14.11

The organizing committee arranged for the contestants to draw lots. After learning about the songs Zhou Yunsheng was about to play, no one wanted to rank behind him. His performance would set them off even more mediocre. Even though everyone was the same age, the gap was so obvious. He's already so good that it's daunting, and it takes a lot of courage to compete with him on stage.

When they put their hands in the camera obscura, everyone was praying desperately, even Hannah, a self-proclaimed genius. She had already regarded this year's champion and the admission ticket of the Curtis Institute of Music as her bag, but she did not expect to kill a Xue Jingyi halfway through. Because of Xue Zixuan, she had paid attention to each other before, and she was obviously a very ordinary person at that time.

Chinese people are ashamed of their pride and proud of their humility, maybe she had hidden her strength before. If you have strength, you should show it to your heart's content, instead of attacking people by surprise. Damn, she must have done it on purpose! Hannah angrily pulled her hand out of the camera obscura, and when she saw the number, her face turned pale. No. 12, a little in the middle, was originally a very good number, but because Zhou Yun Sheng drew 11, it became the death ranking. After him, who would bear to listen to her play?

"No, how could it be so coincidental! Someone must have cheated, and I ask for another draw!" Hannah was born in an upper-class Austrian family. She insisted that she and Xue Jingyi's numbers were closely next to each other from the preliminaries was deliberately arranged to make her look ugly.

"If you have great strength, there is nothing in the world that can make you feel afraid." Zhou Yun Sheng said calmly. The staff translated this sentence into German and English. Hannah, who had been noisy, immediately quieted down. She realized that her unreasonable behavior had exposed her inner fear.

However, in the face of such a formidable opponent, who would not feel fear? Ask the other twenty-five players, no one is willing to draw the numbers after the teenagers.

The live drawing of the lottery was broadcast live on the camera. The strong confidence implied in the boy's words conquered all the audience. Before the game started, the ratings continued to climb. Because of the song "To Palochev", many people who never listened to classical music became ardent fans of Zhou Yunsheng.

Today's concert hall is full of people, and the cameraman is focusing on the audience in the first few rows. Most of them are heavyweights in the music industry, including Xue Zixuan, eight judges, several world-class piano masters, and the adult group is promoted. The twenty-six contestants in the semi-finals included Bill, the godfather of international pop music, the famous director Parson, and even Beckett, the dean of the Curtis Institute of Music.

When the preliminaries were held, they were still scattered all over the world, and they had endless work in hand, but after listening to the boy's very magical piano sound, they came to the scene invariably, wanting to personally understand the unique charm of the boy.

"It is my lifelong regret that I missed the opportunity to listen to "To Palochev" live. Such a regret cannot happen again, so I am here." Symphony Orchestra's principal pianist Kent said so.

"I'm here for Joy, and her melody floods my dry inspiration. I hope to have the opportunity to work with her, she's amazing, her hands are magical!" Bill looked at the camera and compared He made a gesture of NO.1, which was highly praised in his words.

"What the Curtis School of Music needs is a talented and passionate student like Joy. Will she be admitted? Oh, that's a question too much, long after she played "To Palochev," Curtis The door has already been opened for her." After the dean of the Curtis Institute of Music finished saying this, he glanced vaguely at the dean of the Juilliard School who was sitting not far away, and they also wanted to bring this genius. In the bag, the competition in the future will be fierce.

When interviewing Xue Zixuan, he turned his head to look at the camera and said word by word, "Of course his future achievements will surpass mine. Jealous? No, he is my pride."

As soon as the words fell, the results of the lottery came out. The much-anticipated Joy came in eleventh, Hannah followed him on the stage, and the huge screen scrolled the order of the players and the repertoire. When they saw what Joy was about to play, many listeners couldn't help covering their mouths and exclaiming. Even the judges and music masters in the first few rows discussed each other a few words, with worries on their faces, and even more anticipation and excitement.

How long has it been since Sears' death that "Show Off" has not been played in public? Even the piano king, Xue Zixuan, just used it to practice his hands in private. If he really wanted to perform on stage, he refused one by one, because he was not sure that he could make a single note. In terms of emotional expressiveness, "Show Off" is lackluster, but in terms of technique, it is undoubtedly the pinnacle of piano history. Even if you press the wrong half note, all subsequent tunes will turn into grotesque noises. Make the player look ugly, collapse and step down.

Sears relied on this piece to stun all the pianists of his generation, so much so that it provoked public anger, and reduced this piece from the lofty "Sears Rhapsody" to the ironic "Show Off".

Most of the people who bought tickets to watch this game are diehard fans of classical music, and they know a lot about the masterpiece "Show Off". Whispered, "What are these people making a fuss about?"

Xue Yan used his mobile phone to look up the information, and after reading it, he forwarded it to Xue Laosi.

"Fuck, Xiaoyi plays such a big game every time, and other players have been beaten to death by him." Xue Laosi shook his head and sighed.

The audience was not interested in the performance of the top ten players. Eighty to ninety percent of them came for Joy. When the host called the eleventh player to play, the audience applauded extremely warmly.

Zhou Yun Sheng was wearing a pure black tuxedo, and his long hair was meticulously combed to the back of his head with a thick layer of wax. From the front, it looked like he had his hair cut short, and he looked very heroic. Instead of bowing like the other players, he nodded slightly, with an air of arrogance. Today, he is not here to participate in the competition, but to show off his skills. He will use his superb piano skills to make everyone tremble and surrender.

The audience clearly liked his arrogant expression, and the blood was already boiling before the performance began. Xue Zixuan suppressed his beating heart with all his strength, and only then did he resist the desire to rush to the stage to hug the boy.

When writing "Show Off," Sears wasn't emotionally involved, but he was a perfectionist who gave the piece an absolutely beautiful melody while incorporating various fingerings. It does not have any connotations, it is purely for the sake of being gorgeous and gorgeous, and it is for the sake of showing off skills, but it caters to the public's taste just right, making this song widely known, and it is often used in many film and television works until now. Of course, that is all Computer synthesized.

Its melody is very lively and lively, and the rhythm is even more varied. When it is slow, it is like a snail crawling. Players often only need to use one hand. Elbow, every time you play a measure, you have to change a technique. If you don’t change it in time, you will be thrown out by the melody immediately, and you can no longer continue.

Zhou Yunsheng sat in front of the piano to adjust his state, then raised his hands to enter the first measure, the rhythm here is very slow, and the player needs to control the time well. If it is one second faster or one second slower, the following melody will be like The derailed train collided and collapsed. Everyone was sweating for him, but he finished the first bar with extremely precise control and entered the second bar that music critics called the storm circle. The style of this bar is completely opposite to that of the first bar. The score is crowded with more than 300 notes, and the performer cannot use both hands, and needs to add two elbows to support it.

After playing this section, it is like escaping from the storm circle, and it feels like the rest of your life.

The judges and audience held their breath as they waited for the end of the first subsection. The young man did not disappoint them. He calmly entered the second quarter, and the cameraman focused on his white hands. They jumped and jumped on the keys, so fast that they could barely see afterimages, and the beautiful melody swirled in the concert hall like a howling wind, knocking people's souls out of their bodies, making them dizzy, and their hearts relaxed. Godly.

Since his hands were too busy, the organizing committee specially arranged a staff member who specialized in translating music scores for him. Seeing that one page of the score was finished, this person didn't move. If it was another player, he might not be able to continue now, but Zhou Yun Sheng only glanced at the other party, the rhythm was not disturbed at all. His hands almost opened two dazzling flowers on the piano keys, and a cross-cut elbow hit a series of accents, like dripping boiling water into hot oil, detonating the final climax, not only the audience shook their heads and intoxicated, Even the judges patted the table with their hands and got carried away.

Zhou Yun Sheng changed the four techniques one after another. He held his head high from beginning to end, his eyelids were slightly lowered, and he stared at the keys with contempt, as if they had already surrendered to him and could be driven by him at will. At this moment, he looked extremely arrogant, and his delicate facial features revealed an irresistible charm.

At the end of the performance, he stood up, raised his chin slightly and raised his eyebrows at the audience under the stage. This was originally an extremely impolite behavior, but it made the audience truly appreciate his power and conceit. He is so good that he can face the world with the arrogance and rudeness of Sears. They couldn't hate him at all, on the contrary, they liked his playing, his expression, his indomitable attitude. He should live like this unscrupulously!

Thunderous applause suddenly erupted, and the judges sitting in the front row took the lead to stand up and pay their respects, and then the whole audience stood up for fear of their red palms, and their mouths kept cheering.

Only Xue Yan sat in the dark crowd and felt extremely aggrieved. Xue Lao Si had already gotten carried away, put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Normally, he would have been asked out by the security guards long ago, but today he was ignored because there were too many people applauding.

"If Sears were still alive, he'd be jealous of Joy's talent. The show he wrote couldn't be more difficult for Joy."

"My heart almost jumped out of my throat when she played the second measure. It was so fast, faster than a bullet train, but it sounded so good!"

"In the past, all listening to "Show Off" were all synthesized by computer. The only real performance was Sean's etude several years ago, which was not complete. Today, I heard the full version of the real performance at the scene. It is said that her expression was very ugly when she played "To Palochev", and today you should come to the scene to see what her expression was like when she played "Show Off", she was arrogant like a queen! I was already crying because of her beauty!"

"Joy is playing the piano with his life!"

The audience immediately shared their feelings on social networks, making those who failed to buy tickets to enter the venue even more jealous. Joy rekindled the love of classical music.

The next performer was Hannah. She stood behind the stage with a pale face. Seeing the young man walking slowly, she retreated subconsciously.

"No one helped me turn the score, do you know about this?" Zhou Yun Sheng said with a smile that was not a smile.

Hannah and the staff member stiffened for a moment. Zhou Yun Sheng nodded, took care of himself, and reported the matter to the organizing committee. He didn't care about the outcome of the handling of the organizing committee, because he was not afraid of any competitors. Hannah lost her mind because of this, and was crushed again by Zhou Yunsheng's wonderful performance. She made a major mistake just after playing two stanzas. She wanted to make amends but couldn't do anything, she was in a hurry, and the changed melody made the judges frown.

The rest of the players were also mediocre. Most of them started learning the piano at the age of five or six, and performed on stage at the age of seven or eight. They never thought they would be stage fright. But today, after Zhou Yun Sheng showed off his extraordinary piano skills with an arrogant attitude, their self-confidence suffered an unprecedented blow. Just as the pianist who was the same generation as Sears was bleak by him, the current Zhou Yun Sheng also showed his extraordinary talent early on. If nothing else, he will definitely become the next Sears, and it takes a lot of courage to compete with him.

The semi-finals ended, Zhou Yunsheng entered the finals with the first place, while Hannah left sadly and received a letter of warning, and the staff in charge of translating the score was also dismissed.

Zhou Yunsheng's performance of "Showing Off" became a mess on the Internet, especially the second bar. After watching it, everyone would go back and watch it a few more times, sighing at his amazing hand speed. They quickly discovered the problem that the staff had not translated the score, and when they contacted the warning letter Hannah received, many people guessed the truth. While slamming Hannah, they also admired Zhou Yunsheng's piano skills. They didn't understand how he remembered such a long melody. They had to know that there were as many as 300 notes in the second measure alone, enough to set a world record.

"Joy didn't read the score every time he played, his strength is far beyond our imagination."

"I heard that Curtis, Julia, Rochester are all vying for her, but I think she's actually reached the level of graduating from the conservatory. I guess the academy tutors don't have much to teach her, she's got it. All skills."

"Didn't you find that Joy is very handsome in men's clothes? What kind of arrogant queen, I think she is more like a king!"

"Because of her, I'm so in love with classical music right now. I'm curious what she will perform in the finals."

"I guess it should be "My Empire"."

"I guess so!"

"It's definitely "My Empire"! After playing a masterpiece like "Show Off", the only thing that makes her feel difficult is probably "My Empire"."

"Please be sure to play "My Empire"!"

"1."

"2."

"10086."

Netizens from all over the world lined up under this topic, strongly calling on Joy to perform this song.

"What song are you going to perform in the finals?" In the hotel room, Xue Zixuan was arranging clothes for the boy. It was obvious that he rarely did this kind of thing. It took several times for a piece of clothing to be folded into a decent shape.

"I want to perform "My Empire"." Zhou Yun Sheng sipped the hot milk in small mouthfuls.

Xue Li Danni, who walked into the room, just heard this sentence, looked at him with extremely complicated eyes, and then sat at the bar pouring wine, her eyes full of anxiety. She called her daughter again just now, trying to persuade her to give up the idea of ​​letting Huang Yi play instead of her. After "To Palochev", he actually performed "Show Off" perfectly. She was sitting in the audience at that time, and she was already impressed by his otherworldly piano skills. She thought: Even if Huang Yi traveled through time to the last century where there were many talents, she would not be covered by his light in front of Sears. She could see that when he played he was so easy and calm, the so-called storm-like melody couldn't resist him at all. He was more confident and arrogant than Sears.

As soon as he sat in front of the piano, he quickly retreated from his cowardly coat and became extremely dazzling. His playing already has a strong personal style that no one can imitate, even if he helped his daughter get Curtis' admission ticket? As long as the daughter touches the piano, all lies will be self-defeating.

That's why she was so uneasy, and advised her daughter to give up again and again. But I don't know what the devil is in my daughter, and I firmly believe that I will surpass Huang Yi. This is impossible! If she had talent, she would have shown it long ago!

Although she denied it in her heart, Xue Li Danni didn't say it, and she didn't dare to make her own decision to let Huang Yi retire. First, she was afraid that her son would be angry, and second, she was worried that bringing him back suddenly would cause her daughter to become ill. After all, being able to enter Curtis College has always been her greatest wish.

Xue Li Danni poured a glass of wine and said coldly, "You are so brave to choose "My Empire". This song is the belief of a generation."

Zhou Yun Sheng glanced at her without saying a word, connected to the Internet with 008, and anonymously posted the news that he was going to play "My Empire", which immediately caused a sensation on the Internet.

On the day of the finals, the reporters who came to interview found that most of the audience who bought tickets to enter the venue were old people with gray hair, and some of them were wearing neat military uniforms with medals on their chests. They are all veterans of the Second World War, and they have come from all over the world to enjoy the performance of the teenagers.

When the reporter asked them what they thought, one of them said, "I haven't heard the pure "My Empire" for a long time. I heard that the performer this time is only sixteen years old. I originally chose this song for her. Snickered, but my grandson recommended me to listen to two other pieces she played and I was impressed. I thought she might be able to do it."

"My Empire is the belief of our generation, I hope she doesn't destroy it, otherwise I'll be angry!" an old man in military uniform waved a cane and warned fiercely.

The reporter took back the microphone and laughed dryly, secretly breaking into a cold sweat for Joy.

Zhou Yunsheng was sitting in the corner of the lounge, surrounded by a few bodyguards, but they were taking Xue Yan's salary now, and they were only responsible for protection, not monitoring. When necessary, they also blocked Xue Zixuan outside. A total of ten contestants entered the finals, and the other nine gathered to chat, and could vaguely hear the exclamations such as "How bold" and "God". They obviously disapproved of Zhou Yun Sheng's choice.

Zhou Yun Sheng silently flipped through the score, immersed in his own thoughts. He was the second player to play. As soon as the number was announced, except for the player who drew No. 1, everyone else groaned, and they had to become his foil again, unless he smashed "My Empire". .

Contestant No. 1 performed very well because he was in a relaxed mood. When he passed by Zhou Yun Sheng, he waved his fist and made a cheering gesture. Zhou Yun Sheng nodded with a smile, and stroked his unruly sideburns. He is still wearing the male player's tuxedo today. As long as he shows enough talent, the organizing committee will give him enough tolerance. He stepped onto the stage and bowed, his expression serious and serious, without the arrogance of the semi-finals. He sat in front of the piano, as usual for a moment of silence to find the feeling.

"My Empire" is the work of Ivanov, a famous musician of the Levin Empire during World War II. When this piece was created, the Levin Empire was on the verge of collapse. He composed this piece with strong patriotic enthusiasm, inspiring the citizens in desperate situation to stand up and resist, and formed an orchestra to perform for the army for free. The melody of this piece is full of surging, inspiring power, making people unable to stop their blood and tears when they listen to it, and its emotional shock far exceeds that of "To Palochev".

If "To Palochev" is the main theme of death, then "My Empire" is the sonata of life, a narrow selfish, a vast expanse. This tune was so inspiring that it quickly spread from Levin's empire to the world, giving many peoples who were on the verge of extinction the strength to fight again.

Some people say that this piano piece is an epic masterpiece, like a giant beast. Although its footsteps are heavy and slow, it has pulled the history of an entire era. It has witnessed the demise of fascism and the rise of many nations. To play it requires a steely will and the most thorough understanding of life. Its emotional needs far outweigh the technical, and it is difficult for people who have not experienced that era to feel the resonance.

But Zhou Yun Sheng had experienced the war era, and he understood the sorrow of witnessing his own country's demise. Playing this tune does not require gorgeous skills, just remember one sentence - use steel as arms, gold for hearts, emotions as feet, soul into wings, and use the most sincere piano sound to evoke everyone's most turbulent. Anger, telling them that if they don't fight, they will die, and they will have a bright future only if they take up arms.

His weapon is music, and intangibles can also have the power to destroy the dead.

His originally soft face was now cold and hard like a sculpture, the frowning brow was engraved with anger and unyielding, and his head swayed with the pressure of the fingertips, making the hair messy, but it revealed a surging vitality.

The melody of passion and progress resounded throughout the hall. Many old people were already in tears and trembling all over. They seemed to have returned to the era of war. There were the roar of cannonballs and the shouts of comrades in arms. They shouted hoarsely: Advance, To defend my empire!

Zhou Yun Sheng's fingertips also kept advancing, pressing down a series of vibrato, and then stopped abruptly. A musician once said that the spiritual effort of playing "My Empire" is equivalent to digging ten tons of coal. Zhou Yun Sheng was too tired to breathe now, he swallowed, only to find that his mouth was dry, smoke could even come out of his throat, his fingertips continued to tremble, and he could no longer press even a single key.

He closed his eyes, feeling dizzy. While he was sitting, the old people stood up one by one and applauded him with tears. Some even took off the medals on their chests and held them up to the young man to show his supreme achievement in music.

This game is not enough to describe the wonderful two words, it is a heroic echo of an era.