Germany, bordered by both the North and Baltic Seas, was a rigorous gentleman"s country.
As a world-renowned industrial place with a population of fewer than 100 million people, it was quite prosperous. In its east-central region resided a beautiful, bewitching city named Dresden.
The Elbe River flowed through Dresden like a silver belt, giving the city the nickname Florence. At dusk, magnificent clouds floated upward, glowing over the river.
Dresden Symphony Orchestra was the most outstanding representative orchestra in the city. Throughout Germany, perhaps only the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra had comparable strength and fame. Anyone who visited Dresden had to find an opportunity to listen to the orchestra"s opera and enjoy their 400 years of history.
Yes, opera.
Unlike many others, the Dresden Symphony Orchestra performed in opera format for most of their concerts.
Symphony and opera were intimate friends. Symphony provided moving music for opera while the opera gave innumerable inspiration to the symphony.
Many orchestras performed together with a troupe at an opera house, but in most cases, they played a grand symphony concert by themselves in a concert hall. The Dresden Symphony Orchestra was an exception.
For example, they would perform Mozart"s most famous opera 《The Magic Flute》 at the local opera house, Semperoper for their evening event next month.
Qi Mu didn"t have much opportunity to touch opera symphonies in the past, but 《The Magic Flute》 was just too famous that he couldn"t ignore it even if he wanted to.
Farrell used his position as chief conductor and music director to open the back door for Qi Mu to perform with the Dresden Symphony Orchestra as a member of the first violin group.
Concertmaster? Naturally, that was impossible.
This opera"s concertmaster was a Norwegian violinist in her early thirties, Jenny Achilles.
While studying at the Munich Conservatory of Music, Qi Mu also listened to the Dresden Symphony Orchestra, but the concertmaster then was not this seemingly delicate, thin woman. So when he came to the orchestra, he officially met the beautiful lady for the first time.
Now that Farrell had decided on 《The Magic Flute》 as their repertoire, the orchestra began rehearsing fervently. Qi Mu remembered that when he first came to the orchestra, he was sitting in the third row, staring at the young lady sitting at the front of the lines in surprise.
. . .
Can a woman so soft and beautiful play 《The Magic Flute》 well?
Qi Mu thought this to himself, but who would expect, after the performance was over, the music left him speechless.
Although Mozart"s 《The Magic Flute》 was a fairy tale, there were many points of conflict such as escape scenes, revenge, and battle. . . This variety was presented in the singing, and the symphony music had to show its vigor.
Qi Mu finally understood why Farrell liked the soft-spoken young violinist so much. When Jenny pulled her bow, she could showcase the force and anger. It was even comparable to the famous midnight soprano aria in 《The Magic Flute》.
Of course, it"s not that Qi Mu thought he couldn"t express the same momentum, but compared to Jenny, he had less exposure to opera and wouldn"t be as skillful. As a result, if you want to compare which was better than the other. . .
"Well, I"m still worse than Jenny," Qi Mu could only smile and sigh.
But privately, Jenny didn"t think this was the case. When she first saw Qi Mu, she shook his hand excitedly and with great joy. Her pale cheeks were tinted red when she said, "Oh my G.o.d, are you the Angel Mr. Farrell often talks about? I really like your music!!"
Qi Mu was surprised, but before he could respond, Jenny"s continued, "Since Mr. Farrell let me listen to your 《Violin Sonata in D major》, I listen to it once a day. You played really well!"
Qi Mu"s eyebrows involuntarily arched high, and he began to recall. . .
When mentioning 《Violin Sonata in D major》, several pieces came to mind. But when it came to ones he both played and recorded, there was only one. . .
"The 《D major》 you played is the best version I"ve ever heard! Mr. Bertram"s music has always been difficult. I liked this piece very much, but I can"t play as great as you did, mine was much worse. Can you guide me, Angel?"
Qi Mu: ". . ."
It really was that one!
Qi Mu"s smile was stiff, and he opened his mouth to reply, but before he could utter a single word, Jenny"s head tilted down shyly, and she whispered, "Actually. . . I admire Mr. Bertram very much, and although he occasionally visits the orchestra, I"m too shy to say much. I heard that. . . Well, I heard you know him well, so. . . Can you tell me what kind of a person Mr. Bertram is, Angel?"
Qi Mu: ". . ."
After a while, Qi Mu"s lips curled up, and he gently smiled, "Jenny, in fact. . . I"m not that familiar with Mr. Bertram either. But if you want me to say something about him. . ." Here, Qi Mu paused and after a moment of hesitation, "He"s. . . very talented."
Jenny was disappointed by this standard street evaluation and nodded listlessly. But soon, she got excited again. She looked directly at Qi Mu and said, "Angel! Since you can get in touch with Mr. Bertram, how could you not know him? Let me tell you something."
Qi Mu never expected this kind of development. Before he could stop it, the concertmaster of the Dresden Symphony Orchestra was already chatting excitedly with her eyes wide, "Mr. Bertram is really a gentleman. I first met him at Leipzig College. . ."
"Oh, yeah, you didn"t know this. I studied at the same college! But unfortunately, when I was half a year in, Mr. Bertram had already graduated ahead of schedule. . ."
On the afternoon of his first visit to Germany, Qi Mu was forced to listen to the lovely Jenny"s renderings of "the great Mr. Bertram" she had known for years the whole time.
In Jenny"s words, Mr. Bertram was quite the very, very talented maestro!
In Leipzig Conservatory"s annual a.s.sessment, the then 16-years old maestro didn"t partic.i.p.ate. Not because he wasn"t qualified for it. . . But because a few years before, he had already won first place in Xiao Sai with full marks. It would hurt the students" heart to let him partic.i.p.ate.
Being talented was not enough!
Mr. Bertram was also very graceful!
Every time he visited, he would thoughtfully bring the members Berlin"s delicacies. Although he looked serious, he was meticulous and considerate.
. . .
There were countless occurrences.
Listening to it going on and on, Qi Mu even doubted——
That awkward, stingy, vengeful, poisonous tongued, and black-bellied man with a good face that he knew. . . Most important of all that fear of bugs, was this really the man named "Auston Bertram"?
All in all, until time for the last rehearsal, Jenny kept instilling "Mr. Bertram is a handsome, gentlemanly, elegant and talented man. . ." propaganda in Qi Mu"s mind.
It was hard to make the loyal Bertram fan leave. A member of the orchestra patted Qi Mu"s left shoulder with feeling and sighed, "Angel, Jenny is. . . She adores Mr. Bertram so much even her husband is jealous."
Qi Mu: ". . ."
After a while, Qi Mu asked helplessly, "In fact, Mark, why do you call me Angel? My English name is. . ."
"Ah?! Isn"t your name Angel? Mr. Farrell has been talking about you non-stop for half a year, saying—— "I met a lovely Angel in Huaxia. His violin was very touching" and so on."
Qi Mu: ". . ."
Sure enough, Farrell was committed to creating black history for him forever. And He. Would. Not. Stop!
Even allowed to join the Dresden Symphony Orchestra as a temporary violinist through the back door, Qi Mu doubted him again, Mr. Farrell. . . is this true love? Or is this really hate?
After pondering for a long while, Qi Mu found a suitable description for Farrell: "Well, he"s both black (hate) and pink (affection)."
. . .
In this way, Qi Mu officially joined the orchestra early his third day in Dresden and began rehearsing for the opera concert next month. Over here, a silver plane from Berlin landed at Paris" Charles de Gaulle International Airport.
A man whose phone calls had been hung up on 22 times in a row and had 53 texts ignored finally couldn"t resist rushing over from Berlin to ask in person.
But when he stood in front of the door with a plaque that read, "Reed Akkad," and knocked for 20 minutes, he never got a response——
Min Chen: ". . ."
After a while, Dylan, who had just bought a hamburger, saw the man standing in the corridor with an unhappy face. He was so frightened that his burger fell to the floor, and he exclaimed, "My G.o.d! Mr. Bertram?! Why are you suddenly here?!"
Min Chen: ". . ."
A while later, the man coughed softly and said plainly, "I have something. . . I left something here, so I came to get it."
What were the words Qi Mu used before?
Good face!
How could the great Auston Bertram with a good face say directly that, "I"ve been ignored by my loved one for three days, so I decided to block the door in person"?
But Dylan, a fool, didn"t think much of it. He nodded and said, "That"s why. . . But Mr. Bertram, didn"t Angel followed Mr. Farrell to Dresden? Why did you come to Paris to see him? Eh. . . Aren"t you friends? Didn"t he tell you?!"
Min Chen: ". . ."
After a while, the cool, elegant man lifted his chin and calmly replied, "Oh, he told me, but I forgot for a moment."
Dylan: ". . ."
He was a bit dense, but he wasn"t stupid, okay. . .
Mr. Bertram!