Chapter 6 (1/2)

Now that the conductor was present, the rehearsal officially began.

Tan Zheng Hui was the conductor of this orchestra. He had an excellent reputation in Huaxia as a whole. Since he took over as conductor ten years ago, he led them to perform both at home and abroad. His interpretation of Dvorak’s, in particular, amazed people in the West, who couldn’t quite believe that a conductor from the East who understood the work of Dvorak existed.

Tan Zheng Hui turned 56 this year, but his hair was already white. Although he appeared very spirited and lively, he couldn’t hide the signs of aging.

After the death of Qi Mu’s mother 8 years ago, he suddenly began aging quickly.

Qi Mu’s mother grew up in B City before she got married and relocated to S City. She didn’t have a good family environment as a child. While at university, her parents died of illness at the same time. She was a very talented young woman who was also very caring towards Tan Zheng Hui. She was his concertmaster before she went to the S City Symphony Orchestra.

Such a great and talented person in the younger generation suddenly died in an accident, of course, Tan Zheng Hui was heartbroken by it. And with Qi Mu being the way he was, he was even more distraught.

“Second violin group, drop the vibrato to mp!”

“Third french horn? Slower!”

“Second violin group, you entered too fast!”

“Stop! The trombone is one tone off. Li Cheng, start again.”

. . .

The first rehearsal was always the most difficult. Each type of instrument consisted of more than a dozen people. To play with consistency and controlling your own rhythm was already difficult. Not to mention they had to play in combination with other instruments.

Even though B City Orchestra had played Dvorak’s songs many times over the past years, it was inevitable that minor mistakes would occur. This was also a test for the conductor.

In the past, Qi Mu was the deputy concertmaster of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. So he too could hear the mistakes such as the pitch of the instrument, the rhythm, vibrato, tremolo, etc. Sometimes he could also distinguish the minor mistakes in the string section, and the larger ones from the woodwind section.

However, after a while, the conductor suddenly stopped and yelled, and even Qi Mu was a bit surprised.

After all, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra was one of the world’s top orchestras. The mistakes that occurred were few and far between. When the ensemble reached the late stage, even a single mistake couldn’t be heard. By then, only the conductor would be able to notice the subtle mistakes that were hidden in the intense sound.

“Li Cheng! Did you stay out late last night? Have you eaten? Your play is a mess! Do it again!”

On the towering podium, Tan Zheng Hui’s face was already flushed red with anger. The second trombone he reproached was also embarrassed and hastened to play it again. Seeing this, Qi Mu shook his head and smiled. He sympathized with the man a little.

“Xiao Qi, do you think he played as badly as Tan Lao said?” the young man beside him asked in a low voice. Tan Zheng Hui was already angry enough to go straight for the trombone group. So it was hard for him to hear their whispered conversation at the front. “I think Li Lao didn’t play any differently from before, so how can he be so bad today?”

Hearing this, Qi Mu chuckled and explained, “There is no problem with the intonation and the pitch of the second trombone. But when he entered, it sounded louder than the first trombone, overwhelming it. By the end of the paragraph, he exited too fast and didn’t hold the horn.”

The young man was shocked and asked in confusion, “Is that really true?”

“Chen-ge, don’t you think so?” Looking up to the other party, Qi Mu’s light-colored eyes seemed to reflect a smile. He then calmly said, “If he still doesn’t get it right this time, Tan Lao would. . .”

“Disproportionate! It’s too heavy at the top! Did you not play the 《Sixth》 for the past few months? Or did you forget how to play trombone entirely? Tell me, Li, when did you start making such a mistake? You’re in too much of a hurry, you shouldn’t rush the Horn!”

Qi Mu hadn’t finished speaking when Tan Zheng Hui’s angry voice rang throughout the practice room. Qi Mu froze slightly, but then he smiled and closed his mouth, and he didn’t say anything else. But the young man didn’t let him go.

“No way! That was such a subtle mistake! Xiao Qi, you could hear it? Your ears are really sharp!”

Qi Mu smiled modestly, his beautiful eyes moved a bit, thinking of what to say, “My parents really liked listening to Dvorak’s 《Sixth》, so they often talked to me about it, explaining it. Even though Tan Lao’s style is not the same as my father, in this aspect, it is identical.”

The young man nodded and didn’t ask anything more, but Qi Mu smiled meaningfully.

He had been able to slowly grasp the notes that were constantly emerging in his mind, courtesy of his hearing. Because there were too many sounds, he couldn’t control it all at once. And he also had to trouble himself with the need to use a tuner. But now, although he wouldn’t dare to say that his hearing was better than Tan Lao, it should be almost the same, if they were to compare it.

For a conductor, the most important thing was their ears.

Even Beethoven, the music maestro himself who had written his own symphonies despite being deaf, was faced with opposition from orchestras when he wanted to be the conductor of his own songs. And the musicians who heard the news all shivered.

He can’t hear and yet he wanted to lead an orchestra? That was an impossible mission!