The Centennial Celebration was an important event for Huaxia\u2019s classical music industry. In fact,\nas early as a year ago, there was already media coverage on the anniversary.\nNow, in the tense month of preparation leading up to it, there were several\nnational-level media outlets specially\nreporting on it, causing tremendous exposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first day he came to S City, Qi Mu assured Zhu Wen Jun\nthat three days of practice was all he needed. Since he dared to promise that,\nnaturally he would not let Zhu Wen Jun down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At noon on the third day, Qi Mu knocked on the conductor\u2019s\ndoor and carried in his violin case with a smile. Then, before Zhu Wen Jun\u2019s\nastonished eyes, he played a magnificent \u300aD Major\u300bto the man\u2019s thorough approval. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now that he had mastered both songs, the next step was to\ncooperate with the orchestra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the top orchestra in Huaxia, S City Symphony had an indisputable first-class standard, even on\nthe world stage where the strong were\nlike trees in a forest. The orchestra was\ndisciplined, and each of their members were highly skilled, and their teamwork was bound together with years of experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since Zhu Wen Jun became their permanent conductor eight\nyears ago, the orchestra had undergone training and done several performances.\nEven when such an excellent orchestra\nworked with someone for the first time, they could make anyone feel that level\nof first-class music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps because they so rarely practiced Min Chen\u2019s \u300aViolin\nSonata in D major\u300b, Zhu Wen Jun stopped at almost every movement during their first\nrehearsal and pointed out corrections in detail. By the end of the day, once\nthe song was about to end, he set down his baton, and the orchestra began coordinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It had to be acknowledged that Min Chen\u2019s D minor was indeed\ntricky. When Qi Mu rehearsed the next day\nfor \u300aLiang Zhu\u300b, he had a much clearer\nimage of things. The beautiful melody echoed in the S City Symphony Orchestra\u2019s\nhall and the media outlets set to work on their reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Within a month, media even not in the music circle made\nreports on it, and the Huaxia National Radio decided to broadcast the concert\nlive that evening. So everyone could enjoy the musical feast in the comfort of\ntheir own home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Qi Mu\u2019s rehearsal began the first few days, and Zhu Wen Jun\ntold him he only had to take part once every two days in the afternoon.\nHowever, while things Qi Mu felt awkward with the arrangement, the orchestra\nwas busy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Qi Mu was only performing the last two songs, but what about\nZhu Wen Jun? The S City Symphony Orchestra?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They needed to rehearse with all the musicians\nthey invited!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take the opening erhu musician for example. She was young,\nunder 25, and she took first prize in the Golden Bell Award last year. She had\nnever cooperated with such a formal orchestra before. The song she was going to\nplay was \u201cEr Quan Ying Yue,\u201d the most popular erhu song in Huaxia. The\ndifficulty wasn\u2019t high, but the girl had terrible stage fright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After all, the musicians invited to this celebration were all under the age of thirty. Most of them\nhad yet to leave their mark on the world of classical music, so they did not\nhave the confidence or maturity to perform so suddenly. It was understandable\nthat they were a bit timid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSay, Xiao<\/strong> Qi,\nah. . . the other day, Cheng-jie<\/strong>\ntold me that you didn\u2019t have any stage fright at all. I thought it was a bit\nweird.\u201d Zheng Wei Qiao came to S City a week before the event. He was a\nfreelance writer so he would never miss such an occasion. \u201cYou\u2019ve performed on\nlarger stages before, but it was in your childhood. . . this time, even the\nconductor\u2019s praised your fortitude.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While they talked, Qi Mu and Zheng Wei Qiao were listening\nto Zhu Wen Jun conduct Prokofiev\u2019s \u300aPiano Concerto No. 2 in\nE minor\u300b in the rehearsal hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The piano\u2019s smooth melody echoed across the hall, and Qi Mu lowered his voice to laugh, \u201cZheng-ge<\/strong>, isn\u2019t it good that I\u2019m not nervous?\nWhy are you worried?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zheng Wei Qiao shook his head. He spoke while typing on the\ntablet he brought with him, \u201cIt\u2019s a good thing that you aren\u2019t nervous, but\nit\u2019s a bit unexpected. . . This Wang Zheng also won second in Xiao Sai last\nyear, but he still makes mistakes while working with the orchestra.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among pianists under 30, Wang Zheng was one of the best. If\none did not count Min Chen, who was\nunable to participate. By eighteen, he won second in the Tchaikovsky\nInternational Piano Competition, and last\nyear, he won second place in Chopin International.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Xiao Sai was one of the heavyweight competitions in the\npiano industry, globally. There were six places and one special place awarded each year. It also had a special feature. If the judges thought no one\nwas worth the first place, they would rather leave it empty than give it to\nsomeone undeserving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Wang Zheng won second last year, the first place was\nempty. So in essence, Wang Zheng\u2019s skill was best among the young pianists in\nHuaxia\u2014so long as Min Chen was not counted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whenever he performed \u300aG minor\u300b solo, Wang\nZheng did excellently, but when placed with the orchestra, he encountered\nproblems. Seeing Zhu Wen Jun lay down his baton again and correct Wang Zheng\u2019s\nmistakes, Qi Mu couldn\u2019t help but frown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI hope. . . the situation improves later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a saying: even when there was good, one could only\nsee the bad. In the rehearsal the day before, Wang Zheng had gotten better at\nperforming with the orchestra. Yet, in the final run through, he played a beat\nfast, and Zhu Wen Jun was troubled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For operas, there was a special day of rehearsal the day\nbefore the official event. This \u201cpreview\u201d was a serious matter as the organizer\nwould sometimes sell tickets for fans to enjoy the rehearsal. The fee was generally a share of the formal performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fortunately, the S City Symphony Orchestra took the\ncelebration very seriously, and only\nrelevant personnel could enter the hall. Therefore, even if there were some\nmistakes, it wouldn\u2019t have a large\nimpact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Qi Mu, who stood behind the red curtain in the background\nholding his violin, had his delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly. He watched the\norchestra and the figure hunched over the piano. . . the young man\u2019s forehead was already dripping in sweat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wang Zheng was born into a good family, and he was spoiled by his parents. Though he\nhad participated in several competitions, he had never interacted with an\norchestra. Therefore, he was unable to make the transition smoothly, and he was\nanxious. Tomorrow was the event, and it\nwas impossible to find a replacement. They could only hope he could play normally, maybe even exceptionally well,\nand would not be hasty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once \u300aG minor\u300b had ended, Qi Mu saw Wang Zheng\u2019s taut figure relax, and he looked lighter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But this was a much more formal form of rehearsal, so\nZhu Wen Jun didn\u2019t say anything. Wang Zheng stepped down, and Qi Mu stepped onto the stage to perform. The\nstaff pushed the heavy nine-foot Steinway\noff the stage, and Qi Mu went to his\nposition at the left of the conductor. He raised his head, looked up at Zhu Wen\nJun, and they both nodded. A cheerful, intense allegro rang out in an instant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first movement of \u300aD major\u300b was fast\nand the title \u300aConstance March\u300b was famous. It was difficult\nand had a colorful tone. The orchestra listened respectfully to the sole\nviolin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the dazzling light, Qi Mu\u2019s fingers danced\nacross the strings. His speed was such that they left an afterimage. His left\nhand carried the bow in fast jumps,\nkeeping pace with his other hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The piece had a colorful range of sound, from the G\nstring to the E, and there several jumps that were challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But this was not difficult for Qi Mu, and he played the piece with ease. Instead,\nZheng Wei Qiao, backstage, wore a pinched expression and was in a cold sweat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone knew that the most difficult\npart of \u300aConstance March\u300b was at the end of the\ncadenza\u2014\u2014the moment when the bassoon and the violin fused under the chief of\nthe bassoon section!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bassoon was a large\ntubular instrument, also known as the big pipe. It was heavy and deep. When played, it had a solemn atmosphere, and they were ideal for\nserious, formal pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, Min Chen did just the\nopposite!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u300aConstance March\u300b was a happy, lively springtime when everything was full of vitality\nand renewed. The start also depicted a beautiful image to the audience, and the\nsudden insertion of the bassoon was always stunning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reason \u300aD major\u300b did not\nstand out the most of Min Chen\u2019s works was due to its high demands on the\nconcertmaster and the chief of the bassoons. Throughout the first movement, the\nmain section was the violin and the only\nthing that accompanied it was the melancholy sound of a bassoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But in a happy piece?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, the violinist had to make the bassoon witty and\nhumorous despite its seriousness that offset the song\u2019s liveliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While maintaining the difficult,\ncomplex movement, Qi Mu had to also lead the bassoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was a problem for many violinists, but this time. . .\nwhen the most difficult duet came to an\nend, Zheng Wei Qiao who sat as the audience clenched his fists and whispered,\n\u201cGood!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was so excited that his face was flushed red and his ears\nrecorded every note that poured into them. Many\nother musicians were playing on the stage, but Zheng Wei Qiao\u2019s gaze was\nfixed on the one standing just left of the conductor!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The youth\u2019s skillful maneuvering and the gorgeous, beautiful\narc of his bow\u2014he even outshone the rest of the orchestra and had the most\nunique presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zheng Wei Qiao could only imagine. . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n How big a shock this young man was going to give\nthe world tomorrow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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