In the Utrecht Municipal Concert Hall, on the large wooden rectangular main stage, a black Steinway nine-foot piano is quietly placed.

For the top international piano competitions, Steinway seems to have become a fixture in the competition. This German piano brand with a long history of more than 100 years has inherited the rigorous and exquisite craftsmanship of the Germanic people, and has an unparalleled gorgeous tone.

The space of the municipal concert hall is not large, about the same as that of Vienna, with the same dark red solid wood decoration as the main color, and the same strict acoustic decoration. Of course, from the outside, the concert hall looks a little old, as evidenced by the polished chairs and the peeling wood grain at the corners of the walls.

Compared with some of the newly built large concert halls in China, this place is not the most advanced, and of course it is not the largest, but when you walk here, there is something called "heritage", which makes you feel a kind of purity that belongs to music.

For many pianists, this is the temple of the piano, Mount Olympus.

The hall, which can accommodate more than 6,000 spectators, is full at the moment. Piano lovers from all over the world gather together to look forward to this top competition in the piano world!

Similarly, authoritative music media from more than 60 countries around the world occupied one of the best viewing corners of the venue, where various video equipment was set up. Here, though, photography is strictly restricted, the use of flash is not allowed, and there are certain restrictions on the sound of the shutter. The qiē here is all designed for the game, and the slightest factor that has an impact on the game is not allowed.

On the east side of the stage, behind a row of simple blue tables, are the judges' seats. There are 11 judges from the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, the United States and Brazil, all of whom are senior musicians and pianists. For example, one of the judges, the famous Polish pianist Jasinski, is the teacher of Zimmermann, a famous international piano virtuoso today; Dutch judge Hawk was the winner of the inaugural Liszt Competition; Italian jury member Bernata has won several international piano competitions; Graffman, from the Curtis Institute of Music, is an internationally recognized authority on piano education......

The eleven judges represent the highest achievement in piano performance on the planet and are the absolute authority in the field. If it weren't for a top-level event like the Liszt Masters Cup. It's definitely a hard thing to get these 11 judges together.

Of course, there are two other events that are on par with the Masters Cup, and perhaps bring them together: the Chopin Cup International Piano Competition and the Tchaikovsky Cup International Piano Competition. Like the Liszt Cup, these two international competitions. Also named after a famous musician, Chopin is a famous Polish pianist known as the "Piano Poet", while Tchaikovsky is a famous Russian composer with countless classic works, especially the world-famous "Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1", which is a classic among the classics!

"Hello audience friends, I'm Luo Hongmei, and I'm reporting live at the Utrecht Municipal Concert Hall in the Netherlands. I believe that all domestic piano fans can't wait for the upcoming Liszt Master Cup International Piano Competition. After several years of waiting, music fans around the world once again ushered in this super feast of the piano world, I will be on the scene later, to bring you the latest reports, please stay tuned to our special program. ”

In the corner of the audience, Luo Hongmei held the microphone and faced the camera, quickly doing the pre-game broadcast work. She is a senior reporter for CCTV Music Channel. For such a musical event. Naturally, media outlets like CCTV would not miss out, and a reporting team had been sent a few days earlier. And competitions like reporting. It's not the first time for Luo Hongmei. Chopin Cup, Tchaikovsky Cup, she has reported on them, it can be said that she is an old reporter.

But at this moment, she was still a little excited in her heart, not because of anything else. Because of this year's Liszt Cup piano competition, the Chinese players are the most selected among all countries, and six people came directly. You must know that there are only 46 players participating in the quarterfinals. This also shows from one side that the piano level of Huaxia is getting higher and higher, as a reporter of the music channel. She'd certainly love to see that change.

Standing next to her was Millie, a reporter from MTV, a well-known music station in the United States, who was also an old acquaintance of hers, and the latter was also making a brief introduction to his camera, and after the end, the two of them said hello easily.

"Hi Luo, long time no see." Millie waved at her with ease.

"Long time no see, Millie, you're still so energetic." Luo Hongmei smiled and praised, she speaks fluent English at the moment, for her who often runs around abroad, speaking English has long become an instinct, as natural as eating and drinking.

"You're the same, nothing has changed, you still look so beautiful." Millie said with a smile.

"Thank you." Luo Hongmei gladly accepted this compliment and expressed her gratitude.

"I looked at the list of players, and there are a lot of players in this competition, there are six of them." Millie said.

"The piano in Huaxia has developed rapidly over the years, but your players are also very strong. Jones came to participate, they were all long-established pianists, and they came to participate in the competition and compete with these newcomers, but it was a little unfair. Luo Hongmei said half-jokingly.

"Yes, these two are very good pianists, but they probably feel a little sorry that they didn't win the most important award in the world." Millie said with a smile, but there was a little pride in her expression. There are only four contestants in the United States this time, but as Luo Hongmei said, two of them are already famous pianists, not only have superb popularity, but their piano skills are also masterful. In fact, many people have already made predictions before the game, and if the champion of this year's Masters Cup can be decided, it is likely to be between these two people.

Speaking of which, some people may wonder what it means to "decide the champion"? Since it is a competition, there will definitely be first and second places, how can there be no champions?

Yes, in other competitions, there is nothing wrong with that. But if it's a tournament like the Liszt Masters Cup. It's a different story.

In fact, whether it is the Liszt Masters Cup, or the Chopin Cup and the Tchaikovsky Cup, these three world-class competitions, there have been cases where the first place has not been produced in the final. It may seem incredible, but it's one of the attractions of this competition.

This is the reason why this is the case. It is precisely because of the rigor of the competition itself. In such a top-level professional competition, the standards of the judges are strict and demanding, which is unimaginable for ordinary piano lovers. Each of the eleven judges has a strict set of judging criteria, and if the contestant is not able to meet their requirements, then these strict judges will refuse to let the contestant become the champion because they do not qualify as the champion. At this time, even the organizers of the contest. Respect the opinions of these judges as well!

Seeing Millie's smile with a little pride, Luo Hongmei felt a little uncomfortable. Of course, she knows that the two pianists she just talked about are very good pianists in the world, but among the Chinese players who participated in the Masters Cup this time, there is also Lang Lang, you know, Lang Lang is a pianist who is as famous as them in the world, and if it is purely about influence. Lang Lang is bigger than them, after all, in Huaxia. The number of music fans that Lang Lang has is huge.

Luo Hongmei was thinking that if the Masters Cup was to be added to the online voting session like those popular entertainment competitions, Lang Lang's popularity would definitely be able to beat those two pianists, even though they had a large number of music fans in Europe and the United States. To know. If there are more people than people, Huaxia is not afraid of any country!

Of course, Luo Hongmei's main attention is only on Lang Lang, and the focus of this broadcast is mainly around Lang Lang alone, after all, in China. Lang Lang has become the spokesperson of the art form of "piano", especially for many young piano children, Lang Lang is a living idol, and his deeds have been promoted and amplified in movies and magazines countless times. For Lang Lang, Luo Hongmei has great confidence.

Thinking of this, she remembered an interview she did with Lang Lang a few days ago. The latter said very confidently to the camera: "I'm here to win the championship, otherwise what would I do?" ”

A half-joking remark, but it showed his strong confidence. Thinking of the strong strength he showed in previous performances and competitions, Luo Hongmei had a strong premonition that in this game, Lang Lang will definitely shine and become the focus of attention of the audience!

Luo Hongmei looked at her watch, there were still five minutes before the start of the game.

At this moment, a staff member has come over and reminded them not to continue to make noise. Luo Hongmei had already had several similar reporting experiences, nodded cooperatively, and after confirming the working status of the machine with the staff again, she found her seat and sat down, no longer speaking.

Because of the limited space provided, the conditions for live broadcast were not available, and Luo Hongmei and her reporting team had to use the old method of recording and broadcasting. Of course, the local TV stations in Utrecht can broadcast the whole thing, but their signals can not be shared with other media outlets.

From this point, it can also be seen that for the high art of piano, the audience is still relatively small in the world. If it is a sports competition such as the World Cup or the NBA, there will never be such a situation, and I am afraid that you can see it live all over the world.

No way, whether it's piano, bel canto, violin, etc., but all elegant art has the problem of a small audience. Those who appreciate it will naturally find it to be an excellent thing, a great spiritual pleasure. But for those who don't understand, whether it's Liszt or Zhangszt, this kind of play is not as good as the "free flight" of the Phoenix Legend.

The high and low level of high art has been the status quo for many years. And the people in this circle don't seem to have any intention of changing this status quo, but they enjoy it very much, and feel that something like this kind of elegant art should be something that only a few literate and cultivated people can get in touch with, and if they understand and understand this thing, they will be "superior" in cultivation.

However, they ignore the fact that art, whether elegant or vulgar, has only one ultimate goal, which is to satisfy the spiritual aesthetic requirements of the public. Failure to do so is strictly a successful art form.

Luo Hongmei sat in her place, waiting for the game to start, and these messy thoughts began to spin in her head. She has been in this industry for a long time, and she is an art appreciation major, so she naturally has a more in-depth view of this issue. In her opinion, this kind of competition, which is only held in a very small circle, is not a success, no matter how high the standard is. Those players who have won the ranking, whether it is the champion or the runner-up, have walked out of this circle, who agrees with their honor? Walking down the street and saying Liszt to an ordinary person, how many people will know?

Faintly, Luo Hongmei feels that this is not the best way out for piano art or even other elegant arts, and history has proved that art without a broad mass base is destined not to become a long-term art. But where their way out, Luo Hongmei couldn't say.

On the stage, a host in a crimson evening dress has stepped onto the stage, Luo Hongmei doesn't know her, but from the schedule provided for her by the organizing committee, she knows that this young and beautiful host is from the Juilliard School in the United States, and has a nice name, Vivian, a graduate student in the Department of Broadcasting and Hosting.

She has an extremely atmospheric, typical face of a Chinese person, and her voice resembles the hostess of a well-known talk show in the United States, which is very infectious.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the beautiful city of Utrecht, where today 46 outstanding pianists from more than 20 countries are gathered to present us with a wonderful piano competition, one of the world's leading events......"

After a brief opening remarks by Vivien, a brief introduction to the competition, and a review of the history of the Liszt Masters Cup, Vivien began to introduce the eleven judges one by one. After each introduction, one of the judges sitting behind the judges' bench stood up and waved to the audience. At this time, there will be a burst of long-lasting applause from the audience. These people are all the world's masters, and the people sitting here are all senior piano fans, and seeing them is like seeing idols, so they are naturally very enthusiastic.

After introducing the judges, the rules of the competition were read out, and after a few minutes, Vivien's succinct opening remarks were finished, and the competition was officially announced! (To be continued......)