Wrong note on train by barefoot cellist
By Xu Chi |
May 18, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A FOREIGNER who dangled his bare feet above the head of a Chinese woman on a train and swore at her in Mandarin has apologized for his behavior.
A video of the incident on a journey from Shenyang to Beijing caused outrage after it was posted online. And it was quickly revealed that the man was principal cellist with one of China's most famous orchestras.
Last night, in a dramatic change of tune, Russian musician Oleg Vedernikov, a member of the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, apologized to the woman, the public and the orchestra.
In the video, he can be seen putting his feet over the seat in front of him and above the Chinese woman's head.
She stood up and could be seen hitting his feet with a magazine, telling him to remove them. But he didn't move, responding in Mandarin: "It's so comfortable. Keep massaging me."
In the video, the woman called him "a big shame to your country," while Vedernikov, 45, kept laughing at her, pretending to moan in delight as the woman hit his feet. In Mandarin he repeated: "It's so awesome! I feel so good!"
The woman then started throwing other things and when she hit him with an empty plastic bottle he stopped laughing and shouted obscenities in a northeastern Chinese accent.
But last night, in an apologetic video that was also posted online, the cellist says: "I was going back to Beijing from Shenyang on a train when I put my feet on the seat in front of me where a woman was seated.
'Very regretful'
"The indecent behavior was strongly opposed by the woman, but I didn't apologize and even insulted her in Chinese.
"I feel very regretful for my behavior and I'd like to apologize to the woman, to the public and also to the orchestra."
In the original video of the train incident he is heard to tell other passengers: "She has a problem, a serious problem."
Things began to calm down when railway police arrived to find out what was going on.
Vedernikov told them there might have been some communication problems between him and the woman but denied he had sworn at the passenger.
He told police he was a cellist on his way to Beijing but the police were heard to mockingly ask him if he was, in fact, a ballet dancer because he was able to put his feet anywhere he wanted.
"Come on, this guy is an artist. He loves to hang his feet high, so be it," one of the officers told the woman passenger as he tried to calm the situation.
The video ended with the woman moving to another seat.
It was viewed tens of thousands of times after it was uploaded on Tuesday night. Some viewers who were classical music fans soon posted his identity after they recognized him.
An official surnamed Zhou with the Beijing Symphony Orchestra told Shanghai Daily earlier yesterday that it had been confirmed that the foreigner in the video was Vedernikov, the orchestra's principal cellist.
"We have contacted Vedernikov and he admitted to be the man in the video," Zhou said.
On the orchestra's website, angry comments on its forum demanded it fire the musician and drive him out of China.
A video of the incident on a journey from Shenyang to Beijing caused outrage after it was posted online. And it was quickly revealed that the man was principal cellist with one of China's most famous orchestras.
Last night, in a dramatic change of tune, Russian musician Oleg Vedernikov, a member of the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, apologized to the woman, the public and the orchestra.
In the video, he can be seen putting his feet over the seat in front of him and above the Chinese woman's head.
She stood up and could be seen hitting his feet with a magazine, telling him to remove them. But he didn't move, responding in Mandarin: "It's so comfortable. Keep massaging me."
In the video, the woman called him "a big shame to your country," while Vedernikov, 45, kept laughing at her, pretending to moan in delight as the woman hit his feet. In Mandarin he repeated: "It's so awesome! I feel so good!"
The woman then started throwing other things and when she hit him with an empty plastic bottle he stopped laughing and shouted obscenities in a northeastern Chinese accent.
But last night, in an apologetic video that was also posted online, the cellist says: "I was going back to Beijing from Shenyang on a train when I put my feet on the seat in front of me where a woman was seated.
'Very regretful'
"The indecent behavior was strongly opposed by the woman, but I didn't apologize and even insulted her in Chinese.
"I feel very regretful for my behavior and I'd like to apologize to the woman, to the public and also to the orchestra."
In the original video of the train incident he is heard to tell other passengers: "She has a problem, a serious problem."
Things began to calm down when railway police arrived to find out what was going on.
Vedernikov told them there might have been some communication problems between him and the woman but denied he had sworn at the passenger.
He told police he was a cellist on his way to Beijing but the police were heard to mockingly ask him if he was, in fact, a ballet dancer because he was able to put his feet anywhere he wanted.
"Come on, this guy is an artist. He loves to hang his feet high, so be it," one of the officers told the woman passenger as he tried to calm the situation.
The video ended with the woman moving to another seat.
It was viewed tens of thousands of times after it was uploaded on Tuesday night. Some viewers who were classical music fans soon posted his identity after they recognized him.
An official surnamed Zhou with the Beijing Symphony Orchestra told Shanghai Daily earlier yesterday that it had been confirmed that the foreigner in the video was Vedernikov, the orchestra's principal cellist.
"We have contacted Vedernikov and he admitted to be the man in the video," Zhou said.
On the orchestra's website, angry comments on its forum demanded it fire the musician and drive him out of China.
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