French orchestra gets massively drenched
NewsThis was the French National Orchestra playing in the Olympics Opening Ceremony under the baton of Cristian Macelaru.
Also inundated in the horrensdous Paris weather was the pianist Alexandre Kantorow.
It seems remarkable that in such an ambitious show of national pride no-one thought to order a few umbrellas from Cherbourg.
The opening ceremony is reported to have cost 125 million Euros.
And this is pianist Alexandre Kantorow playing in the pouring rain.
An ambitious blasphemy. And using the bells of Notre Dame for it! Imagine being associated with the Olympic “movement” in any way after this. Or Thomas Jolly.
Get a life. You are probably blathering on about the scene that some so-called Christians are confusing with The Last Supper, which instead was a celebration of the Greek god Dionysus (according to the organizers).
Presumably they were using their plywood or plastic instruments. At least, I hope they were.
I was wondering: I remember the Verona Arena orchestra scurrying for the exits at the first drop of rain to protect their instruments. Surely you wouldn’t risk a valuable violin or cello in pouring rain? And presumably, the orchestra wasn’t live either anyway.
Outdoor concerts make no sense.
I’m sure they were. And the music we all heard was undoubtedly pre-recorded. Their presence was just for show.
There is a god.
Amen.
There is actually no proof of that
I can’t imagine the state of Alexandre Kantorow’s piano after that caper. he would be fine after a towelling down, it not so much.
But the orchestra and other musicians were hardly the only people getting drenched. I felt most concerned about those guys doing somersaults on bicycles of some description.
On the whole the music at the opening ceremonies was dire, though enthusiastically and professionally performed — just not to my taste, aside from the odd classical moment.
The whole thing was a bit camp , though there was some wonderful design and it was technically superb.
As far as music went, the star of the show was Celine Dion. Despite being in very poor health the last couple of years, she delivered a kick-ass version of Piaf’s Hymne à l’Amour. It gave a tired and soaked audience something to cheer for with open heart.
Rain happens. I watched a men’s cycling Time Trial this morning, and those guys were all in a lot more danger than any musicians in rain ponchos. Paris historically gets more rain than London at the best of times; it was just a little unlucky. And the only people I have heard whinge about it are the media.
The Games have begun. My choices were 1-2-3 in the Time Trial, so I can only hope they continue as well as they have started. With perhaps some sun thrown in. (But, with both the desire to see some sun, the fact that the time difference works in my favour, and my wish every Olympics to find a new sport to learn about, I have been watching surfing in Tahiti! Highly recommended, if you have the patience of a saint).
Hope you had a flutter on them…
Wish I had! I would probably not have got very long odds, though.
The whole opening ceremony reminded me of the Garden of Earthly Delights by Hyeronimuth Bosch. Life immitates art sometimes.
As a musician who has had to play outdoors under less than optimal conditions I was cringing for the instruments! Hopefully they had cheaper back-up strings and winds. When I play in weather like that it’s always a Fox 41 plastic bassoon. I saw the piano lid get drenched – at least they closed it. But bravo to all for carrying on.
My late teacher had a lesser violin (and bow, and case) for outdoor concerts for just this reason, and he told me most Milwaukee Symphony musicians did also. But he had his luthier set it up exactly like his very good concert violins so that he could still do his best on it. And he was not preparing for an entire concert being played while getting drenched but rather for brief showers, or those moments when the orchestra continues while someone decides whether to call the whole thing off or not.
And Jascha Heifetz had an aluminum violin constructed for outdoor concerts (of which there were far fewer in his time, but there were some). As I recall he gave up that violin during a World War II scrap metal drive.
Didn’t they ruin their instruments?
In our orchestra’s master agreement, we had rules about not being required to perform in certain conditions, like having hot and cold thresholds, and certainly conditions like rain at an outdoor venue.
No-one played for real, it was ALL playback, including Celion Dion who got $ 2 million for her solo song. Cheap instruments from China cost $ 100 or less a piece, with a 125 million budget, that’s nothing.
It has been stated that no one was paid for their appearance. What is your source?
I hope none of their valuable instruments was damaged beyond repair.
I doubt anyone was playing valuable instruments. Must has sounded hideous.
I saw a clip showing the piano on the Eiffel Tower with a lot of rainwater on it. Yowsa. I imagine too much H20 isn’t ideal for most musical instruments, although brass is always stuck with a lot of human spit.
It’s not human spit but condense water because of the warm breath blowing through the tube.
Ever played saxophone? It’s spit. That’s why they call them spit valves!
My PA plays the saxophone for a hobby and what she spits into her instrument is nothing of my business.
But if a saxophone invites human spit, that must be due to the nature of the instrument.
Top Five Things I didn’t know until I watched the Paris opening ceremony:
5) You could play the piano in the rain; heck, you could play wooden string instruments in the rain.
4) Jakub Orlinski the countertenor is that famous.
3) Lady Gaga may be a star, but Celine Dion is a veritable super nova; the former is literally the opening act for the latter.
2) Opera regie theatre arrived at the Olympics (Thomas Jolly)
1) Philippe Katerine (the Nude Blue Dude)
Lady Gaga is a superstar too, but she had an inferior song to sing and a terrible dance to perform….
And her French, though she mastered the lyrics, was execrable.
I doubt those who remember the legendary Zizi Jeanmaire would consider that “a terrible dance” — but Ms. Gaga is a proficient but hardly inspirational dancer.
Does anyone know what instruments they used during the performance? Rain doesn’t bother brass instruments, but I was very worried when I saw this on TV: what about the string instruments?
metereologically tuned with one of worst openings ever
Totally disagree. It was the best OC since Beijing 2008. I was gripped for the entire four hours. It was brilliant, bonkers, baffling, beautiful and exquisitely French. I can’t believe anyone watching wasn’t mentally planning a long weekend in Paris because the city is so beautiful and has such grandeur, even in the pouring rain.
Oh and top marks for not being embarrased about having classical music, ballet and opera as a natural part of the ceremony and treating them with respect. I’m still reeling from the abomination which was London 2012, where the only classical music in the ceremony had to be taken the piss out of by Mr Bean!
The absence of contingency planning for rain is very embarassing and shows little respect. I feel the same way about synchronizing to a recording, though others may argue that the benefits outweigh the downsides.
The French National Orchestra was very brave to accept such condition even on plastic instruments. At least they did the job. What happened to the other orchestra involved on this evening under Mr. Mäkelä ?
Presumably one did the National Anthem (beautifully sung by Axelle Saint-Cirel and the other the Olympic Hymn.
I’d like to think the orchestra was recorded in advance and that the musicians were miming on cheap weatherproof instruments, as has happened in at least one major opening ceremony in recent years.
I‘d like to know how much damage this made to instruments. In numbers of reparation costs etc.
Unspeakably outrageous to let this happen.
My fly on the wall informs me that 236 plastic umbrellas were ordered and on their way to Paris, just before the railway lines were sabotaged by extreme leftwing agitators who gravely disapprove of the waste of money spent on a symphony orchestra.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/26/europe/france-rail-network-disruption-paris-olympics-intl-hnk/index.html
Prerecorded and mimed using Chinese instruments is usual for these occasions….
I can’t understand why they wouldn’t have had the orchestra under a cover of some sort.
Chances are the orchestra was just lip-synching, in any event.
Spot on. Didn’t the idiots who arranged the thing realise that it might rain? Who headed this team – Rishi Sunak?
Sarah Nemtanu, first violin said on social network that at last minute, they brought low prices instruments to everybody. They did not play with their usual instruments
MIchael: “It was the best OC since Beijing 2008….I’m still reeling from the abomination which was London 2012…
———–
Didn’t see that one coming.
The “best” (since Beijing 2008) and the “abomination” (of London 2012) to me come off like a contradiction in terms. Paris’s odd, water-logged production didn’t seem quite as good and London 12 years ago didn’t seem quite as bad.
I have “performed” at an Olympics opening ceremony. For the uninitiated here’s how it works. The tracks are all pre-recorded a month or two in advance. They are recorded by the orchestra you see onstage in their hall or in studio. At the actual event, cheap instruments are provided for visuals. All opening ceremonies are outdoor events and are subject to the vagaries of weather, ambient noise, and other disturbances. Providing the stunt instruments on-site allows them to bypass security, which is extremely tight at a huge international event. Way too much money is at risk to gamble on a disrupted live performance. The musicians are actually playing these cheap instruments, but you do not hear this, you hear the pre-recorded track. The conductor hears the track and its cues in his headphones. That’s how it all appears to stay together. That’s how this works.
Did Celine Dion also sing playback? Thanks!
I hope Dionysius kept dry!
I wonder what the actual cost of instruments ruined by the rain might be? Orchestra musicians generally use their 2nd or 3rd best instruments for incelment open air concerts. The concert grands in evidence for Celine Dion and others cost up to £100k each.
Just wondering why nobody from the orchestra walked away, it is such a disgrace to ask musician to play under rain, even with cheap instruments.
But it’s okay to ask everyone else to perform as scheduled? Get off your high horse. All the participants were aware that it was the outdoors, and weather exists. They signed up for it.
Because they are professionals and the show must go on?
Sadly, the Daily Mail who has a publisher who runs his daily vendetta stories is now after France. It was quite a show despite the rain.
I wonder weather – sorry, whether, Ravel ever imagined his “Jeux d’eau” would be so marvellously realised and so appropriate! Chacun sa goutte!