Even lockdown not enough to stop the music
LE PECQ, France — Look closely: The kettle drum player has a wooden spoon in one hand, a ladle in the other and doesn’t even have his drums.
But, hey, cutting a few corners can be forgiven of an orchestra that managed the remarkable feat of performing “Bolero” while its musicians are scattered far and wide under coronavirus lockdowns.
Why? To send this message to music lovers: We are still here for you.
Like building a musical jigsaw puzzle, the National Orchestra of France used the magic of technology to weave together the sight and sounds of its musicians, who filmed themselves playing alone in their homes, into a seamless, rousing whole. Posting a video of their stitched-together performance on YouTube was a way of keeping in touch with each other and with audiences for whom they sorely miss playing.
“For us, the public is essential,” said Didier Benetti, the kettle drum player. “Without the public, we don’t really exist.”
The video, posted March 29, has quickly racked up hundreds of thousands of views.
The performance starts with three musicians: a cellist, a violinist and a percussionist with “Stay home” written on his red drum. A flutist joins, haunting, bewitching, seemingly playing in his lounge. The musical tension and power builds as more and more join, until they are an orchestra of 50.
Benetti rearranged French composer Maurice Ravel’s work, chopping it down from the usual 15 minutes to a more social media-friendly length of just under four minutes.
Dimitri Scapolan, a video producer and sound engineer, burned the midnight oil to stitch together the musicians’ self-shot footage into a remarkably coherent mu s i c a l and visual patchwork.