The Hindu : International : Demystifying Bach, Bruckner

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 08, 2005

International

International

Demystifying Bach, Bruckner

By David Ward

LONDON, FEB. 7. You arrive at the concert hall and, instead of getting a programme, pick up a small piece of electronic kit that could revolutionise the experience of live symphonic music.

You take your seat, and Stravinsky's "Firebird" begins. As the music proceeds, you glance down at the small screen in the palm of your hand and read: "Stravinsky's virtuosic orchestration reaches a climax in this passage, where the illusion of WHOOSHES! is created by passing lines quickly from instrument to instrument."

Later the screen encourages you to listen for short repetitive rhythms as "the Firebird struts her stuff," for seductive string pizzicatos, "chirping winds" and dazzling runs by three harps. You glance at the screen again and see live pictures of conductor, soloists and orchestral players. The Concert Companion (CoCo for short), developed in the U.S., embraces wireless technology to help concertgoers understand what is going on as it happens. An operator sits at a computer in the hall and, on cue, transmits programme notes to every device.

CoCo, which uses a standard PDA (personal digital assistant), has already been on trial in the U.S., including the Philadelphia and the New York Philharmonic, and will be used regularly by other orchestras in the 2005-06 season.

Some observers are already hailing it as a potential saviour of the classical concert because of its potential for winning new audiences by demystifying Bach and Bruckner.

Managers of Britain's orchestras will have a chance to weigh up CoCo's likely impact when its inventor Roland Valliere, a former executive with the Kansas City Symphony, demonstrates it at the conference of the Association of British Orchestras in Birmingham next weekend.

"The idea," Mr. Valliere said, "is to appeal to individuals whom the researchers call `culturally inclined non-attenders': people within the baby-boomer generation who have an interest in culture, listen to classical music on the radio but for whatever reason don't attend concerts."

- Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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