Hye-jae - Book 1: New Beginnings

New Music Part 49

For Hye-won, the rest of the concert passed in a daze.  She couldn't honestly have said if there had been brass, wind, string, or percussion players on stage or even if there had been more pianists.  It was just colour and sound with no meaning.  Her mind was away in a space of its own making - hearing again the frightening, technical mastery of the West Wind and the sincere sensuality of the Intermezzo, seeing Seon-jae's elegantly-clad body, as he moved with smooth confidence, from instrument, to front of stage, and back again.  She heard his voice in her head - Hye-wona, this is for you - and saw his stunning smiles for the audience.  It was as though she knew him but she didn't know him, as though his performance persona was everything she knew of him but with a mysterious something added - charisma, charm, confidence - all quintessentially the same characteristic - the magical genius that was so often spoken of but rarely seen.

When the final performer concluded, all of the performers - first and second halves - returned on stage and were presented with a parchment - commemorating their participation in the Gala Performance Event - and a single, long-stemmed, red rose.  The MC extolled the virtues of all the players and the obvious excellence of the training that they received from the university, then she thanked all who had witnessed such an event and wished everyone a pleasant evening.

The audience began to move towards the exits but Hye-won didn't dare move, unsure that her legs would bear her weight, just yet.  She became aware that Ciara was speaking to her and turned - for the first time since Seon-jae had played - to see her friend looking at her, with an expression of concern.  

'Hye-won, are you ok?  You look very pale - almost as though you were going to faint.'

In-seo also looked worried, as he touched Hye-won's arm and asked her if she felt unwell.  She answered them both with a shaky smile and told them she was just over-heated.  She did suggest that they let the audience thin out a little before standing to move and they could clearly see that she felt that this would give her time to recover and happily agreed.

As they sat, it was impossible not to mention the performance.  Ciara enthused that she had never heard playing like it: 'when he played it for us on the upright, I knew that it was special but tonight, there was a primal power that gripped me from first note to last.'

In-seo agreed: 'that piece is terrifying - even just to read off the page, it is so difficult - but Seon-jae was so technically perfect, I couldn't believe my ears.  Dieter kept saying while the standing ovation was going on - oh my God, oh my God - and I know what he meant.  He couldn't believe the evidence of his own ears.'

Ciara added: 'and the Intermezzo - a massive tear-jerker right there for his love.  I really felt like bawling my eyes out, so I don't know how you stood it so calmly.'

'Was I calm?  I hardly remember.  And afterwards, Richter himself could have come back to life and taken to the stage and I would hardly have noticed.'

The other 2 laughed, though In-seo muttered: 'I think he already did,' and Hye-won knew what he meant.

A few minutes later took them from their seats to the foyer and Hye-won felt revived from the change of scene and the fresher air.  Various members of the audience were coming to speak to Professor Jo and there was quite a lot of noise and activity around them.  As the performers began to emerge from back-stage - some having changed out of their performance clothes and some not - there were smatterings of applause from family members and teachers and small groups of well-wishers, hugging and congratulating the young musicians.  Suddenly, a strident call of bravo rang out loudly, followed by another and another and a burst of clapping began to take hold of the assembled group in the foyer.  Curiosity as to the cause was quickly satisfied, as Hye-won saw a large group of members of the audience gathering in one area and realised that the centre of the group was actually Seon-jae being asked to consent to selfies and give autographs.  Audience members wanted to tell him how much they had enjoyed his performance and shake his hand.