King of Classical Music 180

Brussels, Belgium.

The bright, full moon hung in the sky. A statue of a majestic knight with the vicissitudes of having watched years worth of history stood at the entrance of the theatre. The statue held a flagpole which it directly pointed towards the sky, showing unstoppable ambition and pride.

La Monnaie was the oldest and best theatre in Belgium. Located at the capital of the country, Brussels, the theatre was like a magnificent jewel that decorated the beautiful city.

This opera house has hosted numerous operas and symphony concerts over the course of 300 years since its opening in 1700.

This was the best temple of music in Belgium, and tonight, music fans from all over the country gathered here to enjoy the audio-visual music feast brought to them by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra from another country.

The hall, which could hold 1100 people, gradually filled up. The well-dressed audience waited for the concert to begin.

This was the first time Qi Mu stepped on Brussel’s soil. Clearly there was only Germany between Austria and Belgium but in the past ten years, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra had never performed in this country.

Qi Mu heard of the famous opera house La Monnaie a long time ago and the building was also one of the eight most beautiful opera houses in the world. When Wei Ai entered the theater for rehearsal, he finally experienced it. The opera house really lived up to its name.

The interior of the La Monnaie concert hall was divided into five floors. Seating for the audience to listen to the concert hall was on the upper four floors. The magnificent decoration and the luxurious medieval Gothic architectural style made the sound effects still marvelous even after hundreds of years. 

“Every time I come to La Monnaie, I think it’s really beautiful here!” Carl, from the first violin group, said, “Little Seven, look at the sculpture on the pillar over there. It’s carved with the statue of the Virgin Mary. I found it after looking for a long time.” 

Qi Mu rubbed rosin on the bow of his violin and looked up at Carl’s finger. He laughed and nodded, “Well, it really seems to be a statue of the Virgin Mary.” 

“It’s so extravagant!” 

With a burst of emotion, everyone felt that the time to perform was growing closer and closer. Some members stood behind the curtain and waited to play. Qi Mu, as deputy chief, naturally went to Anthony’s side. 

The kind old man turned to look at the young man beside him and asked, “Little Seven, aren’t you nervous?” 

The handsome young man held a violin in his hand, standing calmly amongst the crowd in the background. There was no timidity on his fair and delicate face, as if the stage was no different than Wei Ai’s reversal hall. There was no difference in his demeanor. 

Qi Mu smiled wryly. “Mr. Anthony, I’m sure I’m a little nervous, but I believe in the strength of the orchestra more.” 

With a smile, Anthony said, “So you don’t believe in yourself, Little Seven?” 

After a pause, Qi Mu slowly curved his lips upwards and gave a calm, confident smile. “Anthony, the person I believe in most on the stage must be the conductor, and then… myself.”

Anthony once told Qi Mu a long time ago that a successful chief must have composure in the face of danger. Onstage, the chief needed to obey the conductor’s orders most. However, if there was a big mistake that even the conductor couldn’t solve, the chief should help him correct it. 

Even if it ordered the entire orchestra to stop and start again, it was better than having a complete trainwreck. 

Listening to Qi Mu’s words, Anthony nodded approvingly. When the concert officially began, he finally understood——

It turned out the child wasn’t lying, he really had this amount of self-confidence. 

There was still a certain gap between rehearsal and a formal performance. In a concert hall with better acoustics, any subtle sound would be infinitely amplified. Anthony, who stood closest to Qu Mu, was the one who could hear his sound the best. 

The sound of the violin was delicate and soft, and the gap between the conversation with the piano was smooth and natural. Even when the rhythm of a note in the violin group was slightly faster, the child reacted quickly to reverse it to avoid making more mistakes!

If this wasn’t crisis-free, then Anthony really didn’t understand the term. 

Sitting in front of Anthony was the master pianist, Julie Adlitt. Her playing was soft, yet strong, passionate, and gentle. Behind Anthony stood Qi Mu, the young deputy chief of Wei Ai. His playing was laced with stubbornness and anticipation, as if looking forward to the arrival of dawn. 

Beethoven’s 《Waldstein》was also known as the 《Dawn Sonata》. The song used the violin to shock the darkness and welcome the light as dawn was about to break. 

Such an energetic song made Anthony feel a bit out of his ability, but he found that his lovely deputy chief helped him with a little responsibility to guide the orchestra so he could take a breath. 

As if he had sensed Anthony’s emotion, Dorenza waved the baton in his hand and looked at the first violin group, his gaze exactly in line with Anthony’s. At the time, it happened to be the piano’s piece, so the chief conductor of Wei Ai and the deputy chief exchanged glances. 

They all knew from the beginning of this concert, the entirety of Wei Ai was about to enter a new chapter!

There was only the sound of the symphony in the spacious hall. Sometimes it was gentle and smooth and other times, it was majestic and fierce. The guardian of the day was about to break the shackles of the darkness and rise from the horizon. The bright, warm piano burst out a beautiful melody along with the violin and horn, signalling the coming of the dawn.

Qi Mu’s eyebrows slightly furrowed. His fingers pressed on the fingerboard, making his violin sing fiercely. In his hearings, there was not only the sound of his own violin, but also Anthony’s, Carl’s…

The entire first and second violin group, the bass and the cello…

The entire string instruments group, the woodwind instruments group, the brass…

The entire orchestra!

Such complex and vast sounds poured into his mind like a tidal wave, forming a wonderful echo. Qi Mu had carefully read the scores for each instrument group in the orchestra and he could already envision what kind of sound would appear in the next second!

Yes! This was it!

Next was the trombone! Exploding in three!

Next up was the bass! Singing low and a bit muffled!

……

The spotlight was always on the three people on the stage —— The conductor, the pianist and the concertmaster.

But Grant, a famous Belgian music critic sitting on the first row, was surprised to discover he could hear the clear, sweet sound of a violin coming from behind the front stage, blocked by the piano!

The violin was full of vitality. Every vibrato and pizzicato were handled masterfully and beautifully, as if it was a sacred sound gifted by God!

This wasn’t Wei Ai’s concertmaster, Anthony’s violin. Such a youthful and vigorous violin had an unstoppable momentum. Even if there was something trying to suppress its magnificence, the only thing it did was show the gap between them!

Once《Waldstein Sonata》was carried out until the end in the concert hall, the audience immediately burst into thunderous applause at the last note, giving the most sincere praise to the great orchestra. 

Grant was very curious about the person playing the violin with such natural ease behind the piano. Unfortunately, Dorenza didn’t give him any chance to ponder it, as the next moment, Chopin’s 《Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor》 suddenly started.

Followed by 《Military Polonaise》  and 《Heroic Polonaise》 …

Passionate and enthusiastic repertoire resounded one after another, successfully igniting the atmosphere in the concert hall and reaching the climax by the last piece!

The melody from the symphony orchestra still reverberated in the concert hall, along with the echoes of the piano. The series of fierce melodies continues one after another, making the audience excited and unable to extricate themselves from it even for one moment.

Grant couldn’t stop himself from clapping his hands vigorously to one of the world’s top orchestras with a smile.

Sure enough, Wei Ai never disappointed. The conductor brought surprise after surprise!

After that burst of thunderous applause that didn’t seem to end, someone started shouting, “Encore!”

“Encore, encore, encore!”

“Encore, encore, encore!”

The shouts were uniform, as if organized to bring the roof down!

At this time, even Grant couldn’t help himself from joining the audience so Dorenza came back on stage with a smile. He bowed deeply to the audience along with Julie and Anthony and then…

Under everyone’s shocked gaze, Julie left the stage, leaving the piano!

There were four pieces of piano concerto… and for the last encore, she was not playing one?!

Everyone was surprised to see the sudden changes on the stage. Many audience members came to see Julie Adlett, but the outstanding piano concerto suddenly ended. This was something most of them didn’t expect.

While Grant frowned in shock, another eight members of the staff came up and moved the heavy, nine-foot Steinway piano off the stage.

When the shield in form of the piano completely disappeared, Grant looked expectantly at the position, but when he saw the person who had kept him playing a guessing game for such a long while, his eyes widened in surprise——

It was such a young child?!!!