July 27, 2024 09:58 | Updated: July 27, 2024 10:04
A double bassist from the Orchestre National de France performs at the rain-soaked Opening Ceremony in Paris. Photo: Getty
Members of the French orchestra wore rain covers while performing at the Trocadero, but their instruments were left exposed to the elements.
The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics was filled with classical and orchestral music.
Before the arrival of the Orchestre National de France, Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 was played on board the refugee athletes, a solo flute played La Marseillaise, Offenbach's cancan accompanied an epic ballet scene, and a mezzo-soprano sang Bizet's Habanera.
During the parade along the Seine, music by Saint-Saëns and Debussy was heard, as well as a rendition of Ravel's “Jouets d'Aqua” by pianist Alexander Kantorow, who played the melody on a rain-soaked piano.
“A sad piano in the pouring rain,” classical music publisher Ballenreiter commented about X.
One moment that sparked particularly fierce debate came when now-viral images emerged of the Orchestre National de France performing on a rain-soaked Trocadero next to the Eiffel Tower.
The performers, like many in the audience, were wearing plastic ponchos to weather a night of heavy rainfall in the French capital, but their stringed instruments were left exposed to the elements.
Read more: What music will be played at the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony?
Members of the Orchestre National de France donned rain covers as they performed the Olympic Hymn at the Trocadero during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. Photo: Getty
Luthier Christopher Jacoby called the photo “horrible” on Instagram, writing: “Um, no. This is good for business but this is awful. No.”
Star soprano Angela Gheorghiu, widely regarded as one of the greatest sopranos of all time, responded to the image on Instagram with a series of crying emojis.
Another wrote: “All I could think about was their instruments getting wet all night.”
Czech viola player Áneška Khropova added: “No… not even a cheap instrument. It still breaks my heart because it's an instrument with soul.”
At the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, comedian Rowan Atkinson appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra “performing” Vangelis' Chariots of Fire, a wildly popular skit that has become part of British culture.
Years later, in an interview with Tim Lihollow on Classic FM, Atkinson admitted that the entire performance had been pre-recorded to protect the LSO's precious instruments from London's unpredictable weather.
Rowan Atkinson and his sketches of the Olympic Opening Ceremony
“Everybody was lip-syncing that night,” Atkinson says, “and because we were playing outside, the London Symphony Orchestra couldn't risk their priceless instruments getting wet in the rain, so the only thing we could do was to pre-record everything.”
“And Simon Rattle was waving his arms around, just like me, and lip-syncing to the music.”
The same decision was probably made for last night's parade in Paris: French musicians were given cheap instruments to use in their pantomimes, but real violins, violas, cellos and basses were well covered in the country.
Harpist Melanie Laurent added: “For those who are concerned, of course they weren't performing on their usual personal instruments – they were given low-cost instruments at the last minute to suit the circumstances.”
“French musicians know how to rebel to get better conditions when they need to,” she joked.
The Orchestre National de France, along with the Radio France Choir, performed the Olympic Hymn, a moving choral cantata by Greek opera composer Spyridon Samaras and lyrics by Greek poet Kostis Palamas. The hymn was written for the first Summer Olympic Games in 1896 and is heard during the raising and lowering of the flag at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.