Orchester de la Suisse Romande: From Victoria Hall to Virtual Hall

Non-stop open days at the Orchester de la Suisse Romande. The Victoria Hall is transformed into a “Virtual Hall”. At the time of your choice, the musicians will take their place around you on the stage of the Geneva hall and you will be able to experience the concert better than in the front row.

The OSR relies on the most advanced technology to ensure the dissemination of its know-how – as it already did in 1954 by engraving the very first stereophonic recording of history. The ambition is ultimately the same as during the era of Ernest Ansermet: to improve the experience of the orchestra in his absence. In addition to audio, vision, immersion and interaction are now added. Follow the leader!

Exactly a year ago, the OSR and Cybel’Art, a Morgian company specializing in virtual images, unveiled a giant hologram of the orchestra playing Bizet and Mussorgsky. A performance already praised for its innovation, and which had required complicated filming at the Théâtre de Beaulieu, in Lausanne, covered with 700 m² of green fabric – but the animated image of the orchestra simply remained in two dimensions (see below).

Rebelote this year for the same team – and still at Art Genève from January 30 – with a big step forward, requiring however to put on a virtual reality headset: we find ourselves immersed in the middle of the orchestra, which we can see playing in 360° under the direction of its conductor, Jonathan Nott, in the overture to “Guillaume Tell” by Rossini or the “3^e Symphony” by Beethoven.

Prowess and timing

The feat, filmed at the Victoria Hall, is all the more spectacular as you can change your location in the orchestra live thanks to a virtual console, position yourself in the first row in front of the cellos or at the very back among the winds (six cameras and 28 microphones were mobilized). Since this process did not exist on existing applications, it initially took months of software development for all the new features. Then other months of refining and synchronizing the rushes, so that the headset user can turn around, navigate from one point to another, without the image and music being interrupted.

“The set-up and filming are no more complex than a television recording, it’s the post-production that is difficult,” confides Pierluigi Oronesu, the founder of Cybel’Art. But it’s certain, when the Wi-Fi isn’t up to par, we lose measurements here and there.”

Under his leadership, a fascinating novelty for connoisseurs, the user discovers a second floating console during the performance of Beethoven’s “Eroica”. You can “grab” it and enlarge it at will, and see the score scroll in synchronization with the music, as if you were the conductor yourself (who directs by heart). And these are, according to Pierluigi Oronesu, only the beginnings of dazzling developments to come.

An immersive library

After the undeniable “wow” effect, how does the orchestra imagine the scope and diffusion of “Virtual Hall”, and for which audiences? “This tool does not seek to replace the experience of the orchestra,” comments Steve Roger, director of the OSR. It allows you to experience it differently at home or on the move in a more enriching way than a video recording on television.”

Responsible for seeking private funds for the development of the application and with a deployment mission, Steve Roger has already planned the creation of new content (a project for young audiences is in preparation). But his objective goes further than his own institution: “I did not want to call the application “OSR 360”, because, even if we are the co-creators, it only makes sense if it welcomes other partners. My hope is that other orchestras, operas, dance companies, why not rock groups, choose “Virtual Hall” to submit their performances and rent a catalog of immersive experiences.” According to him, the feedback from the first exchanges with other orchestras, conductors and cultural institutions is very promising.

In the short term, a listening room will be available to the curious at Art Genève and soon also at the Victoria Hall on the evenings of OSR concerts. Starting this fall, Steve Roger is planning group workshops in EMS in the canton of Geneva under the guidance of recently retired orchestra musicians. Schools are also in the sights.

The Karajan of mixed reality

Pierluigi Orunesu is no stranger to the field of Art Techs, this discipline at the exact border of arts and technology. This music lover and admirer of Herbert von Karajan has more than one trick up his sleeve, like the conductor who loves multimedia technologies. From Audrey Hepburn, whom he knew as a child, to Henri Dés, via the pianist Philippe Entremont, the inventive Morgien of Sardinian origin became the champion of the 3D holographic testament, or, according to his fertile vocabulary, a “volumetric iconogram”.

“I am hopeful that this technology will allow us to develop a large-scale mixed reality platform.” The founder of the SME Cybel’Art, in Morges, insists on this term “mixed reality” rather than virtual reality. “Even if the overall trend is the opposite, in all my projects, I seek to humanize the digital, not to digitalize the human. And my primary concern is to guarantee the authenticity of the subject captured.” He plans to use blockchain to do this.

But in a field where innovation is the main fuel, you must always be one step ahead to establish your credibility. Even if he has no illusions about the niche dimension of classical music, Pierluigi Orunesu sees in “Virtual Hall” an opportunity to shine internationally: “I try to guide the OSR in this digital ocean by offering interoperable technical solutions, and by leveraging the potential of educational software.” Learning through play and through the players’ own tools has indeed become a necessary part of Art Techs. “With this educational layer, helmets have their reason for being.”

Matthew Chenal has been a journalist in the cultural section since 1996. He particularly chronicles the abundant news of classical music in the canton of Vaud and French-speaking Switzerland.More info

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