eurekapd Chapter 534
Chapter 534
"Hey buddy, need some emotional support?"
Lu Qingfeng first tested the sound, then adjusted the strings and bow. Feeling that everything was perfect, he was about to begin playing when a musician from the Carlyle Orchestra suddenly raised his hand and asked.
Olivia's heart skipped a beat. She also played the piano, but she was more eager to witness the other person's violin skills firsthand.
"Thank you."
Lu Qingfeng nodded in greeting.
The white musician sat down at the piano and pressed the keys after Lu Qingfeng signaled to begin.
Three seconds after the violin music began, Lu Qingfeng's bow fell, and the swift, agile violin melody immediately drew all attention.
The white musician played the piano quite well, but Lu Qingfeng's violin was on another level. Although they were two different instruments, everyone present had the same feeling.
The piano's sound doesn't match the violin's; the understanding of the music and the control of the instruments are on completely different levels. The melodies are like two completely different paintings.
The ultimate in stunning beauty is just like the feeling you get when you first see this young man's face.
An expert will know if there is one as soon as he takes action.
The violin's exquisite tone was brought to its fullest potential in the young man's hands. The rich articulation, evenness, and clear separation of each note were breathtaking.
Is this the talent that the music critics at Gramophone magazine have been so impressed with?
Astonished.
Whether they had seen Lu Qingfeng's performance videos before or not, everyone stared intently at the young man in the middle. Regardless of their previous thoughts, they were all convinced at this moment.
Olivia's eyes never left Lu Qingfeng's hands.
"Dance of the Fairies" is not only a piece that showcases virtuosity, but also a test of the performer's comprehensive technical skills.
The first section opens with an E minor chordal arpeggio, and constructs a spiraling melodic line through a combination of stepwise and leaping sixteenth notes.
The key shifts between E minor and G major, creating a sense of agility and playfulness reminiscent of an elfin dance.
This requires the performer to control the bow's light bounce on the strings, maintaining a speed of 12 notes per second while ensuring that each note is clearly identifiable.
It has a light, airy feel, like a fairy's toes touching the ground.
Is it difficult?
It's difficult because if you're not careful, the melody you produce will become distorted and disjointed.
Lu Qingfeng wielded the bow with such ease.
Olivia observed carefully; his wrist was highly relaxed, yet he precisely controlled his attack speed and pressure points. Even so, he was still considering the distribution of bow segments.
The upper bow strokes play staccato notes, while the middle bow stroke maintains continuity, allowing the melody of this piece to switch frequently between soft and loud passages, as smooth as flowing water.
Now look at his left-hand technique.
If the spiccato bow is the soul of this piece, then the left-hand technique is the skeleton that supports the agile dance steps of the entire fairy world.
The boy has long, slender fingers, which gives him an advantage in technical movements.
Olivia noticed that during cross-string shifts, his fingers moved vertically up and down, with each note's fingering point precisely landing in the same position on the fretboard.
That is, the golden ratio point, in order to maintain the stability of pitch.
The 137th measure of the melody is also the core difficulty of this piece: the double-note trill.
In this move, the left hand needs to maintain a four-degree hand shape framework, and also needs to coordinate the swing of the wrist and the flexion and extension of the fingers. The wrist dominates the shift trajectory, and the fingers start the vibrato action in the new position.
All of this seems simple in the description, but only when you actually play it will you understand what it means to have your brain say you know it, but your fingers say you don't.
The left hand in this piece also uses a plucking technique, where the fingertips quickly pluck the strings, controlling the force, and the fingers immediately return to the pressing position after plucking.
These technical movements all require a high degree of finger dexterity from the performer.
In Olivia's eyes, Lu Qingfeng's left-hand technique had reached perfection, and his seamless shifting was like the unpredictable trajectory of a fairy.
The crystalline quality of the double-tone vibrato is like the vibration of wings under the moonlight. The rhythm of the strumming echoes the artistic imagery of the music, like the jewel's leaps and pauses in its dance.
The techniques of both hands blend together smoothly and seamlessly, forming a unified whole.
The boy's performance was not only a revolution in violin technique.
It is a fusion of precise body control and artistic imagination, reaching a realm of the unity of body, instrument, and music.
That was the level she wanted to reach, but had been unable to quite grasp.
Olivia was completely captivated.
As the music entered its middle section, the melody stretched out and became more expansive. At two minutes and forty seconds, the white violinist, who was completely absorbed in the music, suddenly frowned.
Some of the onlookers also noticed something was amiss.
"Is this part played incorrectly? It feels out of place."
Klemper glanced at it sideways and said softly.
“It was intentional. This is an F string on the 1234, and he played it backwards. The left-hand fingering was also more complicated. He was making it more difficult for himself. The original composer, Bazzine, did something similar.”
Show, so showy!
As soon as Lu Qingfeng started playing, Senior Meng picked up her phone to record the performance, silently thinking to herself.
Many famous musicians enjoy doing fancy tricks.
For them, music is a toy they can play with at will, not bound by the original score, but adding their own understanding and expressing their own musical ideas.
Therefore, in the third section, when the theme reappears, Lu Qingfeng's plucking is noticeably different from before, with increased force, and the resulting tone is clearly different. No one is puzzled, but rather curious about the reason why he did this.
Someone looked at Klemper, who shook his head.
The performance ended, and the applause was thunderous and prolonged.
Lu Qingfeng expressed his gratitude in a gentlemanly manner.
"Unbelievable, you are the youngest world-class violinist I have ever met."
Klemper stepped forward and showered him with endless praise.
Olivia followed behind, and as soon as she finished speaking, she immediately stepped forward and asked the question that had been bothering her.
"Your final strumming technique seems different from the traditional strumming technique. Was there a special purpose behind it?"
"You are very observant."
Lu Qingfeng picked up the violin and placed it in front of her, then demonstrated the plucking technique he used in his performance.
The fingers lift the strings and then slam them down, causing them to bounce back onto the fingerboard, producing a crisp tone.
Olivia was stunned.
"This is?"
"A new, experimental string-picking technique, currently just a concept, not yet practical?"
This passage, spoken by Lu Qingfeng in Chinese, was translated by Li Shibai.
These words shocked Olivia, Klemperer, and many others who knew about music.
The violin has gone through roughly four stages from its inception to its current state.
During the Baroque period, from the 16th to the mid-17th century, the violin evolved from being held in the hands by the early players to being placed on the shoulders with the chin lightly touching the soundboard.
This posture frees the left hand, laying the foundation for playing in higher positions.
In particular, breakthroughs in left-hand technique, the establishment of the seven-position system, double stops, and the maturity of chord and ornamentation techniques have allowed the violin to gradually evolve from simple accompaniment into an instrument capable of handling complex emotions and brilliant techniques.