King of Classical Music

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In autumn, S City was different from B City as it did not enter a cold season quite as early. The S City Concert Hall stood in the bustling city’s center and had nearly a hundred years of history. Sixteen ochre-colored marble pillars surrounded the concert hall, giving the architecture an elegant and solemn look.

In the evening, there were more and more cars crowding the front of the hall. One by one, people got out of the cars and stepped onto the red carpet, then entered the arch into the building. Among them, there was an old man who appeared calm and respectable, and he was escorted to a room on the second floor.

The front seat was already warming up to the point of boiling while backstage, everyone was busy making final checks before going on stage. Du Sheng, the concertmaster, was carefully examining his violin. After confirming that there were no problems, he went to examine the first violin group.

B City Symphony Orchestra’s performance uniform was a light black, form-fitting suit with a slim crimson tie carefully wrapped around the neck.

Qi Mu pinned a sapphire tie clip to his tie. The bright lights shone down on him from top to bottom, making the blue sapphire look even more enchanting. Qi Mu was already handsome and, when carefully dressed, even Tan Lao, who had just entered the backstage, couldn’t help but look at him.

How to say it?

It was not that other people were too ordinary. It was he that was just. Too. much!

Tan Lao finally gave some words of encouragement to everyone and, after thunderous applause, the orchestra members entered the stage one by one starting from the wind instruments to sit in their positions. When Du Sheng finally sat, the red curtain that separated the stage and the audience slowly opened.

Tan Lao rearranged his clothing, took a deep breath, and finally stepped onto the stage.

Another round of enthusiastic applause roared to life.

Unlike some conductors, Tan Lao didn’t like doing an introduction or demonstration. He gave a direct bow and stood at his podium. At this moment, he made eye contact with the orchestra members and, without any verbal confirmation, he grasped his baton.

Then, Dvorak’s 《Symphony No. 6》 began.

Dvorak was the most famous music maestro from the Czech Republic, and he wrote numerous musical pieces throughout his life. With orthodox direction dominating his musical style, he also incorporated the sweet and fresh scenery of the countryside in his home country to make people feel at ease.

《Symphony No. 6》 was one of Dvorak’s nine symphonies. Although it did not compare to 《Symphony No. 8》 nor was it as world-famous as 《Symphony No. 9》, it had a solemn opening that revealed the musical influence that precipitated the maestro’s life.

“Allegro non tanto” was the rhythm rate of the first movement in Symphony No. 6. When the whole song entered a good pace, Qi Mu looked up at Tan Lao on the conductor’s podium. With just eye contact, Qi Mu inserted his violin into the music and, like that, the second violin group accompanied the ensemble.

Someone once said that the second violin group was the shadow companion of the first violin group. This also implied that in comparison to the first violin group, the second violin group was far less important.

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But, in fact, for musicians who really understood music, the second violin group was as important as the first. Although they do not stand out to the audience as the first violin group did, a song could never be perfectly played without them.

In the box at the easternmost side of the second floor, a white-haired old man closed his eyes and listened carefully. He listened to the whole song from the second movement’s adagio to the third movement’s scherzo. When the whole orchestra was about to play the final movement, and the whole piece was sublimated, the old man suddenly opened his eyes and sighed.

“Wu Lao. . . what is it?” asked a young man beside him.

Wu Lao was sitting on the soft sofa, and his eyes seemed to be casually looking at the orchestra on the stage. But only he knew that he was focused on the young man sitting at the right side of the orchestra. He then asked, “Xiao Chen, can you hear. . . Qi Mu’s violin?”

The young man startled a bit, but then he listened carefully. After a while, he shook his head with shame and said, “I can hear the second violin group, but I can’t distinguish. . . which one is his.”

“His violin is calm and restrained. The tremolo which had a turning point in the third movement was also smoothed out. Unexpectedly, in the many years I haven’t seen him. . . Qi Mu’s skills not only didn’t decrease but actually increased. It truly. . . amazes me.” Old Wu said while looking at the handsome and beautiful youth on the stage from afar then narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know what kind of experience he had that polished him. This youngster used to be a show off, so it was impossible for him to play in an orchestra. What a surprise. . . what a surprise indeed. . .”

Xiao Chen was astonished hearing Wu Lao’s words, but he also felt it was incredible. Because he also knew, for Wu Lao it was unnecessary to tell such a lie. What he couldn’t hear, naturally the old man could.

And a similar conversation also happened in the middle box.

An elegant woman looked at the handsome youth in surprise, her beautiful eyes wide. After a while, she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and asked the dignified, middle-aged man beside her, “Wen Jun, how did Qi Mu. . . change so much? He wasn’t like this before.”

The man thought about it and replied, “We haven’t seen him for many years, and he’s still young. It’s normal for him to change.”

The woman listened a bit more and, after the second performance finished, she couldn’t help but say, “The change in Qi Mu is too great. Although I can’t hear it completely, I can still hear a little of his violin. But, from what I can hear, his level exceeds the chief’s.” After a pause, the woman glanced at her husband and said, “Wen Jun, when I wanted to take Qi Mu into S City Symphony Orchestra, what did you say back then? You said that he was rebellious and needed some time to grow up. Do you regret it now?”

The man smiled helplessly, and his wife didn’t say anything else.

The two were the current conductor of the S City Symphony Orchestra, Zhu Wen Jun, and his wife, Cheng Ting Wen, the music director of the same orchestra.

. . .

At the end of the first half of the show, the roaring applause drowned out the stage.

The second half started with Mendelssohn’s 《Violin Concerto in E Minor》 led by Du Sheng. Although this piece only had the difficulty level of 10 in examination, it firmly occupied the title of world’s Top Ten Violin Piece.

With Du Sheng leading the orchestra on this masterpiece, it was truly both seamless and flawless.

After their good start, a louder “Bravo” constantly sounded in the concert hall. When the last song, Dvorak’s 《Symphony No. 8》 ended, Tan Lao waved his baton and sweat dripped down his forehead.

The music boiled to an apex then abruptly stopped, and only the echoes of it remained. Some people in the hall were unable to regain their wits. The old man in a box on the left side of the second floor suddenly stood up and shouted loudly——

“Bravo!”

At that, the audience gave a thunderous applause.

All the members of the orchestra rose up in succession and bowed to the audience under the leadership of the conductor and concertmaster. Among them, a youth was bowing alongside the orchestra members, but when he stood up, he couldn’t help but look toward the old man on the second floor who was the first to applaud.

“Wu. . . Sheng Tao?”

Qi Mu’s whispered words were overwhelmed by the warm applause from the audience. When all of the orchestra’s members gathered behind the stage, the grey-haired old man suddenly appeared beside Tan Lao. After saying a few words and laughing, Tan Lao found Qi Mu.

With a stern expression, Tan Lao said, “Qi Mu, come here!”

Qi Mu: “. . .”

Why did he feel like he was being called by a teacher and about to get a scolding?

Hmm. . . It must be an illusion.

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Translated by Kuroshinji, edited by Betwixted.