waiting room. Rowoon’s previous order was whispering among us. Heather understood them. Immediately after Rowoon, the person whose turn took place was making a very complex and subtle expression. The stimulation comes enormously, but at the same time, there is no fighting spirit. To be precise, it was a performance that made it hard to think that we would win.
“Why has the level of freshmen gotten so high these days…”
“It’s not that the level of freshmen has improved, it just seems like he’s a bit unusual.”
“What was I doing when I was that age?”
“You were busy having house parties with me all the time.”
“Oh right.”
It was in the middle of such a conversation. The door to the waiting room opened, revealing a half-exhausted Rowoon. The waiting room fell into a strange silence for a moment, and Heather gave him a handkerchief while laughing. It was a pink handkerchief.
“You’re sweaty again. ruler.”
“… aren’t you giving me something to wipe off your sweat again?”
“I haven’t played yet.”
“Hmm, then I’ll try it today.”
Rowoon accepted the handkerchief. and asked
“Are you okay? my playing.”
“You know, you ask.”
“It’s not? Are you asking because you don’t know?”
“I’m not going to answer because I’m mean.”
“But I can give you an answer.”
Mario interjected naturally, or maybe a little artificially, into their conversation. He showed his teeth and smiled softly.
“It was great. It was a performance that reminded me of the fun of music after a long time.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
“So could you tell me your Starbook ID? Let’s be friends. we.”
“・・・・・Uh, yes. so what?”
Somehow, the eyes are shining like they’re going to eat him, but it’s more like adding a friend.
Mario picked up Rowoon’s ID and went back to his seat with a rosy laugh. His turn number is not long now. It was time for him to raise his concentration. Heather laughed as she hit Rowan with her elbow.
From noble mtl dot com
“What? I think Mario is obsessed with you?”
“…doesn’t that mean that it’s plugged in?”
“I don’t know?”
“Don’t do that for nothing. Because I don’t want to be severely misunderstood.”
“Whoops, I wonder if that’s a misunderstanding…”
Heather smiled wickedly. And soon it became less and less talkative. She was next in line after Rowoon. It could be seen that the turn was faster than Mario’s.
And just like that, the orchestra’s break time ended, and the next performer went on stage. She was a 3rd year female student. Although Rowoon’s stage left quite an overwhelming impression, she still managed to struggle and make no mistakes.
‘But it’s hard enough.’
Heather analyzed soberly. In fact, the atmosphere in the waiting room was vastly different compared to when Rowoon played. With simply mediocre performance, no matter how good the technique was, Rowoon’s impact could not be overcome.
what if she
‘······No, Heather. You know it’s not a matter of winning or not. You go like yourself.’
You don’t play the piano to win. As the contestant’s performance neared the end, and her turn neared, Heather turned to Rowoon. and asked
“Roun.”
“huh?”
“There you are. Did you play because you wanted to win?”
“no.”
“then?”
“······well. You want to play?”
As if there was no need for a special reason to play, Rowoon said so simply. Heather laughed. That simple answer was the answer she needed most.
“so do i.”
It will.
“Six times. Heather Hong. Get ready to wait.”
“yes.”
Heather stood up. And he smiled while looking at Rowoon.
“Don’t pee while listening to this Heather-sama play. There are handkerchiefs, but there are no diapers.”
“… It’s really useless to worry. Heather Hong.”
“I’ll be back!”
Heather strode forward. Rowoon looked at her from the back for a while, then giggled. He was a very strange friend. Bright enough to make one wonder if God created her with only energy and happiness.
‘But shouldn’t it just be that bright?’
Of course, it’s not that there isn’t a place for her bright energy to be used. Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 was by no means a dark piece. Rather, considering that it is a song that overcomes the darkness, there was definitely a section where Heather’s positive attitude would shine.
But in order for the light to stand out, the shadows have to grow thicker. Can that woman, who seems to have no shadow anywhere on her body, be able to properly pinpoint that sensibility?
Rowoon questioned that,
Heather took the stage.
And soon, Rowoon realized that he was really worrying for nothing.
‘her.’
The moment he saw Heather playing the introduction of the first movement, Rowoon couldn’t help but realize how hard Heather had prepared for this song.
The upper body leans forward and the shoulders are pulled up. Then, as if shooting a cannonball, drop the upper body and shoulders together and hit the keyboard with the weight. The posture was so intense that it seemed a bit exaggerated, but Rowoon realized that it was Heather’s only alternative to make up for the lack of strength.
However, that was not the only characteristic of Heather’s performance. If what Rachmaninoff put in this song was the process of getting out of depression and despair, Rowoon substituted that process into his life and unraveled it.
But Heather was different. Unlike Rowoon, who had traces of Rachmaninoff even in his finger movements, Heather was Heather. It was Heather Hong.
‘okay. header. I like that you’re like that.’
Donatti nodded. Rowoon’s method of playing to bring out the composer’s color to the limit. You could learn something from it, but it couldn’t be Heather’s way of playing.
That was, at best, what Donatti taught as a professor. After losing the LA Concours, Heather once asked: Pretending to be playful, pretending not to be sincere, insinuating.
– professor. Is my playing too arbitrary?
And Donati replied:
– okay. It’s arbitrary.
— ······Is that so too?
— But, that’s why I like your playing.
Looking at the sullen headers and seeing the pianist collapsed in front of his grades, the pianist who lived thinking that climbing to a higher place was the best thing said.
— Are you going to play your best?
— Hit that idea.
— Rubinstein, Zimmerman, Horowitz, which of these can you say is the better pianist?
— Superiority and inferiority are so meaningless.
— Heather, you’re not supposed to be the greatest pianist.
— Just Heather Hong.
— A pianist that only you can be, and no one else can be.
— The audience fills the seats on your stage for the first time.
the young disciple asked.
— But what if you don’t find out?
— At the Chopin Competition and the LA Competition, in the end, I always end up as runner-up.
— People say. Yes, there are no rankings. You are enough to be yourself.
— But when it comes time to put numbers in front of the piano, they say that acting like me is a deduction factor.
— But you’re telling me not to bother with that?
Donatti could not answer right away. It was also because he did not have a clear answer to him. So, instead of giving the right answer, he gave his answer.
– okay. I hope you do.
– ······why?
— That’s right, I’m a Heather Hong fan.
How pitiful is a teacher who cannot accurately point out the direction to a wandering disciple.
— Because I wish Heather Hong was Heather Hong.
…And, how lovely is the disciple who follows such a poor teacher without question.
“······amazing.”
the professors murmured. “Are all first graders like this these days?” “It’s beautiful… it’s a beautiful performance.” “It’s the first time I’ve heard of Rachmaninoff, but rather than melancholic… it feels very lyrical.”
It was as they said. It was different from Rowoon’s performance. If Rowoon’s performance had the feeling of shouting loudly as if he were eloquent about his tragedy and the process of escaping from it, Heather’s performance seemed to calmly tell all of it in a lithe voice.
“I think they look alike. those two.”
said Han. Despite the vague expression of the two, Donatti seemed to understand who Han was talking about. And nodded. okay. Resembles. It’s not just about playing skills or anything like that. Not even the playing type. Because the playing styles of the two belonged to rather opposite sides.
But that smile on Heather’s mouth,
The orchestra, which had complained of tiredness just a moment ago, but before I knew it, had a happy face again.
Resembles.