After hearing Qi Mu’s concert with the Palisade Orchestra, Dorenza continued to emphasize how great he was for the Wei Ai members when he arrived.
“It’s a completely different 《Ave Maria》 and 《Blue Danube》! My friends, I swear to the great Strauss that I have never, ever in my life heard such a great interpretation of Blue Danube. Perhaps only young people full of vigor and pa.s.sion can make such great changes!”
Of course, verbal praise, alone, from Dorenza would never make the members of the orchestra understand how different this version of 《Blue Danube》 was. What’s more, the Palisade Theater’s Christmas Eve’s concert was just a performance dedicated to their old audience. They didn’t record the performance so they wouldn’t know how it went.
But they weren’t in a hurry. Isn’t Little Seven here now? Why should we worry about not hearing that version of 《Blue Danube》?
With that thought, the members of Wei Ai were all prepared because a concert that earned so much praise from Dorenza could hardly be a normal performance.
But, never in their life would they expect…
The moment Qi Mu’s violin sounded, it was like water drops falling into the sea, perfectly integrated into the sound of the rest of the violins!
It wasn’t abrupt or out of place, rather, the violin seemed to be a harbinger of spring, complete with morning dew lacing the flowers. It was impossible to say that the sound was not moving! If anyone says so, then their conscience would have definitely disappeared.
But… How the heck did you actually manage such a feat?!!!
This was the first time we have cooperated, okay?!!!
You’re even better than the people who have worked with us for years!!!!!
The elegant and composed melody filled the hall and the wind section, especially the trumpets, roared jubilantly while the strings instruments moved like rippling water, full of tender romance.
Under the leadership of their new deputy concertmaster, the melody of the first violin group was soft and delicate, flowing in harmony. Even the violinist sitting next to Qi Mu couldn’t help but learn from their new deputy concertmaster. They changed the simple, long harmonics to a few short harmonics.
The slight change made Anthony on the podium look at Qi Mu in shock.
Just listening to Qi Mu’s skillful violin was enough to surprise him. Qi Mu was able to integrate his sound into the orchestra’s sound right off the bat, but when he noticed that the child managed to directly affect Mary’s (one of the violinists) sound, he was shocked beyond words.
A genius!
An absolute genius!
He didn’t even need a rehearsal to completely integrate his sound with the orchestra and he can even match his style to a companion’s and make it even more exquisite. Everyone can only sigh when faced with such a talented person!
No wonder Dorenza so seriously recommended Qi Mu at the orchestra’s meeting. Only now did Anthony understand Mr. Dorenza’s intention. Little Seven is so talented. Mr. Dorenza really has vision!!!
Dorenza, who had no idea about what was going on in the rehearsal, looked at a music score in his lounge and sneezed heavily.
It was not surprising that Anthony misunderstood the whole thing. Dorenza, himself, didn’t expect that Qi Mu could cooperate so seamlessly with the orchestra in one go.
But, this wasn’t a performance. No one could perform this seamlessly with an orchestra they have never worked with before. Even Akkad had to have a test run once or twice when working with a new orchestra.
However, Qi Mu just went on the stage and conquered all the members of Wei Ai with a wonderful 《Kaiser-Walzer (Emperor Waltz)》!
At the time, Qi Mu, who had no idea that he had conquered Wei Ai’s members and gained their trust, had his eyes drooped to look at his left hand on the fingerboard. His beautifully slender fingers pressed on the strings. Under the dazzling stage light, they looked like jade carvings.
Different violinists have different habits. For example, Farrell often had his eyes closed when playing to immerse himself in the rich emotion of his piece, while Akkad always frowned with a bitter expression on his face.
Although Qi Mu didn’t frown like his mentor, he liked to watch his fingers on the fingerboard. To be precise, he preferred to watch as his fingers pressed on the strings, as if he could see the beautiful notes flowing from them. It made him happy.
A magnificent and splendid 《Emperor Waltz》played in the s.p.a.cious rehearsal hall. The warm melody and pa.s.sionate tune caused the hall to look as if it was trembling from the resonance.
When the piece ended, Qi Mu put down his bow. With a complicated expression, Anthony asked, “Little Seven… Tell me, have you listened to us playing this piece hundreds of times before performing this with us…?”
Qi Mu was a little surprised at the sudden question. Just when he was about to say he hadn’t, a voice came up from behind him. “Mr. Anthony, have you forgotten that we’ve never recorded 《Emperor Waltz》 at all?!”
Soon, another voice joined in, “Yeah. We’ve recorded Strauss’ pieces lots of time but we rarely performed 《Emperor Waltz》. If I remember correctly, that son of a b.i.t.c.h Zayev wasn’t good at this elegant and solemn piece?”
At the mention of that particular name, a wave of disgusted hiss resonated in the whole orchestra.
Several senior members of the orchestra who were close to Zayev were dismissed by Dorenza as early as Zayev’s expulsion. Therefore, both on the surface and in the dark, everyone in the orchestra got along happily. They no longer cared about offending certain people.
Naturally, Anthony also was reminded of Zayev’s deeds and tutted with a disgusted expression before looking at Qi Mu. He changed the topic. “Then, Little Seven, don’t tell me this is the first time you listened to our 《Emperor Waltz》…”
Qi Mu recalled his memories a little before finally saying, “Mr. Anthony, this is really the first time I heard…” Although he has rehea.r.s.ed with Wei Ai a lot of times in his previous life, he had never heard their 《Emperor Waltz》.
Anthony, who felt like an NPC in a FPS game sighed, “Well, are all young people nowadays this excellent? I thought that only Auston Bertram, who had perfect pitch and top-notch talent can make people feel the powerlessness of a mortal. I didn’t expect you would be the same… Oh, yes, Little Seven. You also have perfect pitch, right?”
Now that the other part has given him a solid reasoning, Qi Mu readily accepted it. “Yes, Mr. Anthony. Because I’ve listened to Wei Ai a lot of times before and also because of my hearing, it’s easier for me to incorporate my sound with the orchestra’s.”
Wei Ai’s members: “…”
Are you sure you’re not the chosen one?!
Even a rocket isn’t as fast as you!!!
Qi Mu didn’t notice the burning gazes of the other members at all. After pondering for a moment, he said, “Mr. Anthony, in fact, I think that in the third part of the second movement, I didn’t synchronize well with the orchestra. It seems that we haven’t mastered the timing in the pause of the trumpets. We need more practice.”
Anthony, who had just gained a second life as an NPC but was shot dead once again: “…”
He didn’t hear anything wrong in the part Qi Mu mentioned…
After the brief episode, the orchestra began the practice session with their respective instruments groups. After all, other than having the whole orchestra in an ensemble, a piece can only be performed neatly when all of the respective instruments groups have mastered their own parts.
At that time, the members of Wei Ai were very happy to have this lovely young man as their deputy concertmaster.
An adaptation of Beethoven’s 《D Major》 already showed them the outstanding skills the young man had. The repeated a.s.surance from Dorenza and the joint recommendations by both Akkad and Auston Bertram gave them plenty of expectations for their new deputy concertmaster.
They weren’t left disappointed.
In the past few decades, Wei Ai, like Bai Ai, had been one of the top orchestras in the world. However, the crown of the “Number One Orchestra” had been always in Bai Ai’s hands, ever since they had Karajan, the maestro of the last century. They performed with infinite glory ever since.
Especially in recent years, with the addition of Christole as their concertmaster, even more people thought that Bai Ai is the world’s number one orchestra.
Zayev was skilled. Among the world’s top violinists, he was even further among the top. But, compared to the gifted prodigy, he didn’t have an advantage, considering his experience. Let alone that, his skills seemed to have declined in recent years.
This was also one of the reasons why Wei Ai’s members chose Qi Mu fearlessly.
Under the bright spotlights, the handsome young man set aside his violin and started to communicate with the members of the orchestra.
The members of the first violin group happily introduced themselves to the young deputy concertmaster while Qi Mu was taken back to memorize the names he already knew from his past life with a smile.
On the first day of Qi Mu’s arrival at Wei Ai, the members of the orchestra were left with an unforgettably wonderful and harmonious 《Emperor Waltz》.
They needed change, a new breath of fresh air, they needed…
(The author has something to say: Innovation and transformation!)
And all of these, maybe this young man would bring it to them.