“How do you evaluate a conductor?”
It was a difficult and delicate question.
“From the general public’s perspective, conducting seems hard to approach and requires charisma to lead an orchestra with just the tip of the hand. However, since they are not actually playing an instrument, it’s hard to judge what makes a good conductor and what doesn’t. Moreover, the audience is always looking at the conductor’s back.”
It was surprising that such a fundamental question came up at the press conference for the royal performance. Although they anticipated unexpected questions, this was unexpected.
Spencer leaned forward towards the reporter who was looking at him. Most of the general public watching the broadcast might have had similar thoughts to this reporter.
“Conducting is a profession that interprets and expresses pre-existing music. People often say that the notes of the deceased come alive at the conductor’s fingertips. The criteria for evaluating conducting are similar yet different.”
“Different, you say?”
“Yes. The textbooks say the tip of the baton should move below the face and above the navel, but when you visit the world’s renowned symphony orchestras, you see conductors’ hands moving in various ways. Some use their entire upper body like a thunderstorm, while others move as gently as a child’s steps.”
Other reporters also began to pay attention and picked up their notebooks.
“The elements of evaluating conducting are simple. Interpretation of the piece, technical ability, and communication with the orchestra members come first. However, these are impossible without experience and age. Evaluating the conduct of maestros is particularly difficult.”
“Maestro, what do you mean by difficult?”
“For example, think of Austria’s Empress Karis and America’s Billstein. If Karis captivates the audience with an unrestrained melodic movement, Billstein pursues a soft and refined melody. Both are world-renowned maestros, but their styles are so different that no one can say who is better. It’s a matter of complete preference.”
Everyone agreed with the term “preference.” Karis and Billstein were always mentioned when selecting the world’s top maestros.
“I don’t like to rank music. However.”
As the reporter nodded, Spencer added a word.
“The reason the general audience is so confused is that there is no absolute standard for evaluating conductors. Today’s orchestras are so varied, like the Warring States period in China, that no one easily says who is the best.”
“By absolute standard, do you mean the world’s best?”
“Yes. If among world-renowned maestros, someone appears who everyone acknowledges as the best, that would set an absolute standard for conducting. Of course, I’m not referring to myself.”
At that moment, the reporter asked Spencer again, “Then do you have someone in mind?”
The press conference was nearing its end. But instead of looking at the clock, everyone focused on Spencer’s lips.
“It’s time for new blood to flow into the London Symphony.”
A peculiar answer slipped out.
Sizzle—!
A spicy aroma that stimulates the appetite tickled the tip of the nose. It was ramen cooked in rich soybean paste broth. Moreover, green onions were finely chopped, and an egg was cracked and mixed in, making it as good as any delicacy.
Even Chloe, the violist who wasn’t very gluttonous, widened her eyes and swallowed her saliva.
“Please take good care of my oppa—!”
She almost seemed like the wife of a candidate running in a by-election. Who would have thought of Anseongtangmyeon as a late-night snack for orchestra members? Of course, it was all prepared by Director Im Hyera, but who knew it would be carried out so energetically.
“We should be the ones thanking you. Thanks to Yooha, we get to enjoy such delicious food every time.”
“Yooha, I heard that in Korea, it’s a culture to order food late at night?”
“That’s a good question, Michael. The technical term is ‘late-night snack.’”
Somehow, Son Yooha seemed to get along with the members better than I did. It’s probably because she visited almost every day.
She prepared late-night snacks like this for the members practicing late into the night, so they probably saw her as an angel.
The ramen bowls were almost empty.
“Hyun, it’s tomorrow. Aren’t you nervous?”
It was Emanuel, the principal cellist. An entire week had already passed. Tomorrow, I had to conduct in front of the maestro. But since I had never stood on the podium even once, the members must have been puzzled.
“Of course, I’m nervous.”
“Really? I thought you were always confident since you only watched us practice.”
“I watched the practice to understand the playing characteristics of the members in detail. I wasn’t sure if I could figure it out in just a week, but I got the gist.”
The members’ eyes widened. They were probably very curious since I said I understood their playing characteristics.
Everyone looked at me with evident curiosity, so I couldn’t help but speak. I told them one by one the playing characteristics I had noticed.
For example, Emanuel’s bowing subtly changes in parts where the tempo increases.
In Chloe’s case, when pressing the fingerboard, her index and middle fingers react later only on specific notes—details the players themselves might not even be aware of.
As I listed the playing characteristics for each of the dozens of members, from Emanuel to the new member Christine, their faces were filled with astonishment.
At that moment, Dmitri shook his head as if in disbelief and spoke.
“If anyone but Hyun had said that, I wouldn’t have believed it. But I believe it because Hyun corrected our postures and watched our performances. Do you know what many guest conductors have said about the London Symphony?”
“Um, I’m not sure.”
“They said it was like a wild beast. They said it was a group of players that no one could easily control. They could mimic, but only Maestro Spencer could truly conduct the London Symphony. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”
Then Chloe, who had been watching hesitantly, carefully looked back and forth between Yooha and me.
“There’s something I’ve been curious about for a while. What’s the relationship between Yooha and Hyun?”
“Chloe, what do you mean by ‘relationship’—!”
As soon as Chloe finished speaking, Son Yooha immediately raised her silver ring.
“Hyun, can you conduct to my satisfaction?”
At the maestro’s question, Kang Hyun answered without hesitation.
“If I don’t satisfy you, I can’t learn conducting here. So, I have to move your heart somehow.”
“You sound confident.”
“It might look that way on the outside, but I’m trembling inside.”
Already, dozens of members were waiting for the conductor in the Barbican Hall. In a way, wasn’t this the first time conducting in such a massive concert hall? Nevertheless, Kang Hyun maintained a calm demeanor. Spencer asked Kang Hyun subtly.
“What about the score?”
“This time, I plan not to look at it.”
“You mean you’ll conduct from memory?”
There are conductors who memorize the score. But even outstanding maestros don’t always memorize the entire symphony. In fact, memorizing can hinder the interpretation and technical performance of the piece because they get caught up in pointing out mistakes.
Kang Hyun surely knew this. So why did he choose to conduct from memory for his first time?
“I want to bring out the best in the members.”
The maestro, understanding Kang Hyun’s intent, displayed a peculiar expression. One might think this young boy didn’t know the word ‘nervous’ existed in his body.
Even those who specialized in conducting wouldn’t dare do this. Moreover, wasn’t he conducting with the unparalleled instrument that is the London Symphony? Instead of worrying about making no mistakes, he was focusing on the members.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Once the maestro left, Kang Hyun tidied his clothes in the empty waiting room. He handled the practice baton. It was still smooth, not having been used even once.
The tension pressing down on Kang Hyun’s shoulders was greater than when he took the bar exam, but his heart was pounding uncontrollably.
Thump thump thump.
There was only one member of the audience. Only Maestro Spencer, with his eyes shining, was watching the stage.
Slowly, Kang Hyun walked to the conductor’s podium and exchanged glances with the numerous members. The tension and silence in the Barbican Hall were overwhelming, as if a storm was about to hit.
Dmitri, seated at the front of the first violins, looked at Kang Hyun. At this moment, he regarded Kang Hyun as the guest conductor, not just a member correcting their posture.
His gaze was so intense that if Kang Hyun made even a slight mistake, Dmitri’s bowstring would surely stop.
The reason many guest conductors failed with the London Symphony was simple. They lacked the talent to handle the colossal instrument that is the London Symphony, and they couldn’t withstand the pressure.
Then it happened.
When Kang Hyun sent a signal, the members simultaneously prepared. The members who met Kang Hyun’s gaze tried to swallow their surprise.
No longer was it the Kang Hyun who corrected their posture and assisted their practice. His gaze was as intense as that of the maestro or even stronger.
At that moment, the conductor’s left hand swept over the audience,
And the baton in the right hand swiftly cut through the air.
Dudududung—!
With the movement of the thin baton, dozens of instruments simultaneously began to play.
The members moved in perfect unison with the baton’s instructions, dictating the tempo, rhythm, and direction of the melody.
The thunderous continuation of the melody matched the vigorous movements of his fingertips.
The tempo of the members couldn’t always be the same. Especially in Beethoven’s Symphony of Fate, where three eighth notes must follow precisely after a brief eighth rest, this was even more true.
The members had to concentrate intensely on the conductor’s fingertips, like being in the middle of a battlefield.
Maestro Spencer in the audience leaned forward. Wasn’t the opening of the first movement similar to his own?
If it were just an imitation, he wouldn’t have been so surprised. Even Dmitri’s face showed astonishment. The resemblance in appearance and conducting emotion was so striking that it felt like Maestro Spencer himself was on the podium.
At the end of the first movement,
Crack.
The conductor’s left hand cut through the air and clenched into a fist.
At that moment, Kang Hyun on the podium turned around and deeply bowed toward the audience. It wouldn’t have been possible if it were a performance, but it was fine now since it was a rehearsal. The members also understood why Kang Hyun was doing this.
It must have been to express infinite honor and gratitude to Maestro Spencer for allowing him to stand in the Barbican Hall. Then Kang Hyun turned around again.
“Now, I will go with my style.”
With a short but firm statement, the members gulped deeply. At that moment, Maestro Spencer smiled faintly at the boldness of the young boy.
In a way, it was fortunate that the boy was showing his first proper conducting with the London Symphony.
Didn’t Beethoven say this about the opening of the Symphony of Fate:
-Fate knocks at the door like this.
Kang Hyun knocked properly on the door of the London Symphony.
