Some attendees at the concerts of the self-proclaimed Hollywood Symphony Orchestra, which this Christmas has rented the main hall of the Liceu for New Year's concerts, denounce the questionable quality of the proposal, which, on the other hand, has nothing to do with the American ensemble that serves as their advertisement. A young Catalan living in Boston, attracted by the film scores, lamented about this.
“I don't know if the Liceu was aware of the scam, but it is a clear case of false advertising. I understand that the audience for soundtracks on December 26th is not as sophisticated as the Liceu's regular attendees, but it was absurd,” read the complaint, in which he requested the refund of the €66 claiming that the musicians were not professionals. “They were out of tune, missing notes, the solos were painful to hear. The concert lasted just over an hour and they repeated Indiana Jones. And they didn't follow the announced repertoire with The Lion King or Inception.”
I searched online and thought it was an American band. But no. When the first chord of 'Star Wars' played, it was clear”
On the other hand, musician and ethnomusicologist Pol Ducable regrets having attended the performance on January 1st. “It was a gift from my brother, to go together to the Liceu. I checked online and thought it was the American ensemble. But no. When the first chord of Star Wars sounded, it was clear. The orchestra was behind, the trumpeter was off, some instruments were missing, affecting the timbre... We took it as a joke, just like the people in the adjacent box, but in the end my brother had spent from 60 to 80 euros per ticket,” he told this newspaper.
One of the musicians hired has denounced on social media the precarious working conditions at the Hollywood Symphony. And also at the Strauss Festival Orchestra - the same musicians - which performs the New Year's waltzes at the Liceu and other Spanish venues. All of this organized by NKProdarte, who at the time of this edition had not answered the calls from La Vanguardia.
“It's an orchestra that comes from Ukraine, there are older people and there are also students, but that is not determinative for the quality: what's important is to rehearse,” explains cellist Fernando Rodríguez (Ávila, 1988), who was dismissed from the Spanish tour project this Tuesday - 25 performances, some in Porto and Rome - “still owed a thousand euros for work completed or suspended,” as he claims to La Vanguardia.
On December 23rd, I didn't even have a score, just a ticket to Barcelona, but they weren't even expecting me at the hotel. In just one day, on the 25th, we had to put together both repertoires, the film scores and Strauss waltzes, about 40 pieces. The rehearsal took place in the hotel basement, with the ceiling half a meter high and the double basses behind a wall. And on top of that, we were only half of the musicians, about 30: instruments like percussion, horns were missing... which are the reinforcements brought in each city where we perform. The fact that half of the musicians change in each city of the tour should require five days of rehearsals to achieve quality. Winds and strings are not prepared separately; here, if you're lucky, there is only one general rehearsal with the additional half of the people added," notes this musician who has been playing with orchestras like those of Castilla y León and Antonio Machado for twenty years, with experience even in opera.
The performance on the 26th at the Liceu was terrible, I have never made such a fool of myself in my life. At the intermission, the concertmaster of the violin and the viola were already saying they were leaving”
In this regard, “the performance on the 26th at the Liceu was lamentable, I have never made such a fool of myself in my life,” he recounts. Similarly, on January 5, they still did not have the scores for the Disney program they were performing at the Liceu on the 6th: “The result is a concert that doesn't even reach amateur level,” he laments. “There were people in the orchestra who left after the first day of the tour, on the 26th, when we had a double performance. During the intermission of the first concert, the violin concertmaster and the viola player were already saying they were leaving. This Monday, another violinist left. And the oboe and English horn players also quit... And let's not even talk about the improvisation with the plane tickets: going to San Sebastian, the cellists were left on the ground because with Vueling, you have to book an extra seat for the instrument two days in advance. The concert was performed without the cellos, just like that.”
Rodríguez warns that what people see is a result of a process without a minimum of organization. From not having sheet music on time, to going out to play with only one of the four trumpets that should be there for a John Williams piece. “If we're talking about a true symphony, there should be 80 instruments, with one or even two harps. And here, in Harry Potter, the celesta wasn't there o was substituted with an electric piano... I haven't seen such a tacky cost-cutting measure before. There hasn't been a single day with a tuba, the essential bass of wind instruments in a soundtrack repertoire! In the end, people are left with how bad it sounds, but it's the result of all these circumstances, where you see the overworked Ukrainians with no possibility of leaving, or the bus drivers sleeping in the vehicle, in the hotel parking lot...” he concludes.
The concept of Liceu has been played with, people expect certain quality standards and, if they have not been met, we need to see how we can improve it”
Claiming a refund for Liceu tickets is pointless, as it is a venue rental. “But it is listed in their official program, they should be careful, it is one of the top venues in Europe and is part of the experience for which people attend,” adds Ducable. Meanwhile, the management of Liceu acknowledges that what happens on their stage impacts the reputation of the Gran Teatre. “We have a certain responsibility, the Liceu concept has been played with, people expect certain quality standards, and if they have not been met, we need to see how we can improve and what we will do from next year,” concludes Valentí Oviedo.
After the complaints received, the Gran Teatre will review its procedures to “ensure the quality standards of external events.” NK Produccions programmed the venue for three dates during the Christmas period this time. And like the rest of the events that are not part of the regular program, they are grouped on the Liceu's website under the category 'other concerts and festivals,' and each listing indicates the name of the promoter organizing it. As reported by Europa Press, for the upcoming year, these dates are already booked at the Liceu on La Rambla for a different type of programming and project, so “this incident will not happen again.”
