As for the world’s top symphony orchestra and Austria’s national treasures, Wei Ai had gathered the best cla.s.sical music talents in the world. In the process, it captured the hearts of tens of millions of music fans with its delicate, gentle timbre and lingering, romantic melodies.
When the orchestra announced the name of its vice chief in early 2017, people all over Austria and even the world didn’t expect that the orchestra over 100 years of age would choose such a young person as its new deputy chief.
If they were told that Qi Mu had been the chief of violin in the Palisade theater for half a year or that he’d gotten full marks in every school a.s.sessment of the Paris National Conservatory of music, those fans wouldn’t care at all.
Compared with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, those honors only showed that the young violinist was excellent, but not necessarily qualified to become Wei Ai’s deputy chief and lead the orchestra onwards.
Even some of Wei Ai’s senior fans had already noticed the young man’s position in Wei Ai wasn’t as simple as deputy chief. Anthony, the current interim chief, was too old to stay in the orchestra for long.
The outside world spread rumors, with major newspapers and magazines carrying out detailed reports and a.n.a.lysis on the matter. Some minor media sources even began staking groundless claims, making the matter even more confusing.
But now, Qi Mu didn’t care.
Dorenza was worried about Qi Mu visiting the orchestra for the first time, so he sent his right-hand a.s.sistant, Roman, to help Qi Mu get familiar with the Friends of Music a.s.sociation building and the training and performance venues related to Wei Ai.
Qi Mu’s handsome face showed a smile when he saw the tall, cold-faced Roman again. He held out his hand and said, “Long time no see, Roman. Today, please show me around to help me understand the environment. Thank you very much.”
A good-looking and polite young man was naturally able to catch the favor of others. Especially during the deputy chief recruitment meeting, where Roman was the person who led Qi Mu into the preparation room. Therefore, he relaxed his stiff expression a bit and began to show Qi Mu around.
In one day, Qi Mu toured the whole Friends of Music a.s.sociation building. From its oldest collection room to its large and small concert halls, the building was simply a history of cla.s.sical music. It had precipitated a deep, profound musical atmosphere.
Qi Mu had been in the building for two months in his past life. At that time, he was busy just trying to get familiar with Wei Ai’s rhythm and complete the cooperative rehearsal. So, at that time, he only used to hang around in the lounge, rehearsal hall, concert hall, restaurants, and a few other places nearby. He didn’t explore much.
That day’s visit let Qi Mu really understand the magnificent building and look forward to his own life for the next year and a half.
After the afternoon tea, Roman took Qi Mu to the rehearsal hall where Wei Ai’s members often practiced.
Qi Mu opened the door and went inside. Before seeing the musicians rehearsing onstage, Qi Mu heard a melodious and soothing 《Little Doves Waltz》
The music was light and moving, like a group of doves walking in the sunlight of Prague Square, fluttering their wings and dancing happily. The sound of stringed instruments was neat and elegant, while the wind instruments were solemn in their strictness. The chief of the orchestra, Anthony, led the orchestra ensemble. Only when the song was over did he discover Qi Mu’s arrival.
“Oh, Little Seven! Have you already toured?”
Qi Mu turned to look at Roman, who showed him faithfully around the building. Roman pulled at the door with his hand and nodded gently to him.
After understanding the meaning of the other party’s intention to retire, Qi Mu looked at Anthony with a smile and said, “Yes, Mr. Anthony, I toured the whole building. By the way, were you playing the 《Little Doves Waltz》 just now?”
Anthony stood onstage and nodded to Qi Mu. “You heard it right, Little Seven. We were just playing 《Little Doves Waltz》by Old John Strauss. Afternoon tea just finished, so we planned to use 《Little Doves Waltz》to adjust the atmosphere.”
Hearing such an answer, Qi Mu didn’t know what kind of expression to give.
Old John Strauss naturally referred to the father of the Strauss father and son.
Different from the taboo of the Chinese people, the father and son, both great musicians, bore the same name. It forced the later generations to give the t.i.tles of “the old one and the young one” to distinguish them.
Min Chen once said that Austrians had an almost fanatical preference for the waltz, especially for Strauss and his son. Originally, Qi Mu thought he was exaggerating. After all, in the Palisade Theatre, only at the last rehearsal in the afternoon would he finish the day’s practice with 《The Blue Danube》.
But… take a look at the representative of Austria’s orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra!
They even played a Strauss waltz to celebrate the end of tea!!!
The members of Wei Ai naturally didn’t understand Qi Mu’s helplessness. He also liked the waltz, but Qi Mu certainly wasn’t as crazy as Wei Ai’s members.
As soon as he stepped onstage, he heard a fat, redhead man sitting on the outer edge of the orchestra laugh and say, “Little Seven, you’re so unlucky! We just finished a waltz, then we’ll have a single hour of training for each instrument group.”
“Yes, Little Seven, it’s a pity that you didn’t partic.i.p.ate in such wonderful music!”
“By the way, Little Seven, at the Christmas Eve concert at the Palisade Theatre, I heard Dorenza say that you played 《Emperor Waltz》and 《The Blue Danube》! I’d like to suggest that we have another waltz, okay?” As he spoke, the trumpeter stood up and looked at all the others in the orchestra.
Qi Mu: “……”
Others responded, “Well, choose 《Emperor Waltz》or 《The Blue Danube》and we’ll play it together at the end of the afternoon rehearsal!”
Qi Mu: “……”
Did Vienna use 《The Blue Danube》for every orchestra to finish rehearsal?!
Why did he never do this in Weijiao before!!!
However, Qi Mu didn’t refuse the trumpeter’s good intentions. When he first came to the orchestra, it would be best to get along well with everyone. At the time, playing a straightforward ensemble would not only help him quickly integrate into the orchestra, but also understand how he should accept or reject the orchestra.
Without affection, Qi Mu directly took his little violin out of its case. He simply began tuning the violin, and before wiping the rosin, he heard Anthony praise, “That violin is so beautiful, Little Seven.”
Qi Mu was a little stunned. At the time, some members of the first group of violins recognized his violin. “Is that an imitation of the Stradivarius style violins? It’s really beautiful!”
Qi Mu nodded. “Yes, this is an imitation Stradivarius violin.”
While Qi Mu was applying the rosin, members of the orchestra had a heated discussion on several of the only surviving Stradivarius violins that could be played in public. Some even directly mentioned the name of “Cannon”, a well deserved treasure in the world of violins.
Listening to the members’ conversation, Qi Mu couldn’t help but chuckle.
He didn’t care too much about the “Cannon”. After all, his teacher had played the violin, so he didn’t feel that it was too far away. Qi Mu thought of the safe in the Swiss bank, where Edith was silently sealed for four or five years.
Now that he had arrived at Wei Ai, it was almost one step away from the stage of the Golden Hall.
Just thinking about it, Qi Mu already finished wiping the rosin. He tentatively played a few notes on the violin strings, then looked up at Anthony.
All the while, the members of the orchestra discussed amongst themselves.
Anthony walked up to Qi Mu and smiled as he said, “Little Seven, I’m not going to play next. I’m going to put you in charge of leading the orchestra. But, since it’s your first time playing with Wei Ai, I’m going to give you a little taste of conductor on behalf of Dorenza. It’s not such a great experience, but I hope it can enlighten you.”
Qi Mu nodded gratefully. “Thank you, Mr. Anthony. I’ll pay attention.”
Anthony smiled peacefully, and he started to talk about “What it would be like if I could touch the Cannon in my lifetime”. After the whole staff had finished their dialogue, Anthony looked at Qi Mu, who sat in the deputy chief’s position.
For a moment, the beautiful, moving voice of the violin rang out.