How the Sinfonietta of Lausanne prepared its concert with Björk
The orchestra will share the stage with the Icelandic star this Sunday evening in Montreux. Its executive director tells the backstage of this musical event.
The iconic Icelandic singer Björk has performed several times in French-speaking Switzerland, notably in 1998 at the Montreux Jazz Festival, in 2001 at the Métropole in Lausanne and in 2007 at the Paléo Festival in Nyon (photo).
Keystone/MARTIAL TREZZINI
Le Sinfonietta de Lausanne is once again in the spotlight at the Montreux Jazz Festival (MJF) on Sunday evening, this time sharing the stage with Icelandic star Björk. After a highly formalized work schedule, it’s time for the magic of live.
This promises to be one of the highlights of this 2022 edition of the MJF: 24 years after her first visit to Montreux (1998), the singer from Reykjavik is back on the Riviera as part of her “Orchestral Tour”. The singer-songwriter, also an actress, will revisit her hybrid electro-pop repertoire and it is therefore the Sinfonietta of Lausanne that has been chosen to accompany her at the Auditorium Stravinski.
Thirty-two string musicians
Its executive director Emmanuel Dayer told Keystone-ATS behind the scenes of such a musical event. “We have almost every year a collaboration with the Montreux Jazz. It is an important platform for us in terms of visibility. Certain musical projects are obviously more publicized than others”, he recalls in the first place.
“Björk has an unusual side, not consensual. It’s a chance and a plus for our musicians.”
“It’s part of the versatile DNA of the Sinfonietta. We love this kind of challenge. It also allows us to reach another audience, to vary our audience,” he says. As for Björk, “it cannot be refused. It’s not every day that we have such projects. It’s just great the job she does (…) very rhythmic and energetic. She has an extraordinary side, not consensual. It’s a chance and a plus for our musicians,” he says.
To accompany Björk, a string orchestra of 32 musicians was requested. It is made up of ten violins, ten violas, ten cellos and two double basses, details Emmanuel Dayer. Its conductor, Bjarni Frimann Bjarnason, is on the other hand part of the production team of the singer, who manages all the highly protocolized work schedule of the event. The MJF then plays the intermediary with the Sinfonietta.
Saturday in Montreux, the Sinfonietta of Lausanne met for the first time the conductor of the production team of the singer Björk for two rehearsals, before the concert on Sunday evening at the MJF.
Keystone / Noemi Cinelli
“We received the musical program, the song scores and all the precise arrangements two or three months ago. Our musicians became aware of it about two weeks ago to work individually upstream”, explains the director.
Only three repetitions
The Lausanne formation only met for the first time on Saturday, where two rehearsals were planned with the Icelandic conductor, whom the musicians were therefore meeting for the first time as well. Björk was not present. On the other hand, it was to be on Sunday for the “sound check”, serving as the third and final rehearsal before the live concert from 8:30 p.m.
“Sound, volume, frequency, lights, videos, everything is timed and measured. This is the pinnacle of professionalism.”
In the end, this only represents about ten hours of collective rehearsal, not to mention the individual preparation of each of the 32 musicians. “In itself, it’s not necessarily a big thing, a big symphonic project. But it’s a very intense job, very technical too, and with a lot of pressure. Of course, we don’t have time to be friends with the artist, ”notes Emmanuel Dayer.
“Sound, volume, frequency, lights, videos, everything is timed and measured. This is the pinnacle of professionalism,” he adds.
Beyond this strict framework, the challenge for the 32 musicians of the Vaudois chamber orchestra will be in “the magic of live”. “It has to take off, for the dough to take with the artist. And it’s never guaranteed. Everything depends on the artist, with whom you have to create a connivance, a complicity. Finally, the public must take full face, ”concludes the boss of the Sinfonietta.
Posted today at 4:08 p.m.
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