the public at the rendezvous and Alexandre Astier touched by this highlighting of the music of his film

Alexandre Astier was a full house in his hometown, Lyon. Four evenings of film-concerts by Kaamelott: First Part which end this Sunday, April 2 and which sold out in record time. The director-actor-composer-musician jacks-of-all-trades had already collaborated with the Orchester National de Lyon for the recording of the original soundtrack of the film, composed by himself. These cine-concert performances greatly touched Alexandre Astier, a passionate and perfectionist artist, delighted to see the music become the major player in his film for a few evenings.

“The score becomes the star of the evening”

110 musicians and singers on stage in front of a conquered audience. If Alexandre Astier went on stage to greet the room, it was not he who held the baton, but the conductor Franck Strobel. The director would have liked to direct, but he admits that he does not master this art as well as Franck Strobel. “And above all the technicality of directing a cine-concert, which is a very particular exercise and very different from that of directing an orchestra, he explains. There is a synchronization system in the image which is incredible, you have to follow screens, time codes, tempo changes. I am absolutely incapable of doing this”.

Three years ago, it was in the same place and with the same musicians that Alexandre Astier recorded the soundtrack of Kaamelott: First Part. These evenings in film-concert touch him a lot. ” Yes, it’s very touching to see a concert atmosphere for a film. The score becomes the star of the evening. The entire evening’s treadmill is determined entirely by the musical events of the film. It puts the music above the rest, it’s another way to see the film”.

A fall tour

A new experience also for the musicians and the conductor. The work on a recording and a concert is obviously not the same. “Alexandre’s music tells the story of the film, it makes us feel the emotions of the characters. When I conduct the orchestra during the cine-concert, I have to follow this story faithfully and I have to give the right interpretation the first time.“says Franck Strobel.

The film-concert series should resume in September in Nantes, before returning to Lyon, then Bordeaux, Lille, Paris and Strasbourg. In the meantime, Alexandre Astier is finishing the writing of the second part of his trilogy Kaamelott with filming expected to begin later this year.