It was a song that suited this place and this situation. Because Rowoon felt the same way as Beethoven then. He, like Beethoven now, wanted to prove his skills.
[Only Beethoven can play Beethoven. ]
Beethoven once said that. Rowoon couldn’t deny that. No matter how much you imitate Beethoven’s playing style and look into his life, Rowoon was Rowoon and Beethoven was Beethoven. The goal of performing, the past, the mind, the personality, all of them are different, so how can I play the same?
You can play like Beethoven. You can play with respect and respect for him. But that alone isn’t enough. Rowoon had to be included. I had to make the pink a coral pink.
And Rowoon’s idea actually led to a change.
“Hmm…?”
Martin’s expression darkened. No, it wasn’t just Martin. Both Jennifer and Helen felt something was wrong.
“It feels different from the performance you sent us…?”
“The direction is similar, but the dragging and pulling of the beat through the rubato has become more bold…”
“I feel like I’m playing more individualistically.”
“huh. Should I say it feels like trying to emphasize your own interpretation?”
“Is it possible that the playing style has changed?”
“well. It’s not impossible if you have a good professor, but it’s fun anyway. it got more fun If the performance before was just a performance by a student who studied hard, now it’s a bit more…”
Like a pianist?
It wasn’t just the judges who thought so. Alice also made a strange expression and took out a pamphlet.
‘This order is… Luo Yun Li. Are you this friend? What did Heather say?’
It was a great performance. From the keystrokes to the sensibility, there was nothing I wanted to lack. To the point where I wonder why this friend hasn’t been known until now.
‘While keeping the feeling of Beethoven as it is… In the meantime, what is it? this strange feeling. It seems typical, but somehow… it’s new. It’s not boring.’
It feels like an appeal to the audience. see yourself Don’t you feel anything while listening to my performance?
It was charming. Alice frankly admitted. He was a pianist that Heather would say would be fun. At his age, how many people can beat Beethoven more like Beethoven than he does?
“······scent.”
Julie let out an exclamation involuntarily. Heather tried to keep Rowoon in check by half-joking about winning and all, but he couldn’t do that any longer. If Alice admired it as an audience, Julie admired it as a pianist.
‘How long do I have to practice to be able to play like this?’
When I heard Rowoon’s dog waltz, I wondered if he didn’t get the second seat for nothing. A dog waltz that contains Chopin’s delicacy as it is. The performance did shake a little in the middle, but Julie admired even that shake. Even in the midst of the direction of the performance, it was because the tone itself was so attractive.
And that’s why I thought that Rowoon’s main specialty would be the romantic side like Heather.
It was a mistake.
Chris turned to Julie. The look of a smirk is ‘Look. Is this still Heather?’ seemed to ask. Julie ignored Chris and looked at the stage. As a pianist, I didn’t want to miss this stage now. I wanted to engrave each one on her eyes and ears and make it hers.
And that thought didn’t change even when Rowoon played the second song.
Liszt’s Transcendental Technique Etude No. 4, Mazepa.
Could there be a better song to show off your virtuosity? This song, with numerous jumps and fast runs, was a song that was difficult to play even for quite a few major students.
However, Rowoon showed no concern about the difficulty of the song, and he was like that in reality.
Liszt’s blessing ‘six fingers.’ And the sense of Liszt’s playing that he directly felt through playing the performance log.
Adding to that the countless days spent practicing to make Mazepa his own, he had no fear that his fingers would not keep up with this piece.
[It shouldn’t feel like your fingers are chasing the song. The sound should feel like it’s chasing your fingers. Do you know what I mean? ]
Honestly, that word on the list that I didn’t quite understand at first.
Rowoon seemed to understand what those words meant now.
There was a time when I was busy following the sound of the list. After struggling to capture his voice, Rowoon always felt exhausted when he finished playing.
But with Heather, with Han, with Chris.
I understood that it didn’t have to be the same pink as the list, that it could be coral pink,
Rowoon was no longer nervous.
I realized that there is no need to be nervous.
‘······ah.’
Rowoon’s gaze moved away from his fingers and toward the ceiling. Rowoon played as he gazed into the darkness where nothing could be seen between the spotlight and the ceiling. I didn’t know. That I can come to the stage with such a light heart. That the piano was such a fun thing.
You don’t have to be a perfect performer.
It doesn’t have to be overpowering, but it doesn’t have to be individual.
play with the heart
You don’t have to be obsessed. All the lessons Liszt gave him are already remembered by his fingers. Trying to imitate him more doesn’t get you closer to him. Even without insisting on ‘playing down the list’, Rowoon already fully understood the list. had his play.
Just a little bit, Rowoon decided to trust himself more.
And that belief was giving back the most certain reward at this moment.
“… Rowoon.”
waiting room. Heather looked at Rowoon in the TV with a blurry smile on her lips.
Rowoon’s Mazepa was ideal. If she played Mazepa, could she create that feeling? I thought about it, but Heather couldn’t help but shake her head. Aside from the level, the direction was different. Contrary to Heather, who was eager to speak out, Rowoon didn’t focus on just one. It was good to see that there was room for it. Enough to say about both Liszt and Beneficial.
‘I grew up. more.’
Previously, Rowoon performed like a very diligent model student. Beethoven, Liszt, and Chopin he played were all reproducing exemplary performances that seemed to be required in textbooks. A hard-to-flaw performance. However, because of that, Rowoon’s performance had a feeling that it was difficult to escape from the level of a student.
But now, as he listens to this performance, Heather realizes that Rowoon has changed. Was it helpful to talk about the difference between pink and coral pink before?
Very list down play.
but it feels Rowoon is not being dragged by the specter of the list. Now he is playing his game. He is lowering his voice.
“What’s his name…?”
“Lun Lee…? Is this your first name?”
“Wow… you can digest Mazepa this far?”
“Before, I thought Beethoven was also very professional…”
As he watched the other students in the waiting room gossip, Heather was thirsty for something. And that was when A white male student with a somewhat benign impression approached her and started talking to her.
“Uh… Heather? Are you his friend?”
Anton Kozlov. Along with Heather, he was a student who was considered a strong winner of this contest. Heather wasn’t surprised that he already knew her name. Because she knew his name too. Heather nodded and said.
“huh. friend.”
“······Does he have a history of winning a contest before? I can’t understand why I haven’t heard the name yet.”
From noble mtl dot com
“Maybe not? Just because you have skills doesn’t mean you always go to competitions. Maybe he is like that too.”
“Amazing. I thought that all the people who would come up from the US had already come up…”
“The world is wide. right?”
Heather grinned and looked at Rowoon in the TV again. Although only his profile was captured on the screen, it was felt nonetheless. How much Rowoon is enjoying that stage right now. how happy he is now
‘Is it okay for the guy who came out of the competition to stay like that? You’re here to be evaluated.’
Although he grumbled so internally, Heather actually understood Rowoon. Right now, she didn’t care about the evaluation when she just went on stage.
Eventually, they became pianists because they wanted to enjoy the piano. You don’t have to ignore the points given to them at all, but even so, playing for those points is rather disingenuous.
That’s why Heather was very happy with Rowoon’s attitude now. The moment a student becomes a pianist is not when they graduate or when they start making money playing.
They became pianists only when they played with their own heart, not with what they were told to do.
‘Welcome. Rowoon.’
And Heather felt that her friend was becoming a real pianist. With the sound of Mazepa’s hooves, they were moving forward.
“…it’s a monster.”
When Mazepa was over, someone in the waiting room muttered that. It was his way of saying that he had already fully realized the value of Rowoon.
However, Rowoon’s performance was not over yet.
Chopin, Ballade No. 2.
Although the judges had already abandoned their doubts about Rowoon through Beethoven and Liszt, they once again looked at the stage with firm impressions. Chopin had to boast of a different sensibility than the other two. Especially when it came to ballad No. 2, there was nothing to say.
A song that can become a completely different song depending on the exquisite control of the tempo and the strength of pressing the keys.
They had already checked Rowoon’s list and confirmed that he was good at speed and transcendent skills.
And through Beethoven, I saw the basic skills of Rowoon, and furthermore, I saw Rowoon’s skillfulness that can bring out the charm of restrained sound.
But what about Chopin?
Will he be able to digest even this pianist’s song, which is said to be at the height of delicacy?
As if to answer that question, Rowoon put his hand on the keyboard again.
I ruminated. Chopin’s life engraved in Ballade No. 2. his soul.
And furthermore, his past days practicing the second and trying to understand Chopin.
Today he will sing Chopin. But it’s not just your average Chopin. The Chopin that Roun Lee felt, learned and saw. He played Lee Rowun’s Chopin…
And the audience fell into silent shock again.
‘How could a friend like this remain unknown…?’
judges. Martin, Helen, and Jennifer all listened to Rowoon’s song with clenched fists. I felt delicacy, sensitivity, and even a sense of presence that is hard to think of at the student level. It was a strange presence. It was as if something huge was standing behind him…
And in the midst of that, Martin was reminded of this situation again. While directing the songs of Beethoven, Liszt, and Chopin, each of these three masters with different colors, Rowoon showed a way of playing that suited them each time.
Considering that there are many people who cannot get out of their own repertoire even after becoming pros, this actually meant enormous potential. Martin didn’t just think of Rowoon’s appearance at this moment. I thought about what kind of musician this young student, this young pianist, would grow into in the future.
And, I couldn’t help but laugh.
‘······okay. I’ll be able to pronounce it properly now.’
Rowley Lee. its name.
＜ LA International Piano Competition (5) ＞ End
＜ LA International Piano Competition (6) ＞