King of Classical Music

Echoes of the performance lingered in the air. Qi Mu smiled,offering his most heartfelt compliment, "I've heard this piece so many timesbefore, but listening to it live is different."

Min Chen looked up at him. "How do you feel?"

Thinking it over, Qi Mu said, "How to say it. . . It feelsmore real. With classical music, you need to hear it live to really understandit. You're able to discern the little details."

As the years progressed, so did headphone quality in themarket. Such high-end headphones allowed listeners to hear the subtlest notes,bringing CD's flat melodies to life. Through them, music was vivid andimmersive.

But. . . for someone with excellent hearing and perfectpitch, no pair of headphones could match the sound of a live performance.

So, why did most people prefer live concerts?

Electronic equipment could never fully convey the beauty ofmusic.

A smile flashed in Min Chen's dark eyes. He nodded. "It willbe good for you to attend more concerts while you still have the time." After apause, he asked, "What else do you like?"

Qi Mu knew he wanted to play another song for him. Decidingto tease him, Qi Mu thought for a moment then said, "Chopin'sEtude Op. 10, No. 1 《in C major》?"

Min Chen raised his eyebrows.

Most etudes were not pleasant to the ears. Even Chopin'setudes could only be regarded as pieces of melody and harmony at best. Comparedto his serenades, sonatas and the others, they were far from enjoyable.

As an etude, it was meant to hone the performer's skills.Enjoyable or not, a pleasant sound wasn't its purpose. The most importantcharacteristic of an etude was the difficult techniques it required.

Chopin's Etude 《Op. 10, No. 1》 was among the best ofthe dozens he'd written. Even from Qi Mu's perspective, it was one of the mostdifficult pieces to perform. Therefore, when he said he "liked" this piece, heimplied he wanted to see Min Chen's skills at the keys.

It wasn't every day he got to see a piano master perform atsuch close range. Qi Mu wasn't passing up the opportunity to see everything hehad to offer.

Min Chen immediately understood what Qi Mu wanted. Facedwith such "difficulty", his lips curled into a smile. Softly, he asked, "Yousure?"

Qi Mu nodded. "Yes. This piece is smooth and vivid. I likeit a lot." Visual appreciation was still an appreciation. To put it simply, hedidn't lie.

At his cheeky expression, Min Chen smiled. His rare smilesoon faded, but he nodded. "Okay. . . How many times faster?"

Qi Mu echoed, "How many times faster?"

Min Chen's dark eyes were alight with laughter. "Yes, howfast would you like it?"

Although he didn't quite understand what he meant, Qi Muthought for a moment and said, "Twice as fast?" As soon as he said it, he addedwith wide eyes, "How fast can you do it?"

Min Chen raised an eyebrow. "Five times."

"Five times!"

Chopin's Etude 《Op. 10, No. 1》 at five times the speed?

Qi Mu had never seen it that fast before, but since Min Chenwas confident. . . he didn't mind making the request even more difficult.

But, to Qi Mu's surprise, five times the speed. . . was fastenough to make him sick, what madness was this!

Chopin's 《First Practice Song》 was just a practice piece. Themelody was repeated almost completely for its 2-minute duration. Put it simply,the left-hand movements were simple. The right hand had a wide range, though,playing from the bass to the high tone and back.

If Chopin's Etude 《Op. 10, No. 1》 at normal speed was atest of endurance, then. . . five times the speed was beyond Qi Mu'simagination. It entered the realm of the demons.

Min Chen's fingers slid along the keys at such a high speed,they left afterimages. Even Qi Mu, with good eyes for motion, had to bow down.No, it wasn't just his fingers, even his wrists and arms left afterimages, too!

Qi Mu tasted the bitter fruit of his own planting. Now, evenif he wanted to appreciate the other man's beautiful skills, he can't see hisfingers long enough to do it. He should've known from the beginning that sinceMin Chen could say "five times the speed", he was confident and competent enoughto back it up.

Performed very vividly, the two minute piece was compressedto only 20 seconds. By the time Qi Mu immersed himself in his frustration, theetude was completely over.

Min Chen's faint smile was lit by the cold moonlight. In alow voice, he asked, "Did you like it?"

Qi Mu: ". . ."

After a while, Qi Mu hummed and said, "I prefer 《Réminiscencesde Don Juan》."He went on, earnestly and sincerely describing it, "The melody's moving andbeautiful. The rhythm is also very concise and light, it's an excellent piece."

Min Chen: ". . ."

《Réminiscences de Don Juan》was a short piano piece from Lisztadapted from Mozart's opera 《Don Giovanni》. The piece reached 22 points ofdifficulty and was touted as one of the most difficult piano pieces in theworld. Very few people would and could play it.

What light rhythm? Wasn't it difficult to the point of beingnon-human?

Qi Mu firmly said, "I've always liked the 《Réminiscencesde Don Juan》very much, but. . . There are very few albums in the market. Almost no one hasrecorded it, not even you. . ."

Full of lament and regret, his tone seemed to say, I didn'texpect even you couldn't play it. . .

Min Chen: ". . ."

Could Min Chen play 《Réminiscences de Don Juan》? QiMu intended to find out.

As early as his teenage years, he used Liszt's other piece, 《》inhis repertoire for his entry in Xiao Sai. It gained him thunderous applausefrom the audience.

Rosaire, a British pianist who served as the main judge,said, "Your 《Norma》 has surpassedmine and I think. . . if you don't get full marks, then no one will!"

Qi Mu never thought he would succeed with such a radicalattack. He simply wanted to pay him back for teasing him with "five times thespeed."

But. . . Again, to Qi Mu's surprise, he found there werepeople in the world. . .

That were too childish!

When the very difficult 《Réminiscences de Don Juan》resounded in the piano room, Qi Mu didn't realize Min Chen was inspired by hiswords.

Qi Mu had yet to recover, not getting the chance to speak,before the childish man asked, "Do you like 《Danse Macabre》?"

《Danse Macabre》 was one of Liszt's representativeworks. Its difficulty was on par with 《Réminiscences de Don Juan》 andwas also touted as one of the most challenging piano pieces in the world. Inthe words of some pianists, each of the five variations in the piece was worsethan the others. Liszt must have wanted to embarrass the later generations todeath, ah!

Qi Mu was still in a daze when Min Chen asked him thisquestion. He just muttered "Uh," and the beautiful notes of 《DanseMacabre》filled the room.

Qi Mu: ". . ."

After the piece, Min Chen again asked, "How about 《La Campanella》?"

Qi Mu: ". . .You. . ."

《La Campanella》 rang out.

"Do you like 《Petrushka》?"

". . . I really do. .."

《Petrushka》 also rang out.

"《Islamey》?"

". . ."

. . .

Intricate pieces resounded one after another, making Qi Mutaste the bitter fruit. He experienced what it meant when people said: "Youcannot die twice."

Just as Min Chen was about to start another piece, Qi Mugrabbed his hands. He looked up at the stubborn, childish man with a sinceregaze, and said, "Like. . . I like it very much! I like every piece you playvery much!"

Qi Mu's words stunned him. When Min Chen realized what the youngerman said, he felt his temperature rise. The man called "The thick-skinneddevil" by Daniel. . . sported a blush on his ears.

Min Chen coughed softly and said, ". . . Now, since you saidyou liked it, I'll play another one?"

Qi Mu: ". . ."

Even though he liked it, he couldn't stay and listen to morethan a dozen songs without taking a breather!

. . .

When Qi Mu left late that night, he couldn't help but sneakseveral glances at the other man's hands. Finally, he couldn't stop himselffrom asking, "You played so many pieces. . . Ah, difficult pieces. Aren't yourhands sore?"

". . . Not sore. Ipractice long hours every day."

Qi Mu practiced violin for at least six hours a day, so hecould understand. He nodded. "I think it's better if you cut back on the hoursa bit. It will burden your fingers."

Min Chen, who practiced daily for an hour at a time, said,". . . Well, okay."

Qi Mu smiled and nodded after receiving an answer. He said,"Then I'll leave first. You don't have to send me out."

Min Chen took out a large, brown paper bag out of nowhereand stuffed it into his hands.

Qi Mu wondered what was in the bag when Min Chen's low andmagnetic voice rang out, "This is a recording I made last year. There wereseveral of Liszt's works, such as 《Réminiscences de Don Juan》, 《DanseMacabre》and 《LaCampanella》.You can listen to them whenever you like."

Qi Mu finally figured out what was in the bag. It was avinyl of Min Chen's performances recorded privately. It included Liszt'scomplete works. It was absolutely priceless if he put it on the market.

Qi Mu hesitated. "This is too valuable, I. . ."

"I can record anotheranytime."

Min Chen blocked all of Qi Mu's arguments with a singlesentence. Qi Mu could only smile and nod. "Rest assured, I will treasure it andtake good care of it."

After exchanging a few more words, Qi Mu left for his hotel.Just a few seconds after he left, the childish man frowned and whispered tohimself:

"When will he. . .find out what's inside?"

"Tomorrow?"

The man's low voice was swallowed by the darkness of Vienna'snight. No one knew what he said nor understood what he meant.

The hidden thing remained a mystery.

Translator

(s): Kuro

Editor

(s): Empress, Ayn, Bet

Videos:

Chopin's Etude Op. 10, No. 1 《in C major》

Réminiscences de Don Juan

Réminiscences de Norma

Danse Macabre (Video 1) (Video 2)

La Campanella

Petrushka

Islamey