To limit the damage to their precious instruments, the classical orchestras that played for the event in global vision have notably borrowed so-called “declassified” models. Some will however be difficult to repair.
It is sometimes customary to sacrifice one’s guitar on the altar of rock’n’roll. We knew less that this could also be the case for classical music, faced with unwelcoming weather. During the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, Friday July 26, the rain spared neither the spectators nor the artists and even less the dozens of instruments used at different stages of the parade on the Seine.
The Paris Orchestra, which performed at the Conciergerie, had seen the clouds gathering on the horizon this winter, when they announced their participation in the performance of the metal group Gojira. The lack of fallback solutions in case of downpour for an outdoor performance pushed the general manager of the prestigious institution, Adrien Hippolyte, to anticipate.
The musicians’ delicate instruments were left in their cases, in favor of instruments borrowed from the Philharmonie and the Orchestre des jeunes démos, which brings together children from working-class neighborhoods.
Study instruments, “low end” Or “downgraded”according to the various people contacted by franceinfo a week after this anthology evening, and therefore much less valuable than the musicians’ personal equipment, which costs at least 20,000 euros. “LThe double basses were rented from a company to whom I regularly rent equipment”says Adrien Hippolyte. A saving anticipation in the face of the capricious sky and the almost uninterrupted rain that raged during the ceremony.
The evening was also dreaded by the Orchestre National de France. “Seeing the rain getting heavier as the day went on was something terrible.”says Michel Orier, director of music and creation at Radio France. While the presence of rain was no longer in doubt a few hours before the ceremony, his musiciansinstalled at the Trocadéro, initially decided to refrain from playing.
And for good reason : “We didn’t have any decommissioned instruments, only very expensive ones”explains Michel Orier. Complete disengagement to preserve their violins, violas or double basses. “Playing would have come back to dip the instrument directly into the bathtub”adds violinist Xavier Guilloteau. However, “THE wood, glues, varnish, it doesn’t like rain. All this together, worked with love by the luthier, is very fragile”he continues.
“Our instrument is our working tool, but not only that: it is our whole life.”
Xavier Guilloteau, violinist at the National Orchestra of Franceto franceinfo
“Around 5 or 6 p.m., I learned that the“National Orchestra of France refuses to play in the rain”relates Adrien Hippolyte, present a few kilometers away. Without hesitation, the Orchestre de Paris then decides to pack up, once its performance is over, the instruments used, and to send them urgently to the Trocadéro. As also recounted The world and RTBF, the boxes are transported in a 20 m3 truck escorted by two roaring police motorcycles. “Ofinished loading the truck at almost 9pm and they were playing at 10pm”, tell the story general manager of the Paris Orchestra.
The boxes arrive on time, with a few words of encouragement left by the musicians inside. Only one is missing, forgotten in the rush. It will be delivered urgently by a qualified bicycle courier. The only thing missing was the National Orchestra of France The Marseillaisewho had been performing much earlier in the evening. But their instruments still resonated with the national anthem: as is customary for these ceremonies, the ensemble had been pre-recorded. The musicians were called upon to play live to please the audience present on site, as well as to find a visual echo during the retransmission.
“The rain had a galvanizing effect on everyone. We couldn’t let the elements beat us.”says Michel Orier, who salutes the “solidarity between the great orchestral groups of Paris”. The music lovers of the Orchestre national de France, in greater numbers than those of the Orchestre de Paris, however lacked instruments for everyone. In solidarity, they took turns on stage, so that everyone could participate in this historic evening, after having rehearsed for so many weeks. A “strong moment” of the ceremony, according to Xavier Guilloteau.
After the excitement, it is now time to take stock. The damage to the instruments used by the two orchestras is difficult to assess, explains Adrien Hippolyte. Firstly, because no one is available to carry out this inventory, due to the holidays, but also because it “you have to wait for the reaction of the wood and the varnish”. But one of the rented double basses is already cracked from top to bottom, continues the professional, who has no doubt that, at the very least, repairs will have to be carried out on several instruments.
“We did the unacceptable to them, we did it because it was the Olympics.”
Xavier Guilloteau, violinist at the National Orchestra of Franceto franceinfo
The musician has few illusions about the future of certain instruments: “It was their swan song, I’m not convinced they’re salvageable.”
:quality(50)/2024/08/01/18c2ae8a-7c35-469a-94ea-8b7a6eb26c1b-66ab59c0f1158336209717.jpg)
And for the other participants in the opening ceremony? The Republican Guard, which accompanied the singer Aya Nakamura, used its own equipment, which was not damaged, its communications service assured franceinfo. “When the painting ‘Egalité’ was performed on the Pont des Arts, the rain that was falling was still very light”she explains. The musicians also have “the habit of playing outdoors, in all weathers” And “a ‘maintenance/repair’ budget” allows, in the worst case, “to maintain the instrument park in good condition”.
The images of pianos under torrential rain have also largely alarmed music lovers. What about the one that caught fire on a raft in distress in the middle of the Seine, during Juliette Armanet’s performance? Contacted, the team of pianist Sofiane Pamart did not respond to our requests. As for the piano nestled on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower, during the performance of The Hymn to Love by Celine Dion, it was loaned to musician Scott Price by the Olympic Committee, her agency explained to franceinfo, without giving details on the condition of the instrument after the ceremony. For its part, the Paris 2024 organizing committee told franceinfo that“no piano was damaged” thanks to“special coatings”. Something to reassure you about fortissimo music-loving spectators.