Third Movement

This is part one of Earl Wild performing Réminiscences de Don Juan to help set the mood.

TN: “Réminiscences de Don Juan” is one of the ten most difficult piano pieces in the world , adapted from Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni” by Franz Liszt. The technique needed is very high in difficulty and the scale is also  grand. Based on the original work’s rich expression he made the work with grand momentum. 

TN: Everything in bold was already in English in the raws.

For a long time tinnitus lingered. Yuanxiao was in a deep coma, and the wet sweat fell along his forehead.

The liquid in the infusion bottle slowly flowed into the blood vessels. Slowly regaining movement from the tip of the fingers, the sensation of tinnitus gradually strengthens, buzzing in his ears. At first, it was like a few bees. After a while, it became the roar and great noise of the factory.

Yuanxiao suddenly opened his eyes.

“Woke up, woke up! He’s awake!” A sharp eyed reporter suddenly screamed when they noticed that the person in the ward had moved. Then, a swarm of reporters ignored dissuasion and frantically poured into the ward.

Yuanxiao looked around at a group of foreigners with their mouths moving and could not distinguish their words. He was at a loss, the last memory he had was on the plane. Looking at them blankly, he raised his hand to touch his cheek.

While he was asleep, Bai Wenlin seemed to have kissed his face.

A microphone poked in front of his face, and the female reporter quickly asked in English: “As a survivor of the 729 airplane crash, is it really caused by the sudden change of weather as the airline representative said…”

Yuanxiao finally heard the words, but sensitively found something wrong.

The reporter was still questioning loudly when several security guards drove people out directly. A black nurse said angrily: “The patient has just woken up. He needs to rest!”

“Bang -” the noise was shut out with the door, but Yuanxiao’s tinnitus intensified. The sharp sound hurt so much that he couldn’t help covering his ears.

A few minutes later, several airline representatives came in. One of them was a Chinese man in his thirties, who looked very elegant. They apologized to Yuanxiao in a sincere tone: “Mr. Luo, regarding this flight accident, first of all, it is our aviation department’s dereliction of duty by predicting the wrong weather forecast that indirectly led to the accident. We are willing to bear full responsibility for this and will reasonably compensate you for your losses in accordance with the law.”

Yuanxiao looked at them and then at the modern vip ward. His heart became more and more heavy as he asked an irrelevant question: “What year is it?”

Several persons in charge looked at each other: “Er… 2019, Mr. Luo, do you need to… Er, do you need an MRI to check your brain?”

“No.” Yuanxiao closed his eyes.

He didn’t expect to come back.

The 729 airplane crash is the first flight accident he had when flying to the United States. This is the one that transmigrated him twenty-two years into the past, into a nearly identical person.

In that parallel time and space, all the people and things related to Luo Yuanxiao disappeared. He lived like that for 11 years. Finally, in 2008, Yuanxiao fell asleep on the flight to the United States… Heading over for heart surgery.

Maybe he died in his sleep. As soon as he woke up, he returned to the original time and space, and everything returned to its rightful place.

The Chinese man also helped Yuanxiao contact his parents as he explained, “While you were unconscious, we contacted your family, but they didn’t have a passport and couldn’t visit you in the United States. When do you plan to return home? Our company will be responsible for all your daily life during this period.”

“Tell me again.” Yuanxiao shook his head and looked up to ask, “How long have I been in a coma? What’s the date today?”

“Today is August 4th. You have been in a coma for two days since we found you. In fact, you are the first to wake up among those on flight 729…”

“The fourth? It’s over!” Yuanxiao’s memory of this date is too deep. He sat up directly, bent down and began to look for shoes. “Where are my shoes? Where are my bags?” The person in charge of the aviation department quickly opened the brand-name bag and took out a new set of clothes. It was a casual suit. Another Chinese man handed him his backpack and mobile phone: “Your parents’ call is connected.”

Yuanxiao’s parents cried as they called their son’s name in the video feed. Yuanxiao’s flustered actions stopped immediately. He hadn’t heard his parents’ voice for 11 years.

In the face of the whole family’s new lease of life, several people from the airline company went out and closed the door of the hospital room.

“Don’t fly to visit me, Dad mom, I……” Yuanxiao involuntarily touched his left ear with serious tinnitus. “I’m fine, really fine. I don’t have any injuries. I’ll be back in a while.”

“Manman, don’t buy their airline tickets! Your father and I are not at ease! Change to a safer one and buy first class!” Manman is Luo Yuanxiao’s nickname. He was born during the Lantern Festival. “Manman” means “Happiness and blessed reunion”.

“Or come back by boat? It’s too unsafe to take a plane so a boat…”

Yuanxiao pulled off the IV roughly, and a few drops of blood splashed on the sheet. As he changed his clothes, he said, “The plane crashing is a small probability event. Since I miraculously survived, I won’t be so unlucky to encounter it a second time.”

The other end of the phone screamed, “Don’t raise flags!!!”

After talking to his parents on the phone for a while, he suddenly caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall.

——6:10 p.m.

It’s too late! Ignoring the reminiscent emotions, he took out the airline company’s compensation from the LV bag, put on his shoes, and carried his schoolbag still intact after the air crash: “Mom, the mobile phone was lent to me by the airline company. My mobile phone seems to have been broken. I have to return it back to the owner first.”

Yuanxiao left the ward. The outside had been cleaned up with no media around. After he returned the mobile phone to the Chinese man fro the airline company. The other party looked at him planning to go out and strongly disagreed: “Mr. Luo, you need to do a comprehensive inspection later. I suggest you don’t leave the hospital.”

“I have a very important matter, that’s time sensitive…” Yuanxiao ignored his protests and strode out.

The person caught up and gave him a business card: “If a reporter pesters you, don’t answer any questions, we will deal with everything.”

“Thank you.” Yuanxiao took the business card and almost ran out of the hospital.

Forty minutes later, the taxi was stuck on 59th Street. The concert begins in ten minutes. Yuan Xiao anxiously asked the driver in rapper-like english: “How long will it take?”

The driver shrugged his shoulders and told him “Easy”: “Man, it will stay blocked in front for at least 20 minutes.”

Yuanxiao leaned out of the window, looking at the endless traffic ahead he asked, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?”

“Turn left on 57th Street in front. There is a horse drawn carriage sightseeing spot there. Go straight after turning. It’s about a 20 minutes walk.”

The driver has a strong accent and speaks like rapping. Yuanxiao only clearly heard the key words “left turn” and “carriage”. Suddenly, in front of a convenience store, he caught a glimpse of a bored tall horse – with no owner. Moreover, there is a brand of “horse carriage rides” sign not far away, which means you can rent horses.

Yuanxiao didn’t hesitate to pay and get off the taxi. While crossing the road, he took out a pen and a note from the side of his bag, bit the pen lid and quickly wrote down his contact information with the sentence “I’ll pay when I return the horse”.

The note was stuck outside the glass door of the convenience store. Yuanxiao stepped on the stirrup and flipped onto the horse, his legs sandwiched around the horse’s midsection. He didn’t notice that as soon as he rode away, the door of the convenience store behind him opened. A New York mounted policeman dropped the yogurt he had just bought on the ground, and the viscous liquid splashed on his leather boots. His mouth hung open as he watched a young man with black hair ride his police horse away…

The wind on both sides blew so fast that Yuanxiao couldn’t hear any sound.

This horse is taller than the Mongolian horse he used to ride. It is of Arab descent. Yuanxiao’s father is descended from three generations of herdsman. His family raised hundreds of sheep and 20 horses. He looked at the time, clutched the reins and galloped wildly.

Two minutes later, Yuanxiao found several men wearing blue helmets riding the same kind of horses chasing after him. The other side was wearing an indigo uniform and a helmet of the same color. They were shouting something from their moving mouths, but Yuanxiao’s tinnitus was too serious. He suspected that it was the after effects from the plane crash. Only one ear could barely hear and he didn’t know what the other party was trying to convey.

He is a good horse rider, a skill he has trained since childhood.

When Yuanxiao heard the sound of the police car, he had already reached the outside of Carnegie Hall. He still knew nothing about what he had done.

After getting off the horse, he noticed that there was a blue and yellow shield badge around the horse’s neck, with the words “Police Department” printed on it, which was very imposing.

Yuanxiao didn’t think about it, because he was running out of time. Tying the horse to the railing, he quickly finds the e-ticket from the backpack. Using the ticket to pass the security check as quickly as possible.

It’s already five past seven, but the hall is still quiet. On the stage, orchestral musicians are checking instruments, and people are waiting eagerly in their seats.

There was a lot of chatter: “Most people are predicting that today’s performance must definitely be the dazzling Dark Royce”

Every time at his concert, there will always be a large number of voices talking enthusiastically about “which Royce will appear this time”.This is the most anticipated section after that night’s repertoire.

This is not surprising——

Generally speaking, famous musicians have a very strong temperament and unique playing style – but Albert Royce has two distinct styles.

At the beginning, his premiere with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra was an overnight blockbuster. International music critics said that he was “The birth of a dazzling skills maniac. His music has no feelings! It’s dry and boring!”

“It can only be said that he is a piano genius, not a musical genius.

“In regard to showing off dazzling skills, in the present day there is no one who can match him!”

Still, many people are fascinated by his music and become his captive. He can play the most dangerous jumps without any mistakes.

Since he became famous, something surprising happened in a performance a year later. As if he had completely changed himself, he longer showed off his skills, or at least not so exaggerated.

His elbows were close to his body, and he barely touched the keys with his fingers. The way of playing the keys was so light and dexterous that people were amazed. When passing a long Pianissimo1 scale, his light as a feather technique shocked the whole world. However, this is not the most surprising point. Everyone who had the honor to listen to the performance respected him very much and claimed that the exquisite expression in Royce’s music was as pure as the first snow.

It is different from the former Royce, who has a temperament like the devil and plays like boasting.

After that performance, his reputation genuinely spread far and wide.

People call him “Dark Royce” or “Light Royce” according to his two different playing styles.

While apologizing, Yuanxiao shuffled to his position. He had picked up a track list from the ground and looked at it with the faint light from the stage.

In the first half, Bach’s “Orchestral suite No. 2 in B minor”2 and Liszt’s “Don Juan’s memories”, while in the second half, Musorgsky’s “Pictures at an exhibition – Kiev gate”3 and Rachmaninov’s “Piano Concerto No. 3”.4

At this time, the lights in the hall suddenly went dark, and the whole concert hall quietened.

The top surround sound in Carnegie Hall projected a female voice, introducing today’s performing orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, conductor and pianist. Then, the stage lights lit up showing the ready orchestra. They all came together, with hundreds of musicians, all of them top notch.

The conductor’s seat and piano stool are empty.

Yuanxiao knew that Albert Royce was about to come up, but the tinnitus was still making his ears ring. As if his heart was about to jump out of his throat, sweat dripped from his black eyelashes. He subconsciously touched the medicine bottle in his pocket, but it was empty.

After a few seconds, the conductor and Albert Royce came up from behind the scenes, and the audience’s applause sounded like drums. Especially after seeing Royce who appeared last. The sound of applause almost blew off the roof of Carnegie Hall, shaking Yuanxiao’s ears, but he couldn’t feel it at all. He just stared at Albert, who was tall and cold like a demon in a black suit, with long legs striding to sit in front of the Steinway piano.

He slowly took off his gloves. A hushing aura swept the whole concert hall in an instant, making the whole hall silent!

“It’s dark Royce.” Someone nearby whispered excitedly.

Yuan Xiao stared at him fixedly, but his mind was very clear when he was too nervous. So he suddenly thought of something.

The shield badge around the horse’s neck is often seen in movies – NYPD, the badge of the New York police department.

Sweat wet his back as he realized…

It seems that he… Stole the New York Mounted Police… ‘s horse?

The author has something to say:

The story starts after transmigrating back and still retaining memories of his death.

1 Pianissimo = performed very softly

2This orchestral suite (series of stylised dances)  of Bach is in the style of French Overture and has a lively and bright flute solo that suggests a court celebration theme . Extra fact, Bach must have composed more than just these four suites during his lifetime, but because Bach was not taken seriously during his lifetime, many works have been lost, and only these four are left.

3 Composed for solo piano by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874. A lengthy and difficult majestic piece that  Mussorgsky was inspired to compose by a visit to an art exhibition. The suite consists of musical depictions of 10 paintings by Hartmann, interspersed with a recurring “Promenade” theme, or intermezzo, that represents a visitor—in this case, the composer himself—strolling through the exhibition. 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pictures-at-an-Exhibition

4This three-movement masterpiece in D minor sits alongside Brahms’ Piano Concerto No.2 as the most demanding of all Romantic concertos. 

For a better understanding I think this is a good site for further reading.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Piano-Concerto-No-3-in-D-Minor-Rachmaninoff