The Healing Life of a Music Genius - Chapter 190



Only Noblemtl

190 souls

* * *

“If you had to pick one person with the greatest performance skills in this year’s Queen Elisabeth Competition, who would you choose?”

A cheeky question from a seemingly innocent reporter.

Samuel Scott, the head of the Queen Elizabeth jury, chuckled at his question and replied:

“This year, the contestants who have come to Brussels have each had their own distinct personalities. They are all pianists who can fill the stage. It would be nearly impossible to discuss their superiority in just a few words.”

A principled answer.

However, Queen Elisabeth is a traditional yet commercial competition.

It was clear why so many tourists flock to Brussels at this time of year.

Because people always crave for stars.

Because I want to be the first to discover notable figures.

and.

Because I want to see them perform up close and in person.

If it weren’t for that reason, people wouldn’t have to come to Brussels.

Because all I had to do was go see a recital by a famous maestro whose skills had already been proven.

Yet the reason why so many people come to Brussels every year is······.

This could be due to the curiosity and anticipation that classical music lovers instinctively have toward ‘new artists’.

Just as people in the 1700s were ecstatic about the young Mozart, people here in Brussels are also looking for musicians to ecstatic about.

The intention of that impudent reporter when he asked the question also fell within that category.

Samuel Scott, well aware of these facts, decided to give him a little hint.

Right now, here in Brussels.

If there is one contestant who can show the closest performance to perfection in terms of technique, it is.

That performer is······.

Called the silent monster on the keyboard,

My name is Sylvie Lucas.

.

.

.

The pianist strikes the keys.

In this performance, constant notes are played dryly, as if lingering emotions were a luxury.

fast.

Faster.

As if playing a percussion instrument.

Lucas created a melody that was constantly repeating itself, forming a harmony to a rapidly changing beat.

He then glissando’d the keys with his hand, then struck the piano keys again like a percussion instrument.

A single sheet of music went by in an instant.

The pianist continues with the next phrase without any hesitation.

Leaps, forebodings, staccato.

Stravinsky’s Petrushka put relentless pressure on the pianist.

The keyboard undulates.

Before the key that was pressed can even bounce back, the key is pressed again.

⌜Petrushka⌟ has some things that even people who don’t know much about classical music can easily understand.

A performance of such high difficulty that it leaves you speechless.

Superb technique.

A dazzling sight that will take your breath away.

Just by watching the performance, it was easy to see that the performance of ⌜Petrushka⌟ was by no means easy.

Here, at the Beaux-Arts Concert Hall, Sylvie Lucas continues her breathtaking performance.

One more amazing thing about her performance is······.

Regardless of the pianist’s ascetic behavior, her performances were increasingly becoming music with a story.

⌜Petrushka⌟ was originally a ballet piece.

One of the three ballet pieces representing Stravinsky.

Originally, it was a piece composed for an orchestra, but when it was changed to a piano piece, it may have resulted in a piece of extremely difficult music.

It was also inevitable that all the notes used in an orchestral piece had to be expressed on a single piano.

There is an interesting anecdote here: Stravinsky never played Petrushka properly in his entire life.

Why is that?

Because the performance difficulty was too high.

Stravinsky, who was closer to a composer than a pianist, was asked by his friend Rubinstein, the greatest pianist of his time, to compose Petrushka into a piano piece.

And he transformed ⌜Petrushka⌟, which was an orchestral piece, into a difficult piano solo piece that was perfect for Rubinstein.

Incidentally, the person to whom this song was dedicated was also Rubinstein.

Arthur Rubinstein, a pianist who can never be left out in the history of classical music.

Even Rubinstein, who is considered the greatest authority on Chopin’s music and the great messenger of Chopin, is said to have had a hard time playing this ⌜Petrushka⌟······.

Few people would not be amazed to see Sylvie Lucas performing Petrushka so perfectly in Brussels right now.

Originally a ballet, Petrushka begins its story as a play within a play.

At the festival, a puppeteer blows a flute and takes out three puppets.

The ugliest doll among them was Petrushka.

The doll begins to dance to the pianist’s music.

Flashily.

But, like a doll, it shows movements that are somewhat out of sync.

Stravinsky expressed the puppet’s movements with compound beat (beat that changes several times in a short period of time).

Lucas, too, was taking full advantage of that discrepancy.

It’s like breathing life into that puppet.

The narrative of ⌜Petrushka⌟ is gradually built up through the splendor of piano technique.

The judges who were watching the performance couldn’t help but be amazed.

‘Wow… If we look at just piano skills, there’s no contestant who can keep up. I can see why Laurent fell in love with him at first sight.’

‘It’s a performance that seems to depict a doll dancing at a carnival······.’

‘Can Jankovsky and Turner really perform at this level? Well, I don’t know. In the second round, Lucas will definitely be the star.’

‘It’s overwhelming. I think I can release an album like this.’

The pen moves ceaselessly on the paper, making a scratching sound.

⌜Petrushka⌟ was already running towards the end.

Luka was trying to complete ⌜Petrushka⌟, which usually takes about 20 minutes to play, in just 18 minutes.

This masterpiece is played without hesitation, no different from running a marathon at full speed.

Running so fast that you can’t see your hands.

When all that splendid finale was over.

Lucas immediately got up from his seat.

“Waaa …

“Brava (a word used to describe a female performer)!!!”

The audience cheers loudly.

Lucas greeted each and every one of the audience members in a quiet manner.

‘I did it······!’

There were a couple of minor mistakes, but they weren’t mistakes that affected the performance itself.

Considering the difficulty of the song, this performance can be considered close to perfection.

Lucas returned to the waiting room with a smile.

Lucas, who was chatting lightly with the participants waiting there, noticed Jankowski’s hands shaking slightly.

Lucas approached him after thinking about it.

I wanted to provide some comfort.

“I’ve heard your Petrushka briefly in the Royal Academy of Music practice room. So I don’t think you need to be so nervous and shaken up. You’ll calm down as soon as you start playing. That’s how I was.”

Jankowski, who had been bowing his head, looks at Lucas.

He answered with a faint smile.

“Thank you. But my shaking isn’t from nervousness.”

“······ then?”

Yankovsky did not answer right away.

He glances at the next contestant to go on stage and whispers quietly to himself.

“horror.”

“what?”

“I still have a childish heart. But like you said, I’ll be fine soon. I’ll calm down as soon as I start playing.”

“······.”

Jankowski bows his head again, clasping his hands together.

Lucas wondered what else he could say to him, but soon gave up and left the waiting room.

Because the emotions felt by each person participating in the contest will be different.

I couldn’t understand all that.

Meanwhile, Yankowski stared into space until his turn came.

In this waiting room, he keeps telling me stories related to classical music.

I kept making eye contact with a little boy who seemed to be about 10 years old······.

* * *

The next day.

Those gathered at the Palais des Beaux-Arts continued discussing the contest yesterday.

“I thought Lucas would be overwhelmingly dominant when he played.”

“Wasn’t Yankovsky a joke?”

“That’s right. It was hard to tell which was better.”

“There must have been a reason that Yankovsky won second place in the Tchaikovsky Competition. He displayed madness beyond technique.”

“Did you really think you were a puppeteer at Carnival?”

“But I was more impressed by Lucas’s performance. It was much clearer.”

“Oh, that’s right. Lucas’s Petrushka felt like watching a magnificent festival.”

“That’s right. It was really refreshing.”

A story about two performers who received a lot of attention yesterday.

And there’s also talk about the performers we’re looking forward to at today’s competition.

“That kid. Will he be okay?”

“I was really surprised in the first round.”

“He played Chopin’s music with incredible emotion.”

“I still think I can hear that child’s ⌜Raindrop Prelude⌟?”

“But isn’t ⌜Petrushka⌟ a bit difficult?”

“I have to take a look. Anyway, if you make it into the top 24, you’ll advance to the next round.”

“I hope it goes up, even if it’s just barely.”

“If we’re going to do it, we might as well go to Chapel.”

“I wish that were true.”

The people who had been talking began to form groups one by one and enter the Beaux-Arts concert hall.

Two elderly gentlemen walk slowly among them.

Kang Yoo-han and Payans took their seats in the balcony on the second floor of the Beaux-Arts Concert Hall.

Polish master Payans looks at the empty stage and asks Kang Yu-han.

“Was it that kid’s third turn?”

“That’s right. And your disciple is the first in line today.”

“This is getting fun.”

Brian Turner, who drew number 17 in the second preliminary round draw, and Han Seo-jin, who drew number 19.

The two masters’ disciples will take charge of the first half of today’s competition.

The concert hall was quickly filled.

Many musicians have visited this place, and many classical music lovers have visited this place.

They looked at the pamphlets and did not hide their anticipation for some of the performers. The Palais des Beaux-Arts was filled with their chatter.

Payans opened his mouth, looking at the empty stage.

He first mentioned Kang Yu-han’s disciple, not his own.

“Seojin. That kid is already a great player. It was a very impressive Chopin.”

“Turner was really great too. He was a truly wonderful Bach.”

Payans shakes his head.

“He is still a child. Even more so than Seojin. So, I hope this competition will be a good opportunity for Turner. I hope he will be able to connect with real players, have conversations, and have opportunities. In particular, I hope he will learn something by watching his performance.”

Kang Yu-han looked at Payans and smiled.

“Aren’t you being particularly strict with your disciples?”

“That’s not true. Turner doesn’t even listen to me anymore.”

“But you managed to bring him along.”

“He is a child with outstanding talent. Of course, he is nothing compared to Seojin.”

Payans truly looked at ‘Han Seo-jin’ as a performer.

The skills that the child showed in the first preliminary round.

Payans thought that alone made his visit to Brussels worth it.

Payans asked Kang Yuhan carefully what he had never asked him before.

“Do you think that kid will be okay playing today?”

and.

Kang Yu-han answered indifferently.

“You might be a little surprised.”

“Haha. Is that all?”

“Leaving aside the technical aspects, I got to know that there is ‘that side’ to the boy through this ⌜Petrushka⌟.”

“‘That kind of thing’?”

At that moment, the lights in the concert hall dimmed and a single spotlight began to shine on the stage.

It means that the performance is about to start.

Kang Yu-han summarized and explained.

“It seems that Seojin is not a child who is only good at lyrical performances.”

“Was there anything else that kid had?”

“I was surprised too. Yesterday······. Yes. The performance that child showed yesterday morning was no different from that of a maestro.”

“······.”

Kang Yu-han’s rave reviews.

It was surprising to hear such praise coming from Kang Yu-han, who was famous for not having many disciples.

“Haha. That’s right? I can’t help but look forward to the performance she’ll show at Queen Elizabeth this time.”

Kang Yu-han just smiled kindly while looking at the stage.

A contest official came up on stage.

He explained what the audience should pay attention to during today’s performance and then quickly went downstairs.

The waiting room door opened and the first contestant came out.

Tall and slender.

Good looks.

It was Brian Turner.

Turner looked out at the audience leisurely and then sat down on the piano stool.

Raise both hands higher than your head.

After a while.

His performance stands out powerfully.

Turner’s performance was decent.

Even while performing the great piece called ⌜Petrushka⌟, the number of mistouches was close to 0, and the phrases that occasionally came out with a touch of brilliance were very impressive.

However.

Compared to Lucas and Jankowski, who attracted a lot of attention in Brussels yesterday, her appeal was not as evident.

‘I’ll barely make it to the second round. Fortunately, my skills have improved.’

This was the assessment of Turner’s teacher, Payans.

When Turner stood up after completing his performance, cheers erupted.

He took his time looking at the audience, just as he had when he first appeared, and then returned to the waiting room.

The second performer of the day, coming out right away.

It was now only a matter of waiting twenty minutes or so before the third performer appeared.

* * *

The waiting room of the Beaux-Arts Concert Hall.

Brian Turner, who finished his performance first, returned and the second contestant went out on stage.

Turner looked at me, then came over to me.

“Don’t be nervous, the audience seems to be reacting well today.”

He pats my shoulder as he says that.

However, he did not forget to tell us not to be obsessed with being number one.

‘What an unpredictable personality.’

Turner waved at me and left the waiting room.

‘I told you he’s a truly unique person.’

I stared at the waiting room door for a moment and then closed my eyes briefly.

I had a lot of worries while preparing the song today.

It’s a difficult song to just memorize and play.

Stravinsky’s Petrushka was a brilliant yet chaotic piece.

Petrushka, a puppet endowed with a soul, is in a love triangle with two other puppets.

However, after suffering from not being chosen by the person he loves, he performs as a puppet at a carnival and is in danger of having his life taken by a puppeteer.

Petrushka, who is enslaved by the thieves, is locked in a small room, and his complex psychology is expressed in various ways.

Petrushka trying to escape from the room.

At the moment when I was about to successfully escape the clutches of the thieves after trying various methods.

Petrushka is so shocked by the sight of the portrait of the thief that he faints.

A ballet piece that begins with a fun yet crazy story.

How should I interpret this song?

Should I become Petrushka?

Or should we interpret this piece with the same mindset Stravinsky had when he was writing this ballet and just starting to achieve success?

Since last winter, while preparing for Queen Elizabeth, I have spent quite a long time thinking about how to interpret ⌜Petrushka⌟.

“Contestant number 19, you have about 5 minutes left. Please get ready.”

“all right.”

I decided to substitute ‘my situation’ into the ‘situation’ of ⌜Petrushka⌟.

The first movement of “Petrushka” had the subtitle “Russian Dances.”

A magician and pharmacist who appeared in St. Petersburg Square, playing a flute.

Three puppets began to move on their own at his gestures.

Petrushka is then given a soul by the pharmacist.

Before he can even come to his senses, Petrushka quickly becomes confused when he sees his arms and legs actually moving.

An unbelievable situation.

It’s as if the confusing situation is being pictured before my eyes.

At that moment, cheers erupted from the stage of the Beaux-Arts Concert Hall.

I waited for the waiting room door to open and then got up from my seat.

The bright lights coming from the stage into the waiting room flicker through the cracks in the door.

I took a quick look in the mirror in the waiting room.

Expressionless.

It was the perfect expression to play this song right now.

I walked out onto the stage.

The cheers that erupted were slightly louder than those heard during the first preliminary round.

Just as there were people who recognized me in the parks of Brussels, there may be a few more who recognize me here.

After greeting the audience at the center of the stage, he sat down at the piano.

I adjusted the height of my chair and placed my hands on the keyboard.

The keyboard, which should have felt cold, felt hot to me now.

I took a deep breath.

From now on, I could only breathe for 25 seconds.

‘You have to pour it out all at once. Make it look overwhelming.’

I intended to give it my all, starting from the most intense introduction of the first movement of ⌜Petrushka⌟.

so.

I struck the keys with all my might.

The sounds of the violin, cello, viola, trumpet, and timpani in ⌜Petrushka⌟, originally composed as an orchestral piece, are expressed in an instant on the piano.

In just under 3 seconds, over 100 notes pour out.

Nine musical figures dance in unison.

I had no time to rest.

The chaos of ⌜Petrushka⌟ is forcibly created by playing a technique similar to that of a percussion instrument.

I am.

Right here, right now.

I tried to recreate that moment when I crashed on the plane.

My own mysterious story.

As if Petrushka had a soul.

The story of how I came to have a soul······.

I was thinking of trying to solve it with ⌜Petrushka⌟.