Almighty painter

Chapter 1016 Another New Year's Concert
“Just yesterday, I met Mr. Gu Weijing in a classroom at the Hamburg Academy of Fine Arts.” Robert took a breath and asked, “We talked a lot about his understanding of watercolor painting.”

"He seems determined to be the winner of the entire Masters program."

“I’m not surprised.”

Anna nodded.

She casually remarked, "He should be the best among all the students; he's just not usually very competitive."

"of course."

Robert continued, following Miss Elena's words, "I have no doubt about Mr. Gu's genius, but I noticed that he deliberately drew a watch on the notepad he kept on his desk."

"Oh, is that so?"

Miss Elena's tone was unremarkable.

“Yes, a watch, and a motto—What have you done to surpass yourself?” Robert explained. “You didn’t know that?”

Who doesn't have a few quirks?

Anna seemed completely uninterested in the matter. "An agent isn't the other party's grandmother, how could she possibly know everything?"

"Oh."

Robert ran into another snag.

“These are some relatively personal questions…it’s for the biography…” Robert gave the same explanation he had given Gu Weijing. Then he added, “As far as I know, your agency contract with Gu Weijing is for three years?”

"Correct."

"So, this agency agreement will end later this year," Robert asked. "Will your collaboration continue?"

Anna caught the tennis ball from August's mouth once again.

This time.

She didn't throw the tennis ball further away; instead, she stroked its neck and let it lie down beside her.

Judging from the situation, Dog's fat-burning and weight-loss class can come to an end today. Next up is the calcium-supplementing sunbathing session.

Face this problem.

During the half-hour interview, the woman, for the first time, engaged in prolonged reflection.

finally.

She slowly shook her head.

"You...you don't know either?"

Robert has already learned to answer first!

"Do not."

Anna raised her hand, as if to tuck the hair behind her ear or to show off her bare wrist.

"Well, that depends on his own performance."

So said Miss Elena.

Although Miss Elena had expressed a certain lack of interest in certain questions during their previous conversation, Robert noticed that Anna gave a fleeting, slight laugh at that moment.

The dog rubbing its head against its owner's leg next to it also grinned, seemingly chuckling along. Its soft, smooth chestnut fur, under the afternoon sun in winter, shimmered with a mysterious and magnificent luster like black and gold satin.

Upon closer inspection, it's not all an illusion—aside from the large ears appearing slightly rustic, the hound beside Elena is absolutely gorgeous, truly a magnificent and majestic creature.

……

Ten minutes later.

As Robert left Miss Elena's ranch, he couldn't help but turn around and saw Miss Elena strolling through the fields with her cane, seemingly muttering something to herself.

The distance is too far.

Robert couldn't hear clearly, and it was probably German, and clearly not one of the four words Robert could only know: "Good morning," "Good afternoon," "Good evening," or "Good morning."

Only dairy cows!

The black and white cow with sensitive hearing in the pen he passed seemed to sense something at that moment. It suddenly lowered its head, revealed its non-existent horns, and scratched the ground heavily with its hooves.

He has a fierce tiger in his heart.

Smell the roses.

It's like a magnificent and majestic bull.

"Thus says Zarathustra: I love that kind of person."

"I love those great scorners, for they are great respecters, arrows of longing that yearn for the other shore."

"I love that kind of person."

Anna walked along the path in the pasture.

"He speaks wisely before he acts, and what he fulfills always exceeds what he promises—"

……

Look.

"I am the herald of lightning, a heavy raindrop falling from the clouds: and this lightning is called Superman."
-
Hamburg University of Music and Theatre

The school auditorium.

As the conductor, with his stern and aloof expression and impeccably combed hair, gently waved his baton, melodious and passionate music resounded throughout the large auditorium that could hold hundreds of people.

As is customary at the music academy, the first concert of the year after the start of the semester in February is one of the most important performances of the year for the campus symphony orchestra, and also one of the grandest collective events of the entire art academy.

The grand hall inside the Baji Palace was packed with people at that moment.

The audience included school leaders, students' parents, local residents and tourists who bought tickets, as well as various people from the music industry.

Somewhere in the back of the table, a young man in his twenties took out a folder from his small bag.

Gu Weijing opened the loose-leaf sheet in his hand and looked at the musical staff in front of him.

It's been more than two years since I last attended a live concert.

After Christmas that year, he sat in a private box in Vienna's Golden Hall, watching the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert with Miss Elena.

During the concert, Gu Weijing told Anna that he received tips of more than ten euros from others while he was playing the violin, and he was very proud of it.

Anna also joined in the clapping, and seriously analyzed and joked that according to the current income growth curve, by the time he was a junior, or at most a senior, Gu Weijing would be able to hold a solo concert in the Golden Hall.

Time seemed to pass very slowly.

Time seems to have passed very quickly.

It feels like this happened just yesterday, but in the blink of an eye, many, many months have passed.

just now.

As a junior in college, he once again sat in the concert hall.

It's unlikely he'll ever sit down with his agent again, like that day, and listen to a concert together from beginning to end.

The string section's signature melodious sound expanded and filled the entire concert hall.

The cello's sound is deep, rich, and full.

The viola is the timbre that Gu Weijing is most familiar with. It is lighter and warmer than the cello, like a soft hum with a nasal tone.

The violin is the most dominant instrument in the entire symphony, the queen of the orchestra.

Gu Weijing leaned back in his chair and looked towards the stage.

The young musician, dressed in a black tailcoat, white shirt, white vest, and a white bow tie, sat upright in the middle of the orchestra.

The customary greetings before the concert officially begins.

He had just stood up to receive applause from the entire audience.

That's Williams.

More than half a year later, the other party had returned to the school's symphony orchestra and resumed his position as the orchestra's first violin. It was also he who had recently made a special trip to Gu Weijing's studio to deliver an invitation to this performance.

"You are strong."

Williams said.

“I know you’re very strong, and I know you’ll definitely be the gold medalist in the Masters Program.” But Williams said he still hasn’t given up.

Williams hoped to reciprocate Gu Weijing's gesture with this long-prepared concert. Gu Weijing could, of course, not come, but if he wished to, he would.

“I would be very honored,” he said.

A year ago, when the two first met at a resort hotel on the outskirts of Hamburg, they probably couldn't have imagined that such a conversation would take place between them.

then.

Gu Weijing really came.

He walked along with the music, turning the pages of the sheet music in his hand one by one.

That is Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 in D major.

Gu Weijing's instrumental playing level is far from being good enough to give a solo recital in the Golden Hall, and far from being good enough to hold any public performance in any concert hall.

Throughout his life, Gu Weijing probably could not have reached such a level of performance.

Fortunately.

Two years of musical instrument study have gradually taught Gu Weijing how to "understand" a symphony and how to follow the music while looking through violin scores.

"It was a truly outstanding performance."

Gu Weijing silently followed the vibrant rhythm of the clapper talk in his mind.

The continuous musical notes danced in his ears, and his mood danced along with them.

Dramatic contrasts and complex shifts in emotion filled his ears.

The music transitions from an uncertain introduction and a wandering melody to a powerful outburst at a certain moment.

The deep rain seeped out from the music.

a drop.

Two drops.

The intense lightning finally arrived.

First came the torrential rain, then came the thunder and lightning.

Gu Weijing gave up on looking at the score and closed his eyes.

Chasing after every note in a magnificent symphony is like identifying every brushstroke in a watercolor painting by William Turner or Menzel. Gu Weijing has the eyes to distinguish the latter, but not the ears to distinguish the former.

It's ok.

The threshold of art is something that is both ubiquitous and nonexistent.

It is both formless and tangible.

To create an outstanding painting, one most likely needs a solid foundation in painting skills.

While painting skills and aesthetic theory are certainly helpful in appreciating a good painting, ultimately, the ultimate secret is simply "to look at it."

Gu Weijing had asked his teacher, Cao Xuan, about it.

What is aesthetics?

What is a refined person, and what is a vulgar person? Is it only someone like Brother Yang, who has read so many books and knows everything, who can be considered a true refined person?

Cao Xuan thought for a moment.

Before the next class, the old gentleman read a story to Gu Weijing, saying that there was a famous scholar named Du Shaoqing in "The Scholars", who could be considered a "famous scholar" in the traditional sense.

One day, Du Shaoqing encountered two brothers carrying empty loads.

One brother patted another brother on the shoulder and said...

"We've sold out of manure for today! Let's go to Yongning Spring for a drink of water, and then come back to Yuhuatai to see the sunset."

It turned out that they were two manure carriers who had sold all their manure and were now gazing at the sunset and twilight at Yuhuatai.

Cao Xuan said that when writing this section of "The Scholars", the final focus was mainly on Nanjing, saying that "even the vegetable vendors and bartenders had the atmosphere of the Six Dynasties, not at all different".

When Grandpa Cao read this part, he was deeply impressed by the two porters.

“Of course, this is also the mark of a refined person,” the old man said.

The sunset is there.

Aesthetic appreciation, aesthetic appreciation, all it takes is to look.

To play an instrument like Williams requires an extremely high level of skill, and to read sheet music also requires a certain level of musical knowledge.

But at the end of the day.

The ultimate secret to appreciating music is simply to "listen".

Symphony No. 2 in D major is a piece with an extremely grand atmosphere, from hesitation and indecision to thunder and lightning and galloping horses.

Humans can fight against fate.

Humans can embrace nature.

A person can become a hero.

With his eyes closed, Gu Weijing listened to music while recreating the scene in his mind.

Gu Weijing pondered how to use the pen of Detective Cat to depict that playful structural transformation, pure passion, ecstatic catharsis, and the momentum constantly accumulating in the melody.

Ultimately, all of this constitutes the exploration and discovery of oneself.
-
"A distinguished guest who was present requested to meet with you before leaving—"

After the concert ended and Williams finished playing, he wanted to leave, but the principal stopped him.

"Of course, I know."

Williams nodded calmly, showing no surprise at how things had unfolded.

"I want to see him too."

Williams followed the principal out, his face hardened. He rubbed his face, adopting a resolute expression like a warrior about to face a duel.

After all, the two of them were the biggest rivals in the entire art project.

After Gu Weijing's art exhibition garnered significant attention, Williams realized that his chances of winning the entire Master Project Gold Award were less than one-third.

In terms of fame within the art industry, neither of them is in the same league.

Williams still did his best to prepare for the concert performance.

Knowing you will lose and not having the courage to even attempt a challenge are two completely different things.

he.

Williams.

The undisputed young genius in the violin world has already regrouped and is now poised to make a comeback.

"This was prepared just for you!"

He had seen Gu Weijing's art exhibition, and he was also eager to know Gu Weijing's opinion on the performance.

Thinking about this fated showdown, Williams felt his steps ignite.

The heroic spirit in Beethoven's music filled the violinist's veins, and he lifted his leg and took a step.

"Da da da."

"Da da da."

"clatter--"

Williams' face suddenly turned extremely ugly, and he abruptly stopped in his tracks, almost tripping and falling flat on his face.

The violinist's eyes were vacant, yet filled with fear, and within that fear shone a hidden emptiness. It was the kind of look that Cui Xiaoming would call, "Brother! The pigeons of Buenos Aires are still waiting for you!"

The young woman, accompanied by her secretary, was waiting in the lounge, casually flipping through the sheet music.

It turned out to be——

Anna Elena.

Williams felt his PTSD was about to flare up.

(End of this chapter)