The Healing Life of a Music Genius - Chapter 184



Only Noblemtl

184 The best pianists gather together

* * *

Brussels, Belgium.

The man stared intently at the computer monitor and opened his mouth.

“This child is 14 years old? “Do you look younger?”

“My birthday passed a while ago. So exactly 14 years old. “Because he is an Asian child, he may look a little younger.”

“Hmm.”

The man played the video from the beginning.

A 3-minute performance video.

This wasn’t satisfactory.

“It’s too short. “Are there any other videos?”

“Because I am the winner of Ettlingen, I received a brief preliminary video, so there is nothing else.”

“is it.”

“Instead, this child submitted many letters of recommendation. Would you like to refer to that?”

“I hope so.”

The man was handed the child’s recommendation letter, which had already been copied.

The man smiled after checking the contents and the name of the person who wrote the recommendation.

‘Kai Hoffman. Kang Yuhan. Chloe Laurent. Even Max Richter… Prominent masters personally wrote letters. Is this why they held a simple video preliminary examination?’

Besides that.

Although it was a short performance of about 3 minutes, the child showed very impressive piano skills.

With this level of skill, it was natural for him to pass the global preliminary examination.

What the man was doing now was a kind of advisory role.

It was a position completely separate from that of the Queen Elizabeth judge, and its job was to check and inform people about how the competition would progress in the future, which performers should be paid attention to, or whether there had been any misconduct.

And by organizing this information and delivering it to the media, it also played a role in promoting how fair and noteworthy this contest was.

Naturally, in matters like this, the public trust of ‘that person’ was the most important, but there was no need to weigh such things with this man.

A pianist who can be called a Russian legend.

There is probably no classical music official in the world who would criticize Evgeny Bashanov.

Bashanov slowly opened his mouth.

And in a very serious tone.

“genius. A true genius appears in Brussels. “I can’t make any predictions yet, but if I can show this level of skill until the end, it will be worth looking forward to.”

“······ Is it that much? “There are many other participants.”

The ‘other participants’ mentioned by the competition official was referring to the numerous pianists who are currently being mentioned as candidates for the championship.

A total of 721 people participated in the global preliminary round of this year’s Queen Elizabeth Competition.

Among them, a total of 60 performers advanced to the first preliminary round.

Among them was even a pianist who won second place at the Tchaikovsky Competition.

A disciple of Payans, who is called the greatest of all masters, also participated.

There were many young participants whose names you might have heard of at famous concert halls around the world.

This year’s Queen Elizabeth Competition had many outstanding participants.

From the audience’s perspective, there is a lot to see, so I don’t know if it will be the ‘best competition of all time’.

From the participant’s perspective, the competition was so fierce that it might be the ‘worst competition ever’.

Bashanov, who realized the intention behind the contest official’s words, continued talking.

“This kid is already playing at the next level. “You’ll have to see it in person, but in my eyes, this kid looks like a contender for the championship.”

“······ Is that so? .····· It’s really amazing.”

Before I could be properly surprised by the Russian master’s words, another person entered the competition hall.

A neatly dressed middle-aged man with impressive eyes.

He was Taiwan’s virtuoso pianist Lang Yu.

“I agree too. Considering this child’s age, she has no competition in the last 100 years. Even if we don’t consider her age, she still looks outstanding compared to other contestants. Yes?”

Bashanov slightly nods his head in response to Lang Yu’s question.

“That’s what I heard. Of course, my ears didn’t always match the competition.”

“Teacher, you are always humble.”

Lang Yu treats Bashanov, a pianist one generation older than him, with courtesy.

The two started watching the youngest participant’s performance video again.

Langyu and Bashanov continued to gorge themselves on the short video of the child.

At that time, another pianist appeared here.

A contest official jumps up from his seat upon seeing her visit without notice.

A young master who won the Queen Elisabeth Competition here with overwhelming skills.

Because Chloe Laurent came to Brussels.

After exchanging warm greetings with the two masters, she spoke a little triumphantly.

“So I guess I’ll be the only person here who has seen him play in person?”

“haha. Laurent, your playful side is still the same.”

“So how was it? Was this really a child who played something similar to this video?”

Lang Yu points to the monitor screen with his finger and Laurent responds.

“yes. Maybe he’s a kid who can show more than that. And let me give you a hint…”

Laurent informed the masters that there was a video of this child playing CNN that was posted on NewTube during the promotion of the Carnegie Hall performance in the past.

Basharov and Lang Yu, who immediately looked up the video, let out exclamations of exclamation.

“her. “I couldn’t believe I didn’t know there was a child like this until now.”

“This Queen Elizabeth is going to be fun. “She’s ridiculous, she might be the youngest winner ever.”

The youngest winner in Queen Elizabeth’s history is 18 years old.

They talked for a while with the expectation that the record could be reduced by as much as four years.

* * *

An article appeared in Europe.

An article stating that famous masters are mentioning ‘I’ as one of the candidates for Queen Elizabeth’s title.

And the news immediately spread to South Korea.

Thanks to this, the news was abuzz with the news for a while, and many people supported me online as well.

Especially in the classic community.

Wow! Will we finally have an incomparable genius pianist in our country?

ㄴ Considering his age, it’s quite possible. Our country is now a classical music powerhouse, but there have been few performers who have received attention from such a young age.

ㄴ Han Seo-jin. It seems like your career is going well. Even if Queen Elizabeth slips this time, she can try again at age 19.

ㄴ Isn’t 19 less than the average age of contestants?

ㄴ Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

ㄴ It’s crazy talent.

ㄴ Have I seen his performance at Carnegie Hall? I think Queen Elizabeth has a good chance of winning.

ㄴ Is it that much?

ㄴ At that time, everyone in the audience cried loudly. Because it wasn’t a joke.

ㄴ Wow… But if you win the Queen Elizabeth at the age of 15, isn’t your life as a pianist on the verge of success?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ If Queen Elizabeth wins, she will be exempt from military service. Awesome.

ㄴ Military exemption?

ㄴ Crazy hahahaha If it were me, I would have stayed up all night practicing.

To put it bluntly, you should definitely get an exemption from military service.

ㄴ ㄹㅇ

ㄴ Good luck! Seojin Han! Cheers!

ㄴ I guess you can take care of it yourself? lol

ㄴ hahahaha

ㄴ Hahahahahaha

“Hmm.”

It’s an army…

Actually, I hadn’t even thought about that.

Is it because I thought it was something far away for me?

As a proud patriot (and model taxpayer) of the Republic of Korea, I thought I should join the military.

what······.

I also learned this time that if I win the contest, I don’t have to go to the military, and if I win, I don’t think there’s any need to bother the Military Manpower Administration.

‘Umm. yes. ‘Because they are busy too.’

Knowing this may not have a huge impact on my playing, but it is a good thing.

Should I say that my motivation has increased only slightly?

That was exactly it.

⌜Schmid⌟ decided to provide a lot of help for this competition.

They took care of all aspects such as accommodation and vehicles, and also agreed to help when there was a need to communicate with Queen Elizabeth.

It is said that the language used during the competition is English, but since the languages ​​mainly used in Belgium are Dutch and French, I was a little less worried.

Queen Elizabeth is basically a competition for adults.

Because of that, it was safe to say that there was no consideration for the school schedule.

In the case of Ettlingen last time, the competition was started during vacation considering the students.

Queen Elizabeth ended up missing school for about a month because it started during the semester.

At my middle school, participation in competitions was recognized as class days, so there was no problem.

However, something happened that made it necessary to move up the final exam.

In the folk tale, it is said that there are always test questions created for situations like this.

I took the final exam alone while the chairman, principal, vice principal, and external personnel from the Office of Education were in attendance.

Fortunately, the problems weren’t difficult, perhaps because I paid a little more attention to my school studies.

Like other students, I was supposed to receive my report card before vacation, but Teacher Yang Woo-joo hinted that my grades would come out as usual.

“So, go to the competition with peace of mind. Understand?”

“yes. All right. thank you!”

“Tsk tsk. okay.”

Even though he became the homeroom teacher of a different class after becoming a second grader, Teacher Yang Woo-joo was always kind to me.

The school was noisy.

In particular, the 2nd grade piano students saw me and told me to defeat Brussels and come back…

I don’t know what to do.

When I looked closely, it seemed like my friends were more excited than me.

Perhaps because of the school atmosphere, Hyun Yuri, who didn’t know much about classical music, seemed to understand what it meant to attend Queen Elizabeth.

These days, when I often see him in the practice room, his eyes look at me brightly.

“Sir, you really are a great person! “Even the first graders were all in an uproar!”

“Honestly, it’s not that bad.”

“no. “As far as I know, there is no one better than my senior.”

Hyun Yuri looked around the practice room where there were only two people and whispered softly, “It’s the same with composing, right?”

“That’s not a big deal either.”

“Hmm! So I wanted to give you this.”

“yogurt?”

“yes. I became friends with the lady in the cafeteria, so I got two. “Let’s have a drink.”

“Good.”

“braided!”

“······ But where did you learn that?”

“From mom. why?”

“no. just.”

I was always a peaceful child.

Hyun Yuri has been working hard on composing these days.

This time, he said he wanted to do it on his own, so I didn’t look at the song separately like last time.

A child who works hard.

Our main conversation was related to harmony in general.

By teaching Yuri about music, I was able to have time to organize things again.

And that directly benefited the Queen Elisabeth Competition.

Unlike other competitions, Queen Elizabeth was a competition that required an understanding of music in general.

Because of the competition’s unique system, it wasn’t a competition where you could win just by performing well the songs you prepared.

Queen Elizabeth will first select 60 people through a global preliminary examination.

So from the first round to 48 people.

From 2nd round to 24 people.

12 people advance to the finals.

The most important thing here was after the second preliminary round.

Brussels imprisons the 12 finalists in a mansion called ‘Chapel’.

It literally ‘locks up’ people.

At Chapelle, you can’t go out, use a cell phone, and of course you can’t use a computer.

In such a space, Brussels only then informs the participants of the song they have personally selected.

In other words, contestants must be able to interpret and practice songs on their own without anyone’s help.

This is why general knowledge about music is necessary.

Participants must complete their own song while at Chapelle, and will compete in the finals with one completed song and a previously prepared concerto.

In some ways, it is a system that is particularly harsh on participants.

This may be why younger contestants avoid Queen Elizabeth.

Of course, to put it the other way, it could be said that it is a competition that is fair and confirms true skills.

‘It’s not for nothing that it’s recognized as one of the world’s top three competitions.’

A unique system not found in Chopin or Tchaikovsky.

Queen Elizabeth had her own rules.

So, I also prepared for the competition by studying as many different types of music as possible.

After chatting with Yuri about music, when we parted ways in the practice room, Yuri hesitated for a while and handed me a small gift box.

I looked at it carefully and said.

“4 packs of yogurt?”

“Well, it’s not like that! It’s a gift! gift!”

“What gift?”

“Just open it. “I bought it to commemorate my senior competition.”

“······?”

When I opened the pretty packaging, the box of the latest wireless earphones caught my eye.

‘This must be quite expensive from his perspective, right?’

Yuri continued speaking.

“Sir, you are using good headphones, but you are using a fairly old model of earphones. “I think you might need it.”

“Hey, thank you, but… “With what money did you buy this?”

“Hehe. senior. “That’s it.”

⌜Please Know⌟ The copyright fee has been paid.

“Actually, I’ve wanted to repay you for a long time. “I had been short on money, but it was perfect.”

“But aren’t you still a trainee?”

“······ Yes?”

I pressed my temples.

A composer whose song charted at the bottom of the music charts.

Even the lyrics for the song were released by someone else.

Isn’t he a trainee there?

Before settlement with the agency was completed, there was no way the profit sharing ratio would be good.

A bee that is clearly visible like fire.

Originally, I wouldn’t have asked questions related to profits, but since he was a close junior of mine, I tried my luck…

Hyun Yuri smiled brightly and answered.

“I didn’t have enough money, so I combined my pocket money to buy it. It’s okay though! “You just have to stop snacking for about two months.”

“You immature junior…”

“why? Still, I really wanted to buy my senior a gift. “It’s nothing else, it’s a celebration of participating in a contest!”

Participation?

“And the other day, you gave me taxi fare. ⌜Please know⌟ There was also a case… Always make me study… “I couldn’t just stay there.”

He was definitely a child with great action skills.

“I can’t stop you. really.”

“uh? My mom says that to me a lot. How did she know?”

“Good job.”

“Oh. “That too!”

I decided to accept the gift for now.

I thought I could just return the money little by little in the form of taxi fare or something.

This was the ‘senior’’s own wisdom.

Instead, he gave Yuri a long sermon about money.

Fortunately, Yuri, who was listening to me, said, “Yes! All right! Next time, I’ll do as you said! I heard the answer, “Always start with savings!”

The day of departure quickly approached.

In the case of Queen Elizabeth this time, the competition period was particularly long, so her parents were worried about what to do…

“It’s my son’s competition. If mom doesn’t follow him, who will?”

“Still, it’s going to be over a month, do you mind?”

“are you okay. are you okay. I’m done talking to my dad too. Seojin, you just need to worry about your playing. got it?”

It seemed like there was nothing the mother could do about it.

“Hmm! My mom and her brother are going, so I can’t miss them. I will act as your manager like last time. So just trust me! brother. Understand?”

And it seemed like my younger brother couldn’t help it.

However, my father said that he would do it later even if he joined because he had a lot of work to do.

I have work to do with a publishing company and the publication of a novel, and I think I will have to check on my mother’s work at the flower shop from time to time.

My mother was even preparing educational materials for Suyeon, who would not be able to attend kindergarten for a long time.

really······. Our parents were great.

As the competition date approached, the frequency with which I met Professor Yuhan Kang and gave lessons increased, and I was even interviewed by several media outlets.

I went to McDonald’s with my piano department friends and had a big hamburger party.

On the day of departure.

On Monday morning, when classes were in full swing at Sulwha Ye Middle School, we went to Incheon Airport.

Even though we had already done a lot of interviews, there were more reporters gathered at the airport than ever before.

I calmly continued the interview while being bombarded with non-stop flashes.

Thanks to ⌜Schmid⌟ coordinating with reporters in advance, the answer wasn’t that difficult.

So, towards the end of the interview.

A reporter asked me an interesting question.

“It seems too early to talk about the finals, but what if Han Seo-jin gets into Chapelle…”

The question was what items were they planning to take with them to a place where all electronic devices, including cell phones, were prohibited.

I looked at my carrier bag that Sooyeon was hugging from far away and then answered.

“I brought a separate wind-up analog metronome. I heard that Queen Elizabeth prepares these basic items, but I prefer the items I use. “I think I’ll be taking that metronome to Chapelle.”

A gift from Emma’s parents in Singapore.

I felt like this wooden metronome, which somehow made me feel at ease when I looked at it, would be enough.

After saying hello to the reporters, I entered the departure hall.

After Esplanade.

To show everyone the piano melody that I had been building up little by little deep inside me…

I finally headed to Brussels.

To a place where the best pianists of the time gathered.