Please, come home and practice the piano

Chapter 1403, Section 623: A Guided Reading Before the Bell Rings!

Xiao Che's single sentence made everyone realize that it still had to be Arlene.

Why do you say that?

Yesterday, everyone teased Little Tiger about what gift he gave Ah Lin, which made him a little unhappy.

Today, A Liu and Marco were joking around, but Xiao Che was able to take the initiative to face it and resolve it humorously.

Wang Xiaohu was also happy to hear Xiao Che's words.

Because to him, Xiao Che's words were tantamount to admitting that she would sit with him that night.

Hey.

The children did not head straight to the concert hall immediately after exiting the subway station; they were waiting for their senior sister, Ji Yang.

At this moment, Senior Sister Ji Yang was on her way to get the flowers.

Besides waiting for their senior sister, they also had to wait for Grandpa Tang.

Originally, Grandpa Tang wanted to come by subway with his granddaughter, but when he learned that a group of children had made plans to come together, he decisively gave up the idea of ​​following them.

Mr. Tang is undoubtedly the most important guest today.

Although it all started because of his granddaughter, Mr. Tang will be in the audience for today's performance, no matter what.

In fact, Fang Yongbo had extended an invitation to Mr. Tang in his personal capacity long before the summer camp even began.

Mr. Tang readily agreed, but declined Fang Yongbo's arrangement, stating that he would buy the ticket himself.

Yesterday, Fang Yongbo asked Ang Lee again, saying he would arrange a special car to pick up Mr. Tang today, but Ang Lee refused outright.

After spending this period of time together, Ang Lee has gotten a pretty good grasp of Mr. Tang's temperament; to put it simply, he's a maverick.

Just don't argue with the old man.

Finally, everyone decided to split into two groups.

Ah Liu, Wang Xiaohu, and the other two went to wait for Grandpa Tang in his car.

The rest of the people went to wait for the senior sister to get the flowers.

Half an hour later, everyone gathered at the entrance of the hall.

At this moment, there were already quite a few audience members around with program schedules and tickets in their hands.

A poster featuring a group photo of Ang Lee and all the musicians from Rong Ai is prominently displayed in the lobby, where three young people who look like college students are taking a photo in front of it.

Compared to the night before last, the atmosphere at the Chengdu Concert Hall today was much more lively.

"Grandpa Tang".

"Teacher Ji Yang."

"You can't!!"

"Hahaha, it's alright, it's alright. You'll have to teach me a few more Chengdu dialect phrases."

The two groups got together and created some fun.

With an hour to go before the concert, and still no entry allowed, a few children whispered about how they could sneak backstage to see their teacher.

As a result, Grandpa Tang overheard it.

“You’ve already gone in. He probably won’t be able to pay attention to you right now. Come on, there’s a coffee shop over there. Your senior sister treated us to drinks the day before yesterday, so I’ll treat you to drinks today.”

"Long live Grandpa Tang!"

"Thank you, Grandpa Tang!"

"Grandpa Tang, you're so kind!"

The children chattered away, one after another, making Old Master Tang smile from ear to ear.

"Come on, let's order whatever we want to drink or eat later."

Grandpa Tang thought that since there was no rush to go in, he might as well let the children have some time to eat outside.

The prices inside the concert hall were quite high; even a small cake cost forty yuan. The children were a little embarrassed to order when they saw the prices, but luckily Tang Xiaoxing made the decision for them.

What is your teacher playing tonight?

While waiting for the food, Mr. Tang looked around and asked with a smile.

Wang Xiaohu thought to himself, "Is there even a need to ask?"
So he knew that Grandpa Tang must have more questions, which is why he was the first to speak up.

"Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2," Ah Liu replied with a grin.

Grandpa Tang smiled and said, "Could you tell us the story behind this piece?"

What???
Ah Liu was stunned for a moment, then said, "Um, why don't you tell us the story, Grandpa Tang?"

Wang Xiaohu's lips curled up; he knew it!

Grandpa Tang then looked over and said, "Little Tiger, tell us about it."

"Ah." Wang Xiaohu didn't expect the problem to still be directed at him.

Fortunately, in order to follow Uncle Fang in conducting this piece, he had already learned about all the relevant content of the work.

Just then, the little car gently clapped its hands.

The next second, the children all gave them encouraging applause.

Hearing the applause around him and seeing the expectant looks from his friends, Wang Xiaohu suddenly felt exceptionally valued.

Thank you, Arlene! I will definitely do a good job telling this part.

This isn't the first time he's told the background story of Rachmaninoff's Second Piece.

The last time was the day before yesterday; he had already explained it to Xiao Che over the phone.

After a moment, he slowly opened his mouth.

It sounds like he's imitating the tone of a certain teacher, Mr. An, when telling music stories.

Let's turn back time for a moment to St. Petersburg at the end of the 3th century. March 28, 1896.

This day was destined to be an indelible mark on Rachmaninoff's life.

At that time, he enthusiastically brought his first symphony to the stage.

The symphony was hailed as the pinnacle of musical genres at the time. He naturally poured his heart and soul into it, and the conductor standing on the podium was none other than the renowned Glazunov.

But no one expected that the premiere would turn into a complete disaster.

There are many different opinions in later generations.

Some say that Glazunov drank alcohol before going on stage, causing his conducting to become chaotic.

Some say that this conservative conductor simply couldn't understand the radical notes in Rachmaninoff's music, arbitrarily altered the score, and coupled with severely insufficient rehearsal time, the work was completely distorted.

However, in the eyes of music critics at the time, all the blame should be placed on the young composer.

Before the performance was over, Rachmaninoff had already fled the scene.

In the years that followed, he seemed to have lost his creative soul.

During this period, Rachmaninoff did try to pull himself together again.

For more than a year after his disappointing debut, he threw himself into conducting and performing, keeping his schedule packed so busy that he didn't even have time to come up with creative ideas.

He even resigned from his position as conductor at the Moscow People's Opera Company, determined to focus on composing.

But inspiration is like a kite with a broken string, never to be found again.

One day in January 1900, Rachmaninoff met Tolstoy, the literary giant he had long admired, with a sense of pilgrimage.

He thought he could find solace in this master, but to his surprise, after he finished playing his own work, Tolstoy simply looked directly at him and calmly asked a thought-provoking question:
"Tell me, who would want to listen to this kind of music?"

The flame of hope was almost completely extinguished.

Fortunately, fate did not completely abandon this genius.

At that time in Europe, psychotherapy was quietly emerging.

Just as Freud's interpretation of dreams was published, Rachmaninoff met Dr. Nikolai Dahl, a physician who was an expert in neurology and hypnosis, as well as an amateur musician.

For the next four months, Rachmaninoff visited Dr. Dahl's office every day.

Hypnotherapy calmed his tense nerves, and supportive therapy improved his sleep and appetite.

More importantly, in his half-awake state, Dr. Dahl would always whisper in his ear again and again.

"You will start writing concertos."

You will write to your satisfaction.

"The concerto will be of very high quality."

The words, like a magic spell, actually awakened dormant inspiration.

That summer, Rachmaninoff wrote in his diary—new musical ideas began to stir.

Once the floodgates of creation are opened, the surging melodies can no longer be stopped.

In October of the same year, he regained his peak composing speed and completed the last two movements of the concerto in one go. The first movement was also finalized shortly afterward.

He solemnly dedicated this work, born from fire, to Dr. Dahl.

On November 9, 1901, Rachmaninoff himself sat at the piano as a soloist, with his cousin Alexander Siloti conducting.

This time, the audience erupted in applause.

Even the music critics who vehemently criticized his first symphony a few years ago had to offer their sincere praise.

This work is Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2.

Since its premiere, this work has been like a rising star, illuminating the entire sky of Romantic music.

Hey.

As he spoke, Wang Xiaohu let out a soft sigh.

"Even a century later, this work continues to resonate with its powerful melody in countless concert halls."

Before anyone knew it, Wang Xiaohu was surrounded by a crowd.

"Well said."

"Wow——————"

With Grandpa Tang leading the way, the applause grew even louder this time.

Wang Xiaohu said thank you while shaking his head.

"I'm really looking forward to the teacher's performance tonight. Every time he performs a formal show, the final rehearsal before going on stage is never exactly the same."

Xiao Che couldn't agree more.

As the concert was about to begin, the children stood up one after another, and the crowd dispersed in the blink of an eye.

The camera captured a dense crowd surging towards the entrance of the concert hall.

At the same time, in the backstage dressing room, Ang Lee, who had already changed into a black tuxedo in front of the mirror, had a calm expression, with only his eyes sparkling with confidence.

After the rehearsal ended, he knew that he had no idea where the music would lead that night.

excited.

I was incredibly excited.

Ang Lee hadn't been this excited in a long time.

As the bell rang to signal the start of the live concert, the already noisy venue became even noisier.

I glanced around casually.

The venue is full today.

(End of this chapter)