“No, that’s not it… ha, that’s it, congratulations. You got the concerto.”
It was yesterday that she went to audition for the concerto. To be honest, if Rami didn’t pass, Rowoon’s idea was that who the hell would be able to pass, but it seemed that she was also somewhat anxious. Seeing how happy you are right now.
Rami smiled softly.
“thank you. Thanks to you.”
“Do you really think so?”
“About 1%?”
“······Well, that’s enough for you to write generously.”
Rowoon laughed and turned his head. Jungwoo was looking at the two with an excited expression, as if he were watching Contra.
“Are you guys very close?”
“Roon is almost my younger brother.”
“If it’s your younger brother, don’t you rather hit and f*ck?”
“Ah, there are siblings like us who are good friends, right? right brother?”
“······Ah yes.”
Rowoon shook his head. Jungwoo giggled and said.
“Anyway, they are wonderful siblings. You won both of those competitive concertos. You must be the most famous sibling in the conservatory?”
“You should do one too. now.”
Rami looked at Jungwoo and said. Jungwoo shrugged.
“It should be. That’s why I called you two today.”
“……Are you ready?”
“huh.”
Jungwoo replied in a calm voice. He didn’t seem nervous, he didn’t seem excited. Like a person who solved a long-held homework, rather, he had the atmosphere of a person who was liberated from something.
“I am ready.”
Those were the last words. empty auditorium. On the stage where only one piano was placed, Jung-woo slowly moved his feet.
Audience. As Jung-woo’s only audience, they looked at Jung-woo with more nervous expressions than Jung-woo. Rowoon whispered to Rami.
“Jungwoo hyung… I hope you do well.”
“You should do well. You will do well. He’s one of the toughest guys I know.”
“······Since when did Jungwoo-hyung say he knew?”
“To be honest, I knew about it even when I was in elementary school. Because in the Korean music world, Jungwoo is a guy that everyone knows. We met and got to know each other when we were in middle school.”
“Was that difficult?”
“You know this floor. If you see a slight gap, you will bite right away. I’ve had comments like that once. Was it when Jungwoo was in high school? In the meantime, when it comes to contests, the kid who always won was a runner-up once. Even at a competition that wasn’t even that prestigious. The reporters immediately bit off. ‘The Fall of Prodigies, Limitations of Standardized Music Education in Korea?’ With a title like this, it’s as if you’ve been waiting.”
“······It looks like it will be difficult.”
“It has been a slump ever since. Then last year, I somehow got to go to a music festival as a soloist, but at that time, I collapsed on stage…”
And he said he took a year off. Rowoon looked at Jungwoo. Jungwoo was staring at the keys of the piano, wondering what he was thinking.
‘brother.’
Rowoon did not know how hard Jungwoo had been living. And how much he loves music.
Looking at Jungwoo, Rachmaninov came to mind. Rachmaninoff even gave up trying to make a comeback as a musician when his Symphony No. 1 was criticized by critics. Wasn’t the day-to-day writing of Piano Concerto No. 2 itself the process of overcoming it?
Even Rachmaninov was like that, so how can they not have a moment where they want to sit down? Didn’t Rowoon even think about quitting the piano until Walkman raised him up again?
‘Your brother is better than me.’
Even without the Walkman, Jung-woo did not give up. Rowoon was respectful of that. Rowoon knew that he didn’t come this far with his own strength, so Jungwoo’s image of fighting back with his own strength seemed more dazzling.
So I hope he does well. I hope you overcome it.
There was a silence that was heavier and more tense than ever. Rowoon watched Jungwoo with clenched fists. It was no different from Rami. Even she, who always seemed relaxed, was watching Jung-woo with her eyes strained now.
Jungwoo had been staring at the piano for a very long time.
Several things were probably running through his mind. The press was busy dismissing him as a frothy prodigy, and the spotlight on the stage forced him to pass out after failing to perform properly.
It was never easy to overcome all of that and perform in front of people again.
‘But what can I do? I should.’
After all, he is a pianist. No matter how difficult it is to play the piano, in the end, he is a person who can be happy only when he sits in front of the piano.
‘I think I came up with it when I saw you. Rowoon.’
A look full of greed to enjoy the piano as much as the desire to develop.
Looking at it reminded me of him when he first played the piano. A time when I could be happy even without winning trophies from contests or comments praising articles. Those days when just playing the piano was enough.
It’s time to be young again. It’s time to wash your old, wrinkled soul. Throwing away the anxiety and calculations that lingered in his heart, Jungwoo raised his hand. He was conscious of only the keys of the piano facing him, not the gaze from the audience.
On that day, the pianist who couldn’t stand on stage overcame his old phobia.
With each step, step by step, surely,
As a synabro, they were preparing for the California Music Festival.
＜ California Music Festival (10) ＞ End
＜ California Music Festival (11) ＞
[ Mr. Rowe! Do you have any future stage plans? ]
[Ah, at that time, I watched the competition video and waited for a new performance video to be uploaded, but there is no news… ]
[Do you have any plans to do YouTube activities or something like that? ]
[I’m a fan! ]
“What are you looking at?”
A voice full of laughter was thrown out. After reading the messages sent to Starbook, Rowoon raised his head. Then, looking at Chris, he said something complicated and subtle.
“Starbook. People pay more attention than you think.”
“okay? But then you’ll love it, why are you making such a sad face? I wondered if Kate had contacted me again.”
“Don’t bring up the story of Kate. Anyway, it’s something I’d love to do… but it’s just a bit burdensome. I don’t think I’m ready yet, but people seem to already have expectations for my stage…”
“Do you think I won’t live up to your expectations?”
“It’s not like that, apart from whether you can live up to it or not, whether or not there is an expectation that you have to live up to is inevitably different in many ways.”
“Hmm, I guess it’s roughly similar to the feeling I get when I write and submit a new song to my professor.”
“I guess more. Considering that this feels more burdensome than when taking lessons from a professor.”
“Well, it’s only natural that I show my lack of self in front of the professor, but I can’t do that in front of the public, so it’s understandable.”
Chris nodded.
From noble mtl dot com
“Still, you shouldn’t be struggling with this level already. If you become a star pianist sooner or later, a hundred or a thousand times more people will pay attention to you.”
“Who said it was hard? that’s just weird It’s because I’m not used to it yet.”
“Just don’t think too long. enjoy it.”
“······okay. It should be.”
Music that is not enjoyed is worthless. Isn’t it a story you already know?
Rowoon’s recent daily life was focused on performing the concerto well. I was also preparing for my upcoming solo recital audition, but honestly, there was no reason to practice any more at this stage.
Chopin’s Ballade No. 2, Dog Waltz, and Liszt’s Mazepa. All of them were songs that he did his best in the line he could practice. Of course, if you practice more, there won’t be room for improvement, but it wasn’t such an effective choice. What Rowoon should be spending his time on right now is clearly Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
And, there was another reason Rowoon couldn’t help but think that way.
‘······I can’t even speak.’
Orchestra practice room. Rowoon was watching the orchestra practicing for a long time in harmony with Heather. And I couldn’t help but admire it.
‘I’m sure not long ago, there was a feeling that the sum wasn’t quite right…’
As time passed, Heather’s playing began to engage more and more elaborately with the orchestra, as if it had been out of touch. The orchestra and Heather both got used to each other.
And after understanding each other’s voice, the only thing left was to explode the sound. When Heather’s fingers moved and Jace’s conducting supported her performance, Rowoon felt goosebumps run through his body again and again.
‘Perhaps only Heather can play Lapihyup No. 2 this way.’
If Rowoon’s, and most of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2, feels like announcing to the world that he’s been saved from misery, Heather’s performance feels more like a whisper than a declaration somewhere. Listening to her tender performance, I could understand why people couldn’t help but love her performance while pointing fingers at her as heretical.
In short, it was enough to say that when Rowoon performed a performance of coral pink, she performed a performance of crimson at all. It was more unconventional and more challenging.
“Now, everyone, take a break for 10 minutes!”
After Jace announced the break, Heather sat down next to Rowoon with a slightly tired expression.
“I’m going to die…”
“It was good. play.”
“Huh, that’s right. Because it was good for me to hear.”
“Anyway, there are no humble days.”
“It is not humble to express a good performance just like that. It’s stupid.”
“I know what you mean. But I think my performance today was just like that.”
“······suddenly?”
“Honestly, you didn’t feel it either.”
“Ummm…”
Heather leaned back in her chair. Heather’s mouth opened as Rowoon’s gaze moved up her nose, forehead, and yellow bleached hair that was black at the roots.
“What, aren’t you feeling a bit sluggish these days?”
“It’s too direct, but it’s true. huh. It’s sluggish.”
Even right up to the beginning of practice, the atmosphere was the opposite. Rather, Heather was a bit slow in the process of matching the orchestra, and to that extent, there was a feeling that Rowoon, who matched the tempo with the orchestra right away, was rather better.