Drama 'Maestra' Lee Young-ae's resoluteness, "I decide where I belong"

In 'Maestra', actress Lee Young-ae takes on the role of conductor of The Hangang Philharmonic, which is on the verge of disbandment.

In the tvN Saturday/Sunday drama 'Maestra', which first aired on the 9th, Cha Se-eum (Lee Young-ae) was appointed as a permanent conductor and was depicted experiencing conflict with the members.

On this day, world-renowned conductor Cha Se-eum, who returned to Korea after 20 years, was appointed to The Hangang Philharmonic. The members of Korea's The Hangang Philharmonic were taken aback by the sudden news. Senior conductor Oh Hyun-seok (Lee Byeong-jun) could not hide his anger and protested. However, Jeon Sang-do (Park Ho-san), the CEO of Han Kang Pil, revealed the reason why Cha Se-eum should take the position, saying, "To put it bluntly, this is our crisis. I don't know what Han Pil's market share is. There are more people who don't pay to watch than those who pay to watch." .

Cha Se-eum took on the role of conductor of The Hangang Philharmonic and immediately grasped the abilities of the members. Cha Se-eum showed off her skills in front of the members, saying, “Skill rather than friendship, skill rather than effort. Anyway, we will only look at ability.” After checking the members' skills, he said, "They say it's an impossible mission, but it's too negative for a welcome greeting. But if you're going to greet them, you have to look at them properly. Don't pay attention and be enthusiastic. Let's go again from the beginning."

Afterwards, he visited Park Jae-man (played by Lee Jeong-yeol), who was also his violin teacher when he was young, and informed him. Cha Se-eum pointed out Park Jae-man's health by saying, "I will replace him with another performer." Jae-man Park, who heard this, said, "There is only one year left until retirement," and Se-eum Cha replied, "I'm not asking you to leave the Philharmonic. Just stay as concertmaster."

However, Park Jae-man asked again, saying, “Your words are no different from a death sentence,” but Cha Se-eum was adamant. Cha Se-eum emphasized, "I can't put an unstable movement on my stage. I'm sorry." In response, Park Jae-man said, "Then you are qualified? I remember. It was 20 years ago. Because you had a performance failure and disappeared, one of us was rejected from the national team." Cha Se-eum said, "I came to pay off that debt." “So the qualifications are sufficient,” he said.

The next day, Cha Se-eum appointed the blindly hired youngest child, Lee Ru-na (played by Hwang Bo-reum-byeol), as the concertmaster and announced, "From the next performance, Lee Luna will be the concertmaster. Teacher, please." The members could not accept Cha Se-eum's decision and protested, leaving the practice room. When CEO Jeon Sang-do saw this and persuaded Cha Se-eum, he expressed confidence, saying, “I will make Hanpil the best within a year.” In response to Jeon Sang-do's condition that the paid audience share be raised to 50% within 3 months, Cha Se-eum added, "Let's make it 90%, no, 95%."

The members did not care about Cha Se-eum and locked the practice room door. However, Cha Se-eum broke the glass door and entered. He said to Deputy Conductor Oh Hyeon-seok, “Thank you for your hard work, Deputy Conductor. Please come down.” In response, Oh Hyun-seok said, "The members don't want Chamae. That's why I came here." However, Cha Se-eum explained, “I decide my position.” He then emphasized, "Do you want to remain a third-rate orchestra? The performance of the concertmaster is the center of the orchestra. If you are not ready, get out now. If you want to fight with me, do it through music."

Reporter Ha-neul Lee, Ten Asia greenworld@tenasia.co.kr