2017-06-03

【Aiden in English】

        I must say, I wasn’t too particularly amped up for this year’s Golden Key Music Festival performance. Due to the last year’s blunder through the March of the Dwarfs, I had a sense of pressure like never before. However, my nerves settled from the previous events that same day.

        On a Saturday in early June, I was scheduled for the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) testing. And, coincidentally, it was the same day as my Golden Key Recital. Luckily, the performance was scheduled for eight o’clock in the evening, giving plenty of time for testing. So why am I testing? Well, mom wanted me to get an idea of what the test looked like in Math, English, and Writing before high school, as my scores now actually don’t count towards anything. But some people think testing takes a lot out of your energy. And truthfully, it does. However, when there are more stressful events on your pallet, something to grab your focus isn’t the worst thing to have.

        After the SAT’s, mom and I directly headed to Metro Park to catch an NJ transit to New York City, where we would tour around the South Street Seaport in Downtown Manhattan for a while and then have a slow, nice dinner by the East River, followed by a stroll to Carnegie Hall in Midtown, enjoying the city life around us…

        None of that happened. Instead, we missed the nearest train by ten minutes, and we just so happened to hit the break in the schedule. Therefore, we waited for forty minutes, only to discover that the train was late and would be arriving around half an hour late. By then, mom and I had discussed and realized that we weren’t going to have time to tour. The moment we reached Penn Station in the city, we hopped on a subway to Chinatown and quickly ate a meal there. And then we rushed to Carnegie Hall where the fun really began.

        For the first time since I’ve started the Golden Key Music Festival, I wasn’t put during the night performance. Here, the level of play is elevated in general, from the list of songs to the guest artist. I wasn’t too nervous; my piece was quite easy to remember. And the Weill Recital Hall, as usual, featured a single pot of roses in the center of the stage and probably the best Steinway piano I’ve ever played. By now, I’ve gotten over the queasy, nervousness feeling that plagued me for so many years. The performance went quite well; I can’t say flawless due to a fingering mistake near the middle. But I do believe that my childish stage fright has passed through its turn. Coming onto the stage, I took deep breaths and calmly began the song, Prelude in C# Minor, by Rachmaninoff, one of my favorite composers. This tune features a contrasting yet repeating theme of the same melody, played through many different perspectives. From a soft, peaceful beginning to the raging storm towards an eventual finish, this musical piece sets me a large step forward. The song also, like many other preludes, features a very different middle section. In this case, the most annoying set of broken chords I’ve had to play ever. However, these issues greatly improved my ability on the piano.

        This prelude, played by many professionals all around the world, is more than a kid’s song. The music, now in my back pocket, is a competitive, professional level tune that I am very proud of. I’ve worked on it for months and seeing come this far really wonders what tougher songs of the future can show me.

【紅霞譯文】

        我承認，今年“金鑰匙音樂節”上本人胸有成竹，去年因為在表演《格里格·矮人進行曲》時出現失誤，所以心裡難免感覺一種前所未有的壓力，好在今天上台前我早已擺脫以往那種緊張。

        六月初的星期六，我按計劃參加大學升學考試，無巧不成書！“金鑰匙音樂節匯報演出”恰好在同一天舉行，幸虧登台時間定於晚上八點鐘，讓我有足夠的時間應付考試。為何考試呢？原來媽媽想要我在進入高中之前探試一下數學、英語及寫作究竟高深到什麼程度，反正成績優劣都不記錄在案，但有人認為考試太耗精力，此話千真萬確。不過一旦各種壓力向你襲來，抓住重點總歸沒啥壞處。

        考完SAT之後，我和媽媽直搗都市火車站趕乘開往紐約的新澤西捷運，打算一到紐約先去下城南街碼頭閒逛，順路到東河岸邊慢慢享用晚餐時光，酒足飯飽後再消食遛彎至中城卡內基音樂廳，藉機體嘗一把都市生活……

        我們什麼好事都沒攤上，反倒因為晚來十分鐘而錯過上一趟班車，隨即車站進入午休狀態，仍需繼續等待四十分鐘，末了通知又說火車晚點大半個鐘頭，叫我們上天無路入地無門。情知人生無常世事難料，我還是找媽媽商量對策，既然已經意識到沒工夫悠哉游哉，何不立刻從終點賓夕法尼亞火車站改乘地鐵直搗中國城，突擊解決溫飽問題，最後火速沖向真正較勁的卡內基音樂廳。

        自打第一次參加金鑰匙音樂節，我從未被安排在晚場亮相，要知道無論是個人彈奏的音樂作品，還是友情出演的客座藝術家，晚上水平一般比較高。因為我所彈奏的譜子很容易背，所以並不感覺緊張。威爾獨奏廳裝飾如舊，舞台中央擺放着一瓶紅玫瑰和一台最讓我稱道的斯坦威鋼琴。到目前為止，我已經克服困擾多年的緊張情緒。演出相當成功，但決非完美無缺，快彈到中間的地方指法有點紕漏，不過我堅信童年怯場的時代一去不復返。登台時我深呼吸，開始泰然自若地彈奏《升C小調前奏曲》，這首曲子由我喜愛的作曲家之一拉赫曼尼諾夫譜寫，採用復三部曲式，突出宣敘調特點。從溫情祥和的慢板到激情豪邁的快板再回歸命運主題。這部作品讓我受益匪淺，如同其它前奏曲，中間部分激情豪邁，表現手法卓有不同，難怪我這輩子從來沒彈過這麼多令人抓狂的分解和弦，琴藝水平因此而得到極大提高。

        這首序曲不同於兒童作品，世界上許多專業人士都曾演奏過。現在它裝進本人書包成為自己角逐實力的範本，讓我甚感自豪。我已經練習了好幾個月，工夫不負有心人，想必將來自己能夠駕馭更難的曲目。

Crosslinks(相關博文):

2016 Golden Key in Carnegie Hall(2016年卡內基金鑰匙音樂節)

2015 Golden Key in Carnegie Hall(2015年卡內基金鑰匙音樂節)

2014 Golden Key in Carnegie Hall(2014年卡內基金鑰匙音樂節)

2013年卡內基金鑰匙音樂節(2013 Golden Key in Carnegie Hall)