A symphony orchestra that plays music… from video games. We can already hear some purists crying musical crime. And yet. This is what is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday evening by the Bordeaux Opera, in the auditorium, as part of the Horizon(s) forum dedicated to video games, and organized by SO.Games.
20 minutes attended the rehearsals of the Bordeaux Aquitaine National Orchestra (ONBA) on Tuesday, led by the young American conductor Hannah von Wiehler. And we were blown away by the quality of the orchestration of this music, which ranges from Mario has Zelda Passing by Donkey Kong And Pokemon, and the virtuosity of the interpretation. In total, eighteen pieces will be played each evening by ONBA.
“For the orchestra musicians, it’s very demanding”
“There persists a cliché which consists of thinking that video game music is basic, simple music,” recognizes Emmanuel Hondré, director of the opera. It’s wrong. And I can assure you that playing music on real instruments that was composed in the studio with digital equipment, therefore without an instrument, is extremely difficult. There is thus a sort of duel between man and machine which takes place in a concert like this. For the orchestra musicians, it is very demanding. »
Hannah von Wiehler explains for her part that she has “the same approach with this music as with classical music. » “I always look at where the composer comes from, what his influences are, what styles he tries to create… In video game music, there are all kinds of influences: jazz, ragtime, swing, rock’n’ roll, heavy metal… So every five minutes we have something completely different to play. »
Among the most difficult pieces to perform, the young conductor places “Donkey Kong and Mario” in the leading duet. “Donkey Kong has a lot of influences from swing and jazz from the 1990s and 2000s, and it’s a completely different style from what we learned at the conservatory. Mario, a Caribbean music with reggae accents, also has very different rhythms compared to our classical experience. »
A “mixture of two universes which a priori are not made to meet”
This is not the first time that an orchestra has used video game music in this way. “There have already been evenings like this at the Philharmonie de Paris, and the London Symphony orchestra, one of the largest orchestras in the world, has itself recorded video game music” recalls Emmanuel Hondré. At the origin of the project with the So Games association, he wanted to recreate in Bordeaux “this mixture of two universes which a priori are not made to meet, but which can sometimes work together. »
The opera director recognizes, however, that video game music has evolved over time. “In the 1980s and 90s, there was a fairly acidic, basic sound, it was the fashion, with games that played on machines, automation, futurism… Then video game music became more and more popular. more similar to film music, and today a lot of video game music is music from a film in which you are the hero. We feel a fusion of these two universes, which are coming closer together. »
“Breaking down certain barriers”
What particularly interests Emmanuel Hondré in this project is transposing music that we absorb without necessarily realizing it. “When you play, you are focused on the game, you don’t necessarily pay attention to the music, yet little by little it becomes completely part of your life, sometimes for a year or two even! Hearing this orchestrated music afterwards is an astonishing experience, especially since for some it will be the opportunity to discover an orchestra. »
Because the aim of the maneuver for the opera is also to attract a new audience. “But the orchestra will also discover an audience,” emphasizes Emmanuel Hondré. It’s the mixture, the reaction of one towards the other, that counts. »
The experience will be all the more unique because a dozen players chosen at random will go on stage around the orchestra to play games on a giant screen, the music of which is played. “We hope that all this creates a sort of emulation, on stage and in the public,” says the director of the opera, for whom it is “important to open up, to break down certain barriers, while keeping the base of what our home is. »
Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Bordeaux auditorium. Duration: 1h45 (with an intermission). Prices: from 10 to 50 euros. opera-bordeaux.com