When Qi Mu was still in Huaxia, he once heard Zheng Wei Qiao tell a joke: Loved by millions, you’re an idol superstar; loved by thousands, you’re a leader; loved by hundreds of millions… oh, it turns out you’re just money!

Although it was a casual statement, it ill.u.s.trated a truth——

If someone as good-tempered as Dorenza could be stabbed in the back by Zayev, what about anyone else?

As the king of the violin, Paganini had many fans all over the world. Some even loved him as a legend to chase their entire lives. Of course, many people hated this master, thinking that though he had wonderous skills, his violin lacked affection.

This was nonsense. After all, music from hundreds of years ago could not be perfectly preserved. Only the notes and critics of listeners in the past told the legend of the small violin maestro.

There were two main difficulties one faced playing the violin: skill and emotion.

Beethoven’s 《Violin Concerto in D major》 was a song filled with emotion. Even those who didn’t understand music could experience the happiness and satisfaction that came from the violin piece. Many would even think——

『Listening to this song draws me out from the deepest depths of my misery until I’m cloaked in happiness.』

However, this 《D Major》 couldn’t be considered a difficult song. In the hands of a professional violinist, it could only be regarded as average difficulty. It didn’t have many complicated techniques.

Expressing emotion was enough to reflect the song’s beauty, was anything else needed?

“Icing on the cake” was easy to say but difficult in practicality. Many had adapted the song over the years, but few were truly phenomenal. Most were almost identical to the original song, without much improvement.

To adapt a song, the adaptor had to have a deep understanding of the song and have both an excellent ear for music and the skill enough to accomplish it. Therefore, those who could adapt a song were masters of music, such as the superior, small, or great violinists, and so on.

Of course, in an orchestra, usually the conductor and the concertmaster handled this job. For example, Qi Mu and Wallace discussed and planned his adaptations of 《Ave Maria》 and 《The Blue Danube》.

But now, it was already impossible to involve others with this 《D Major》.

Sitting in front of the stage, Dorenza’s waist straightened. He leaned forward a little, gazing attentively at the young man playing on stage. He focused all his attention on his ears and didn’t miss even the slightest movement.

But now, the youth was playing too fast. When Dorenza heard the second section, he had a realization and whispered, “The second movement’s larghetto?!”

To his side, Motl was stunned.

The elements of a piece of music were divided into nine aspects, including rhythm, melody, harmony, intensity, etc.

Within rhythm, there was another element of speed. When creating a song, musicians often marked symbols on the score to tell players how fast to play the song. Generally, these symbols were Italian and from the slowest largo and adagio to the moderate moderato up to the faster allegro and presto.

And just faster than the largo, was the——

『Larghetto. 』

There were three movements in Beethoven’s 《D Major》. The first was a slightly slower paced allegro, the third was an allegro, and the second was a larghetto.

This second movement was the most lyrical piece of the entire song. It was an ensemble of the clarinet and the violin, providing a gentle temperament to let the audience relax.

But, this melody played by Qi Mu could not be called a larghetto. It had exceeded even the speed of an allegro and became a presto!

Only Dorenza could pinpoint what this melody was when accelerated ten times its speed. Everyone else thought when the second movement sped up, it became unexpectedly enthusiastic!

The pa.s.sionate, violent melody came from such a small hole in the violin. The young man’s slender fingers had become phantoms, moving across the strings rapidly, yet his right hand with the bow leaped across them even faster!

Five notes… no!

It felt like dozens of notes were drawn from the violin with a single pull of his bow!

Simply speeding up the rhythm wasn’t an acceptable adaptation, because sometimes the melody wasn’t suitable for high speeds. Sometimes, the melody required adding or omitting a few notes.

So right now, though the second movement was altered, if one listened carefully, it remained true to the original melody by Beethoven. Even if it was more headed and cheerful than even the third movement, everyone felt as excited as they did seeing a beautiful sunrise!

It was more climactic than the climax!

Obviously, it intercepted the original climax of the third movement, but the melodies that were now connected weren’t awkward at all. Instead, it felt seamless, almost as if to make the audience doubt: was it… that Beethoven had such ideas from the beginning, wanting to see if the future generations would unearth his intentions?

Listening to such enthused music, Dorenza’s tightly furrowed brow slowly evened out. His eyes still fixed on Qi Mu, his confusion was replaced with deep appreciation.

And it wasn’t just Dorenza!

Motl, Nazat, Anthony, Tuckerman…

All the judges couldn’t help but smile.

They never believed age was a factor on whether someone was a good musician. Mozart performed on stage at the age of four. Schubert wrote hundreds of cla.s.sics before he was 31. Auston Bertram wrote his first etude at 9, and Christole won the Paganini violin compet.i.tion when he was 14.

One might cry, why was G.o.d’s heart so crooked?

Such a violinist with outstanding strength and excellent ability, how could they also be so handsome on top of it all?!

It blew their minds right out of the solar system!!!

On stage, Qi Mu naturally had no idea that everyone listening to this was in a mess. After making the second movement so rapid, he used a beautiful scale to bring the melody back down to the original speed.

When the song ended, even Qi Mu was slightly breathless, his forehead covered in a thin layer of sweat.

Although he had such ideas and tested it in the lounge, once he was to perform his own adaptation, Qi Mu spent twelve minutes thinking about whether his absolute pitch could ensure the temperament’s harmony.

After a few seconds, Qi Mu took a deep breath and smiled at the people beneath the stage. His eyes met Dorenza’s, and he heard a loud “Bravo!”

Qi Mu turned in surprise to find Motl, the second conductor, looking at him seriously. He stood up and applauded. Under his leadership, the other four also laughed and clapped along. Even the two staff members by the door (including the rigid and serious Roman) applauded appreciatively.

If not for the circ.u.mstances at hand, he was almost afraid they would cry out “Encore.”

Qi Mu bowed in full courtesy, and Dorenza looked up at the young man with satisfaction. “Now that you’ve finished, may I call you ‘Little Seven’?”

Dorenza looked at the four judges beside him and saw that they nodded. “It’s over now, there’s no need to avoid suspicion, Dorenza.”

So Dorenza continued, “Little Seven, before you played, I was held hostage by these nasty fellows. They wouldn’t even let me say one word to you, they thought… I would favor you, maybe give you a hint?”

At Dorenza’s helpless look, Qi Mu couldn’t help laughing aloud.

Nazat, having been quietly listening until then, quipped, “Dorenza, don’t deny it. A few days ago, who brought Betram’s and Akkad’s recommendation letters? Who strongly recommended Qi Mu be directly recruited as deputy concertmaster at the last orchestra meeting? You said it just yesterday. Don’t think you can just omit the recruitment interviews if you get recommendation letters from Farrell and Lance again.”

Dorenza smiled and spread his hands, saying to Qi Mu, “Little Seven, look. These stubborn guys don’t believe in your strength at all. I told them repeatedly how well you performed at the Palisade Theatre. That even Auston could prove it!”

Qi Mu never imagined Dorenza had attempted to “omit the recruitment interview and directly recruit him,” but right now, hearing it, he couldn’t help feeling touched.

Dorenza had heard several performances by Qi Mu and even received the alb.u.m Akkad sent, but even if Qi Mu used his own strength to pa.s.s the interview, his behavior was risky.

If Qi Mu wasn’t competent, it would demolish Albert Dorenza’s reputation!

A conductor that could not even distinguish which sound was good from the bad?

You can pack up and get out!

Qi Mu smiled. “Thank you, Mr. Dorenza. I believe you didn’t give me a hint at all.”

Motl said helplessly, “I clearly put five Mozart songs in the box, why have three people drawn Beethoven?”

The orchestra’s concertmaster, Anthony, laughed, “Luck. Mr. Dorenza’s luck has always been good.”

After a few more laughs, Dorenza looked at Qi Mu and said, “Little Seven, the third movement you just adapted amazed us. Now I have to ask, why did you choose to adapt it like that? I hope you can give me a reasonable answer, otherwise…”

“I will represent the great Master Beethoven and cruelly reject this adaptation.”