VR film "Symphony": Journey into the heart of classical music

Symphony was four years in the making. Now the VR film is finished and is intended to introduce younger generations to classical music with a powerful sound and image VR experience.

Around 250 people were involved in the mammoth project, which was launched by Venezuelan star conductor and violinist Gustavo Dudamel. From 22 December to 19 January, visitors can visit an exhibition in Madrid's Plaza de Oriente that takes them into the world of classical music.

The exhibition consists of two parts. In the first room, a short film is projected onto a large screen, accompanying three young musicians from Spain, Colombia and the USA through different (sound) landscapes.

For the second part, viewers go to a second room where they can put on VR glasses and headphones. According to the trailer, the technology used is contemporary and uses the high-resolution PC VR glasses HP Reverb .

In the VR film, the viewers find themselves in the middle of the stage of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the largest opera house in Barcelona, while Dudamel and his orchestra perform Beethoven's 5th Symphony around them. This is followed by a virtual journey into the cosmos and nature as well as into the interior of a violin and trumpet.

The exhibition was supposed to have opened in spring but was postponed due to the pandemic. Because the virus is still raging in Spain, a safe distance is kept between visitors and VR goggles and headphones are disinfected after each performance.

Inspired by space

Both films were directed by Igor Cortadellas. He was inspired by outer space, more precisely: by the cargo of the Voyager 1 and 2 space probes, which NASA launched into space in the 1970s and which contain earthly messages to extraterrestrial civilisations, including a collection of earth sounds such as thunder, the sound of the sea and birdsong.

"They also contain music, including the first movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony. These two very simple things - the music of nature and the music of Beethoven - were my starting points," says Cortadellas.

The exhibition will be on display free of charge in Madrid until 19 January 2021. After that, the exhibition will tour 100 Spanish and Portuguese cities for ten years.

Source: Mixed