Barcelona (AFP)
The Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel wants to put his audience at the heart of the orchestra via virtual reality thanks to his "Symphony" project, presented Tuesday in Spain.
A project launched in the midst of a pandemic, at a time when it "takes more importance than ever" because of health restrictions that limit public access to concerts, he stressed during the presentation at the Cosmocaixa museum in Barcelona ( northeast).
This experience can already be lived in this museum and will then be exported to other places in Spain and Portugal.
Equipped with virtual reality glasses, the spectators suddenly find themselves on the stage of the great Liceu theater in Barcelona, surrounded by members of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and facing the Venezuelan conductor with curly hair, wand in hand, ready to conduct the musicians through Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
Thanks to powerful special effects, the viewer is then transported inside a violin, a trumpet or a luthier's workshop.
"We cannot give concerts for a while (...) And during this time, we must work to continue to bring to the public what we do. It is a wonderful resource" current conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (United States).
The objective is also to "fight so that the new generations do not see classical music as something old that belongs to their parents or their grandparents", pleaded the musician of 39 years.
However, even if technologies can bring music closer to the spectator, especially in times of pandemic, these innovations "can not everything", he qualified.
"The interaction and what happens between the stage and the audience is very important to be able to create this unique magic that is born during a concert", added Mr. Dudamel, convinced that "all this (the pandemic) will end very soon".
© 2020 AFP