheng did excellently, but when placed with the orchestra, he encounteredproblems. Seeing Zhu Wen Jun lay down his baton again and correct Wang Zheng'smistakes, Qi Mu couldn't help but frown.

"I hope. . . the situation improves later."

There was a saying: even when there was good, one could onlysee the bad. In the rehearsal the day before, Wang Zheng had gotten better atperforming with the orchestra. Yet, in the final run through, he played a beatfast, and Zhu Wen Jun was troubled.

For operas, there was a special day of rehearsal the daybefore the official event. This "preview" was a serious matter as the organizerwould sometimes sell tickets for fans to enjoy the rehearsal. The fee was generally a share of the formal performance.

Fortunately, the S City Symphony Orchestra took thecelebration very seriously, and onlyrelevant personnel could enter the hall. Therefore, even if there were somemistakes, it wouldn't have a largeimpact.

Qi Mu, who stood behind the red curtain in the backgroundholding his violin, had his delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly. He watched theorchestra and the figure hunched over the piano. . . the young man's forehead was already dripping in sweat.

Wang Zheng was born into a good family, and he was spoiled by his parents. Though hehad participated in several competitions, he had never interacted with anorchestra. Therefore, he was unable to make the transition smoothly, and he wasanxious. Tomorrow was the event, and itwas impossible to find a replacement. They could only hope he could play normally, maybe even exceptionally well,and would not be hasty.

Once 《G minor》 had ended, Qi Mu saw Wang Zheng's taut figure relax, and he looked lighter.

But this was a much more formal form of rehearsal, soZhu Wen Jun didn't say anything. Wang Zheng stepped down, and Qi Mu stepped onto the stage to perform. Thestaff pushed the heavy nine-foot Steinwayoff the stage, and Qi Mu went to hisposition at the left of the conductor. He raised his head, looked up at Zhu WenJun, and they both nodded. A cheerful, intense allegro rang out in an instant.

The first movement of 《D major》 was fastand the title 《Constance March》 was famous. It was difficultand had a colorful tone. The orchestra listened respectfully to the soleviolin.

Under the dazzling light, Qi Mu's fingers dancedacross the strings. His speed was such that they left an afterimage. His lefthand carried the bow in fast jumps,keeping pace with his other hand.

The piece had a colorful range of sound, from the Gstring to the E, and there several jumps that were challenging.

But this was not difficult for Qi Mu, and he played the piece with ease. Instead,Zheng Wei Qiao, backstage, wore a pinched expression and was in a cold sweat.

Everyone knew that the most difficultpart of 《Constance March》 was at the end of thecadenza——the moment when the bassoon and the violin fused under the chief ofthe bassoon section!

The bassoon was a largetubular instrument, also known as the big pipe. It was heavy and deep. When played, it had a solemn atmosphere, and they were ideal forserious, formal pieces.

Yet, Min Chen did just theopposite!

《Constance March》 was a happy, lively springtime when everything was full of vitalityand renewed. The start also depicted a beautiful image to the audience, and thesudden insertion of the bassoon was always stunning.

The reason 《D major》 did notstand out the most of Min Chen's works was due to its high demands on theconcertmaster and the chief of the bassoons. Throughout the first movement, themain section was the violin and the onlything that accompanied it was the melancholy sound of a bassoon.

But in a happy piece?

Well, the violinist had to make the bassoon witty andhumorous despite its seriousness that offset the song's liveliness.

While maintaining the difficult,complex movement, Qi Mu had to also lead the bassoon.

This was a problem for many violinists, but this time. . .when the most difficult duet came to anend, Zheng Wei Qiao who sat as the audience clenched his fists and whispered,"Good!"

He was so excited that his face was flushed red and his earsrecorded every note that poured into them. Manyother musicians were playing on the stage, but Zheng Wei Qiao's gaze wasfixed on the one standing just left of the conductor!

The youth's skillful maneuvering and the gorgeous, beautifularc of his bow—he even outshone the rest of the orchestra and had the mostunique presence.

Zheng Wei Qiao could only imagine. . .

How big a shock this young man was going to givethe world tomorrow!

Translator(s): Kuro

Bet:

Sorry for the delay everyone. We’ve undergone a minor schedule change. Due to life (curse you, daily necessities), we have to bump KOCM from three updates a week to two. Right now, I’m not sure when exactly they will be, but assume your next update to be on Friday (EST)!