Chapter 17, Song 17...
To be honest, no one present would disagree that Cai Rui's request was absurd.
Qu Jiaying watched a bit of the live video of Cai Rui conducting. His movements were not big, but his interpretation of the symphony was refreshing. The same piece of music had different effects in the hands of different conductors. This is probably what Le Yi meant by "interesting".
However, it was tough on all the students present.
The first commander stood at the front and politely and quickly shook hands with Ruan Qi: "Thank you for your help."
Qu Jiaying squeezed into a corner of the violin section. After the performance started, she found that she couldn't compete with Ruan Qi at all. There were too many performers. Not to mention the coordination between different sections, even the same section was not in sync. The conductor was also busy and flustered.
Yan Zheng, who was sitting in the audience, was also worried for Qu Jiaying. A good conductor needs a good ear. He could tell that some of the performers on stage were afraid of being kicked out and tried their best to perform, without paying any attention to cooperating. Others wanted to cooperate, but the conductor was also flustered. In the end, they could only play strictly according to the score and completely ignore the conductor's ideas.
Amidst the chaos, the most beautiful music could still be heard—it was Ruan Qi's violin.
Qu Jiaying's zither music had been drowned out.
A dozen or so students from the conducting department arrived. Yan Zheng was at the back of the line. He looked at Qu Jiaying with concern, but he shook off his complicated thoughts. Now was not the time to worry about others; he needed to think carefully about how to conduct the command well.
Half of the conductors had already taken the stage, and before the next senior female conductor began, she spoke up: "Could we ask for a favor? Could you please pay attention to my conducting during the performance?"
Cai Rui, sitting in the audience, finally relaxed a little. Someone was finally talking to him; this wasn't a competition.
He thought about it and eliminated several people in his mind, so he simply let them go, which would be about the normal composition of a symphony orchestra.
The musicians who were eliminated had no choice. Some were freshmen, while others were original members. Cai Rui was not just a name; those he kept were musicians whose skill level was recognized as very high in their respective departments.
Qu Jiaying was still on stage when she took the opportunity to quickly eat a chocolate bar. Just now, she not only had to coordinate with the violinist next to her, but also pay attention to the entry and exit of other parts, watch the conductor's movements, and her own performance could not be wrong. She had to take care of everything. She was not sure how much she had accomplished, but she had no time to show her musicality.
Symphony orchestras and quartets are similar, but they are also different; symphony orchestras have more instruments and their scores are more complex.
Several more conducting students went on stage, and the orchestra didn't look as chaotic as before, but it still sounded chaotic. Even though the senior girl had said to let the musicians watch the conductor, no one trusted the conductor and was more worried about being kicked out of the orchestra, so they still wanted to show off their own abilities.
Qu Jiaying followed the conductor's instructions the whole time, but she felt that the interpretations of these people were not very different.
She glanced at Ruan Qi, who was sitting in the first chair. After several repetitions, Ruan Qi's piano playing remained beautiful and deeply moving, bringing tears to the eyes of listeners.
Qu Jiaying wavered. Should she perform her music like Ruan Qi? Right now, all she could do was stay in the orchestra. If she didn't showcase her solo skills, would she be unable to become the principal?
However, she cannot guarantee that she will stay in the orchestra. Unlike Yan Zheng, who practiced in a small orchestra in middle school for six years, she has no experience. The number of people remaining in the violin section is several more than usual, and apart from her, they are all senior students in their third or fourth year of university.
No, no, her playing skills are no worse than anyone else's.
Qu Jiaying did not change her strategy and continued to work with the conductor and orchestra with difficulty. She was just unwilling to admit that her interpretation of "The Butterfly Lovers" was not as good as Ruan Qi's.
The next conductor was Yan Zheng. He took a deep breath, stood at the front, and picked up his baton to signal the musicians.
The melody of "The Butterfly Lovers" started again from the beginning, but Yan Zheng stopped it shortly afterward.
"Second flute, a little softer, watch my conducting!"
"The first oboe, in tune!"
"Timpani, pay attention to the rhythm!"
After several interruptions, this round finally ended.
Yan Zheng turned around again and asked Cai Rui, "Can I have them do it again, just like before?"
“No, I already understand your interpretation.” Cai Rui refused without hesitation. “Next.”
Yan Zheng nervously returned to the stage. He felt that there was nothing wrong with his interpretation, but he had stopped several times, which might affect the effect.
The violin concerto "The Butterfly Lovers" is in sonata form and incorporates a lot of Yue opera melodies. Folk music is the type of music that Yan Zheng knows the least about, but this piece is too classic. He has studied this tragic love story and believes that he has grasped some of its essence.
No one else's interpretation is as good as his.
The last student from the conducting department to go on stage was Lü Yueming, a fifth-year student.
He immediately said with a relaxed smile, "I want to do something different. I want it to be a bit exaggerated, a bit dramatic, and faster. It's up to me to give the instructions."
The musicians were all a bit excited. The complete performance of "The Butterfly Lovers" took about half an hour. Everyone had been in the rehearsal hall since morning, for about six or seven hours. They took a short break in between, bought some snacks from the vending machine, and spent the rest of the time rehearsing.
After a dozen or so commanders all made similar decisions, someone finally suggested trying something new.
Although everyone thought the exaggerated performance was wrong, I was too tired to care anymore.
Under Lü Yueming's direction, "The Butterfly Lovers" underwent a tremendous change. It was still a tragedy, but it no longer possessed the beauty of blank space and freehand brushwork; instead, it had the expressiveness of an opera.
Qu Jiaying was reminded of Francesca da Rimini, which she had practiced a few days ago. Tchaikovsky drew inspiration from the Divine Comedy for a tragic love story, in which a couple was separated by their parents, the girl was forced to marry a man she did not love, and the couple died together in the end.
Although this interpretation is different from the "Butterfly Lovers" violin concerto, Qu Jiaying still finds it quite interesting.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but glance at the audience. If that were the case, Yan Zheng's traditional interpretation might not have been chosen by Cai Rui.
After all the conductors had taken turns going on stage, Cai Rui directly informed them: "The assistant conductor is Lü Yueming." He then filtered out the extra people from each section.
"Orchestra principal, and principals of each section, I will announce before the next rehearsal. Everyone, dismissed, go and rest."
Qu Jiaying doesn't know how likely she is to become the principal conductor, but at least she stayed in the orchestra and was able to collaborate with internationally renowned conductors.
She looked at the dejected Yan Zheng, sighed softly, and awkwardly stepped forward to comfort him, saying, "You're only a sophomore, you'll have other opportunities in the future."
She tried to pat him on the back.
Yan Zheng shook off her hand, his eyes red: "I don't need your pity."
Qu Jiaying's hand froze in mid-air.
A note from the author:
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Synopsis: Ji Chun lived for over twenty years in the interstellar era. Suddenly, she dreamt that she had transmigrated into a cannon fodder female supporting character in an interstellar novel. In order to obtain residency on the central planet, she had to participate in gene matching. As a result, she was targeted by rebel spies who altered her matching score. In the end, the spies were exposed, and she was implicated and imprisoned. All of this was just the background for the love story between the male and female protagonists in the original book.
Ji Chun had a headache. She had already signed up for gene matching, but seeing that she couldn't stop the original plot from happening, she turned around and bumped into her college friend He Yue.
Ji Chun was overjoyed: "Shall we get married?"
He Yue extended his hand: "It's a pleasure to cooperate with you."
No one could have imagined that He Yue, known for his coldness and ruthlessness, would chase after Ji Chun a year later, begging her not to leave.
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