King of Classical Music 23

An intense spotlight illuminated the small stage, and a tall, slender youth walked to it with a yellow spruce violin in his hands. This violin was a replica, with very smooth lines, but it was truly amazing in its own right.

And her master was also so amazing that the audience couldn’t help but want to see more.

The young man was both handsome and beautiful. Even if his appearance wasn’t the best they had ever seen, it was indeed not bad, and this was especially notable in the entertainment circle where beauties were as numerous as the clouds.

Many people here today already knew Qi Mu. Especially the editors of certain magazines and newspapers. They frequently gave reports on B City’s Symphony Orchestra over the past few months, and there was, occasionally, some news about this young man.

Wang Zheng, the editor of 《Music Hall》, thought this over. The last time his staff had reported about this youth, it seemed that. . . he had become the assistant concertmaster?!

That’s right. At just twenty years old, this youth was already assistant concertmaster!

Qi Mu walked gracefully. Although it appeared slow, his speed was quite fast. In just a short while, he already stood at the center of the stage. Such a small concert didn’t need a host, and generally speaking, the performers wouldn’t even give an introduction. They simply performed.

Qi Mu leaned forward and bowed politely. Then, he straightened up and glanced around the hall. Just as he was about to raise his bow and begin to play, a familiar figure entered his sight, and he was stunned to stillness.

A pair of black eyes were also staring back at him.

This feeling was familiar, and it reminded him of this very pair of eyes’ owner who had sat to the left at last month’s performance. He had glanced up and happened to meet the other party’s gaze.

At that time, Qi Mu thought that the other man wasn’t looking at him, but today. . .

He really was looking at him.

Standing on the stage, Qi Mu suddenly felt amused, and he couldn’t help the curl of his lips. Then, he put that thought aside and raised his bow. Settling it atop his violin strings, the fingers of his left hand bore it down opposite on the fingerboard. A tactful melody suddenly erupted.

It sounded like the warmest wind in winter, and this sweetest sound of the violin made everyone smile. Several of them, as if suddenly remembering something, took out the performance list and looked at it. In the end, they stared at the words “Each song is entirely up to the individual,” and they could only laugh without saying a word.

This song was not 《Tzigane Rhapsody》.

It was Mendelssohn’s 《E Minor》.

This song was known by many, even people that didn’t study classical music. Born in the early 19th century, Mendelssohn had a good family. His father was a well-known banker and his mother, a famous pianist. This German composer was born with a golden spoon, and he wrote several concertos in his life, for both the violin and the piano. Yet none of his works were ever melancholic.

For his most famous masterpiece 《E Minor》, Mendelssohn depicted a beautiful scene in three movements, and the whole song was lively. Many violinists played this song each year, and Du Sheng was one of the best.

But everyone noticed clearly that Du Sheng’s 《E Minor》 was utterly different from this youth’s!

Of its three movements, the first was an allegro. It had the most innovative cadenza, and Du Sheng’s interpretation had an atmosphere of joy. The most common commentary to be heard about it was that it resembled a family gathering, one that was happy and harmonious.

But Qi Mu’s resembled the liveliness that took one over the mountains, past the rivers, and down the streams. Every pull of his body was bend of a stream against a stone. It was crisp and sweet, bright and cheerful.

The young man tilted his head slightly as he played with such care. Notes danced from his violin, enrapturing his audience with his musical feast.

Before, when Sheng Yan Hui and the others performed, Daniel felt that their level was good, but not to the point where he couldn’t think of anything else. This time, his mind could only turn to that familiar melody, playing it repeatedly in his head.

Daniel couldn’t help but compare Qi Mu and Du Sheng’s 《E Minor》. But the only conclusion he could come to was that each had their merits and neither was below the other!

At the gap before the second movement, Daniel racked his brain for every performance of the song that he had heard. He couldn’t help but remember the concertmaster of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra——that short, black man had performed this song brilliantly. Somehow, Daniel had the feeling that this youth was no worse than that person!

“What a sight. . .”

His voice trailed off, and the elegant andante of the second movement began. This movement wasn’t as striking as the first, but Daniel could only think: Who said that Huaxia was the rising star of symphony? He had only been here a few days, but who had he met that wasn’t outstanding?!

These people are all talented!!!

A certain ace agent took the chance to secretly observe the young man on stage.

Hmm, he had good looks. Really good. . .

Qi Mu had no idea that several people were observing him. Although 《E Minor》’s difficulty wasn’t too high, it was still hard to play it well. Skill was only one component of music, but it was not everything.

A thousand different people could produce a thousand versions of Hamlet. Naturally, everyone also had their own 《E Minor》.

Du Sheng’s family had a superior background, and his version was always harmonious and happy. Qi Mu’s was of the joyful pursuit of life, of the aspect that “he wandered alone to every corner of the world.” That seeing all the mountains and looking over the clouds was what provided him the greatest happiness.

By the end of the song, several people were still spellbound.

The first applause came from behind the stage. Then, applause like raging fire roared to life. Qi Mu’s forehead glistened with sweat from paying such close attention to his performance. He bowed and swiftly left. But the applause never seemed to end. Even though he had turned and walked several steps away, it continued on and on.

After walking a dozen steps away, Qi Mu finally turned around with a smile and returned to the stage.

There was a proper noun “encore” (originally in English) in classical music that was derived from French. Translated to Chinese, it meant “encore.” During a concert, when the audience’s applause was long enough, the performers returned to the stage to perform an encore.

This was the first encore to appear in this concert!

Once he had returned to the stage, Qi Mu bent into another earnest 90° bow.

The applause ended at once.

After smiling to express his gratitude, he bowed once more and began playing his second song. This time, he did not play any more tricks and directly performed the 《Tzigane Rhapsody》 he had initially planned to play.

When Ravel composed this piece, he took inspiration from Paganini’s 24th Rhapsody, so the technical difficulty of 《Tzigane》was already high. Under the spotlight, the youth’s beautiful fingers danced across the violin with a life of their own.

As previously stated, Qi Mu had an excellent pair of hands.

The length of one’s hands was not directly related to their accomplishments with music, this could be seen by the Vienna’s concertmaster. He had thick hands, but he still performed wonderfully.

However, when one was good looking, who wouldn’t appreciate something with their eyes that they could also appreciate with their ears?

Especially during the second half of the song. The passionate music baptized the audience with sound, and some couldn’t help but beat out the melody against the chair with their fingers. To give Qi Mu an accompaniment in his “performance.”

The end of this music was both gorgeous and dazzling. Qi Mu’s fingers of white jade danced across the strings, and the audience’s eyes could hardly keep up with their afterimages. The atmosphere heated up and when that last note belted free, it was followed by a thunder of applause.

Qi Mu’s sweat had plastered his hair to his forehead.

The 《E Minor》 solo had lasted for ten minutes, and 《Tzigane》 was of similar length. The latter was also filled with tricky parts, and the fingers of his left hand felt a little numb. Well——the original had not touched the violin for many years and only those who had trained for more than a year could play those two songs continuously.

But the applause was not stopping.

Qi Mu reluctantly gave a bitter smile. This smile was seen by some women in the audience, but they couldn’t help but clap even harder.

Qi Mu: “. . .” He really didn’t have the stamina to do another song!

“Bravo!”

Just when he felt helpless, a man’s magnetic voice suddenly echoed over the unified applause. Turning in that direction, he saw a cold, tall man standing up and staring back at him calmly, still clapping.

He didn’t smile, but his dark gaze was focused on Qi Mu. His gaze was so penetrating that Qi Mu couldn’t help but shift his eyes away and refuse to meet his gaze again.

. . .Since Min Chen had stood up, the others couldn’t remain sitting.

Few people would call out a “Bravo” in a small concert like this, especially in the face of a personal solo. But since it was Min Chen who said it, what could they say? They could only stand up along with this rogue that didn’t follow the rules.

Min Chen’s voice had interrupted the “encore applause” that had been condensed together, and Qi Mu took the opportunity to escape. He walked away from the stage and quickly entered the backstage so fast, he may as well have flown. God only knew that he didn’t have the strength to play a song that was even harder than 《Tzigane》.

This wasn’t an orchestra’s performance, and each club was only responsible for a part of the performance, so it was possible to take a break. This was his solo, so. . . it absolutely could not go wrong.

What Qi Mu didn’t know was that behind him, the handsome man watched him flee silently and remained standing. He didn’t sit down. . . so the others didn’t want to sit down. So the atmosphere became awkward as the entire audience remained upright since no one wanted to sit first.

Daniel was the first to notice that something wasn’t right.

He reached out to pull this “only going to make trouble” man down and whispered, “Min, what medicine did you take today? I want to hear the Xiao Tian Shi play a bit more. How could you let him get away?”

“Xiao Tian Shi?” Min Chen raised an eyebrow.

Daniel took it for granted and nodded, “Yeah, is he not an angel? It is so hard to find a Chinese that’s marked so clearly and with such skill. The last one was Lu Zi Wen, he. . .  well, I didn’t say anything!”

In the blink of an eye, Min Chen’s smile was still, and he remained silent for a while. Then he gently shook his head and changed topics, “Qi Mu’s left hand was trembling a little, he needed the rest.” His tone seemed flat, but it was unconsciously a few degrees lower.

Daniel scolded himself in his heart for a long time, then looked at Min Chen and asked carefully, “Min, how did you know that Xiao Tian Shi needed to rest? I think he still looked pretty good. Even if he wasn’t, he could still play a gentle piece to calm the atmosphere.”

Unexpectedly, Min Chen shook his head, and his dark eyes flashed with a strange light.

“He wouldn’t choose a dull song, he would. . . select something even more intense, something like Paganini’s 《D Major》.”

Daniel looked at him: “How do you know?”

Min Chen turned his head and glanced at him: “Intuition.”

“. . .”

Translator(s): Kuro
Editor(s): Bet