King of Classical Music Chapter 87

Echoes of the performance lingered in the air . Qi Mu smiled, offering his most heartfelt compliment, “I’ve heard this piece so many times before, but listening to it live is different . ”

Min Chen looked up at him . “How do you feel?”

Thinking it over, Qi Mu said, “How to say it . . . It feels more real . With classical music, you need to hear it live to really understand it . You’re able to discern the little details . ”

As the years progressed, so did headphone quality in the market . Such high-end headphones allowed listeners to hear the subtlest notes, bringing CD’s flat melodies to life . Through them, music was vivid and immersive .  

But . . . for someone with excellent hearing and perfect pitch, no pair of headphones could match the sound of a live performance .

So, why did most people prefer live concerts?

Electronic equipment could never fully convey the beauty of music .

A smile flashed in Min Chen’s dark eyes . He nodded . “It will be good for you to attend more concerts while you still have the time . ” After a pause, he asked, “What else do you like?”

Qi Mu knew he wanted to play another song for him . Deciding to tease him, Qi Mu thought for a moment then said, “Chopin’s Etude Op . 10, No . 1 《in C major》?”

Min Chen raised his eyebrows .

Most etudes were not pleasant to the ears . Even Chopin’s etudes could only be regarded as pieces of melody and harmony at best . Compared to his serenades, sonatas and the others, they were far from enjoyable .

As an etude, it was meant to hone the performer’s skills . Enjoyable or not, a pleasant sound wasn’t its purpose . The most important characteristic of an etude was the difficult techniques it required .  

Chopin’s Etude 《Op . 10, No . 1》 was among the best of the dozens he’d written . Even from Qi Mu’s perspective, it was one of the most difficult pieces to perform . Therefore, when he said he “liked” this piece, he implied he wanted to see Min Chen’s skills at the keys .

It wasn’t every day he got to see a piano master perform at such close range . Qi Mu wasn’t passing up the opportunity to see everything he had to offer .  

Min Chen immediately understood what Qi Mu wanted . Faced with such “difficulty”, his lips curled into a smile . Softly, he asked, “You sure?”

Qi Mu nodded . “Yes . This piece is smooth and vivid . I like it a lot . ” Visual appreciation was still an appreciation . To put it simply, he didn’t lie .

At his cheeky expression, Min Chen smiled . His rare smile soon faded, but he nodded . “Okay . . . How many times faster?”

Qi Mu echoed,  “How many times faster?”

Min Chen’s dark eyes were alight with laughter . “Yes, how fast would you like it?”

Although he didn’t quite understand what he meant, Qi Mu thought for a moment and said, “Twice as fast?” As soon as he said it, he added with wide eyes, “How fast can you do it?”

Min Chen raised an eyebrow . “Five times . ”

 “Five times!”

Chopin’s Etude 《Op . 10, No . 1》 at five times the speed?

Qi Mu had never seen it that fast before, but since Min Chen was confident . . . he didn’t mind making the request even more difficult .

But, to Qi Mu’s surprise, five times the speed . . . was fast enough to make him sick, what madness was this!

Chopin’s 《First Practice Song》 was just a practice piece . The melody was repeated almost completely for its 2-minute duration . Put it simply, the left-hand movements were simple . The right hand had a wide range, though, playing from the bass to the high tone and back .

If Chopin’s Etude 《Op . 10, No . 1》 at normal speed was a test of endurance, then . . . five times the speed was beyond Qi Mu’s imagination . It entered the realm of the demons .

Min Chen’s fingers slid along the keys at such a high speed, they left afterimages . Even Qi Mu, with good eyes for motion, had to bow down . No, it wasn’t just his fingers, even his wrists and arms left afterimages, too!

Qi Mu tasted the bitter fruit of his own planting . Now, even if he wanted to appreciate the other man’s beautiful skills, he can’t see his fingers long enough to do it . He should’ve known from the beginning that since Min Chen could say “five times the speed”, he was confident and competent enough to back it up .

Performed very vividly, the two minute piece was compressed to only 20 seconds . By the time Qi Mu immersed himself in his frustration, the etude was completely over .

Min Chen’s faint smile was lit by the cold moonlight . In a low voice, he asked, “Did you like it?”

Qi Mu: “ . . . ”

After a while, Qi Mu hummed and said, “I prefer 《Réminiscences de Don Juan》 . ” He went on, earnestly and sincerely describing it, “The melody’s moving and beautiful . The rhythm is also very concise and light, it’s an excellent piece . ”

Min Chen: “ . . . ”

《Réminiscences de Don Juan》was a short piano piece from Liszt adapted from Mozart’s opera 《Don Giovanni》 . The piece reached 22 points of difficulty and was touted as one of the most difficult piano pieces in the world . Very few people would and could play it .

What light rhythm? Wasn’t it difficult to the point of being non-human?

Qi Mu firmly said, “I’ve always liked the 《Réminiscences de Don Juan》 very much, but . . . There are very few albums in the market . Almost no one has recorded it, not even you . . . ”

Full of lament and regret, his tone seemed to say, I didn’t expect even you couldn’t play it . . .

Min Chen: “ . . . ”

Could Min Chen play 《Réminiscences de Don Juan》? Qi Mu intended to find out .

As early as his teenage years, he used Liszt’s other piece, 《Réminiscences de Norma》in his repertoire for his entry in Xiao Sai . It gained him thunderous applause from the audience .

Rosaire, a British pianist who served as the main judge, said, “Your 《Norma》 has surpassed mine and I think . . . if you don’t get full marks, then no one will!”

Qi Mu never thought he would succeed with such a radical attack . He simply wanted to pay him back for teasing him with “five times the speed . ”

But . . . Again, to Qi Mu’s surprise, he found there were people in the world . . .

That were too childish!

When the very difficult 《Réminiscences de Don Juan》 resounded in the piano room, Qi Mu didn’t realize Min Chen was inspired by his words .

Qi Mu had yet to recover, not getting the chance to speak, before the childish man asked, “Do you like 《Danse Macabre》?”

《Danse Macabre》 was one of Liszt’s representative works . Its difficulty was on par with 《Réminiscences de Don Juan》 and was also touted as one of the most challenging piano pieces in the world . In the words of some pianists, each of the five variations in the piece was worse than the others . Liszt must have wanted to embarrass the later generations to death, ah!

Qi Mu was still in a daze when Min Chen asked him this question . He just muttered “Uh,” and the beautiful notes of 《Danse Macabre》 filled the room .

Qi Mu: “ . . . ”

After the piece, Min Chen again asked, “How about 《La Campanella》?”

Qi Mu: “ . . . You . . . ”

《La Campanella》 rang out .

 “Do you like 《Petrushka》?”

 “ . . . I really do . . . ”

《Petrushka》 also rang out .

 “《Islamey》?”

“ . . . ”

. . .  

Intricate pieces resounded one after another, making Qi Mu taste the bitter fruit . He experienced what it meant when people said: “You cannot die twice . ”

Just as Min Chen was about to start another piece, Qi Mu grabbed his hands . He looked up at the stubborn, childish man with a sincere gaze, and said, “Like . . . I like it very much! I like every piece you play very much!”

Qi Mu’s words stunned him . When Min Chen realized what the younger man said, he felt his temperature rise . The man called “The thick-skinned devil” by Daniel . . . sported a blush on his ears .

Min Chen coughed softly and said, “ . . . Now, since you said you liked it, I’ll play another one?”

Qi Mu: “ . . . ”

Even though he liked it, he couldn’t stay and listen to more than a dozen songs without taking a breather!

When Qi Mu left late that night, he couldn’t help but sneak several glances at the other man’s hands . Finally, he couldn’t stop himself from asking, “You played so many pieces . . . Ah, difficult pieces . Aren’t your hands sore?”

 “ . . . Not sore . I practice long hours every day . ” 

Qi Mu practiced violin for at least six hours a day, so he could understand . He nodded . “I think it’s better if you cut back on the hours a bit . It will burden your fingers . ”

Min Chen, who practiced daily for an hour at a time, said, “ . . . Well, okay . ”

Qi Mu smiled and nodded after receiving an answer . He said, “Then I’ll leave first . You don’t have to send me out . ” 

Min Chen took out a large, brown paper bag out of nowhere and stuffed it into his hands .

Qi Mu wondered what was in the bag when Min Chen’s low and magnetic voice rang out, “This is a recording I made last year . There were several of Liszt’s works, such as 《Réminiscences de Don Juan》, 《Danse Macabre》 and 《La Campanella》 . You can listen to them whenever you like . ”

Qi Mu finally figured out what was in the bag . It was a vinyl of Min Chen’s performances recorded privately . It included Liszt’s complete works . It was absolutely priceless if he put it on the market .

Qi Mu hesitated . “This is too valuable, I . . . ”

 “I can record another anytime . ”

Min Chen blocked all of Qi Mu’s arguments with a single sentence . Qi Mu could only smile and nod . “Rest assured, I will treasure it and take good care of it . ”

After exchanging a few more words, Qi Mu left for his hotel . Just a few seconds after he left, the childish man frowned and whispered to himself:

 “When will he . . . find out what’s inside?”

 “Tomorrow?”

The man’s low voice was swallowed by the darkness of Vienna’s night . No one knew what he said nor understood what he meant .

The hidden thing remained a mystery .  

Chapter end