The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1178: Chapter 127: Breaking Up Lovers (Part 2)

Disraeli sighed and said, ”This guy is really unlucky. As a pianist, both his hands are ruined, and because of that, his relationship with his girlfriend has ended. But I still don’t understand, what’s all this got to do with Arthur?”

Mendelssohn spoke up, ”It does! Of course, it does! Schumann’s hands may be done for, but his genius mind is still there. Although he’s bid farewell to piano performance, Schumann hasn’t stayed away from the music industry. He’s been persistently composing over these past two years. Not only I, but Chopin, Liszt, and even Mr. Heine recognize his talent.

I asked Schumann to take the scores to Mr. Vic. I’m convinced that as long as Mr. Vic sees the pieces Schumann wrote, this mentor and pupil can surely reconcile. However, Mr. Vic seems to have completely lost hope in his former student, so he won’t even give Schumann a chance to meet. But even though Mr. Vic doesn’t want to see Schumann or look at his scores, he does have a habit.”

Disraeli asked, ”What habit?”

”Mr. Vic dearly loves his daughter, Miss Clara Wieck. He has dedicated all his lifelong passion for music to nurturing Ms. Wieck. And his efforts have paid off; not only is she extremely talented in piano, but she also has a naturally beautiful voice. Mr. Vic is very proud of his daughter’s accomplishments, and no matter the weather or venue location, he always attends her performances.”

At this point, Arthur realized what Mendelssohn was planning.

”Felix, are you suggesting... to compose a new musical with Miss Clara Wieck as the main character?”

”Spot on, Arthur!” Mendelssohn clapped the table, standing up excitedly. ”You and I think alike!”

Arthur rubbed his forehead and replied absentmindedly, ”It’s not that we think alike, Felix; you’re clearly just sitting here waiting for me.”

Mendelssohn pretended not to understand Arthur’s words. He’s always believed in his old friend’s musical talent, but he also deeply knows how lazy this guy is.

In Mendelssohn’s view, Arthur is someone who could slightly apply himself and earn fame all over Europe, but this guy just doesn’t like dealing with pianos much.

Among many of Arthur’s friends, it wasn’t just Mendelssohn who thought so; even Faraday privately lamented with Mendelssohn, ”If only Arthur’s first job had been at the Royal Society instead of Scotland Yard.”

Mendelssohn stood firm in his demand: ”By the end of the year, Miss Wieck is invited to perform in Russia, and when she returns, she’ll be engaged to a banker’s son in Leipzig. Arthur, if the timeline weren’t this tight, I wouldn’t have run all the way to Gottingen. But I suspect the next performance may be Schumann’s last chance.”

Seeing Mendelssohn so anxious, Arthur found it hard to refuse him.

After all, Mendelssohn had helped him when he needed it. If Arthur turned a blind eye now when Mendelssohn needed it, that would be quite heartless.

The only problem now is that he’s already in a suspended state at Red Devil due to unpaid bills.

Finding Souls temporarily is really a tough task.

Arthur was pondering how to get credit from Red Devil when Mendelssohn continued enthusiastically promising the immense prospects of the opera.

”Arthur, if you’re involved this time, with me and Schumann, the three of us can definitely finish composing the pieces before the show. And I assure you, the opera we intend to adapt will certainly pique your interest. We plan to adapt Goethe’s famous play ’Turandot, or The Princess of China.’ I still remember you once told me that if you were the one adapting ’Turandot,’ you could do better than Mr. Goethe.”

Upon hearing ’Turandot,’ Disraeli, as one of the giants of the British literary scene, couldn’t sit still.

”What? Are you guys planning to adapt ’Turandot’? Felix, you should have said so earlier! Arthur will surely help you with this! Besides, it’s not just him; I can also join in. Our editorial office, when lacking drafts before, had considered using ’Turandot’ as a story template for secondary creation.”

Arthur had come to his senses by now: ”Adapting ’Turandot’?”

Speaking of ’Turandot,’ it indeed was a notorious issue.

As a staple production widely known throughout Europe, ’Turandot’ is popular in places from London and Paris to Rome and Vienna.

However, constrained by the limited understanding of the Orient by Europeans at the time, ’Turandot’s’ plot, in Arthur’s view, was indeed full of loopholes.

The storyline of ’Turandot’ is not complex, revolving around the titular Princess Turandot, the Chinese Emperor Kangxi’s daughter. This princess is beautiful and noble, with numerous suitors. Yet Turandot detests marriage. To reject suitors, she sets a cruel condition: any prince wishing to propose must answer three riddles she presents. If any fails to do so, they will be executed. The story unfolds around this absurd premise.