Tuesday, October 13, at 6:30 p.m.
Forum Rolex Learning Center
Battleship Potemkin, Sergueï Eisenstein’s second film, is considered to be the world’s most famous film.
After their huge success at the Metropolis project in 2013, this year the Musicians of the “Orchestre Harmonique de l’État de Genève” are taking up the challenge of accompanying this masterpiece live.
- Silent Soviet film (1925) from Sergueï Eisenstein
- Original music of Edmund Meisel
- Director: Jean-Christophe Monnier
- Live accompaniment from the Orchestre Harmonique de l’État de Genève
A colossal project for the Artistic Director and a sporting achievement for the musicians: Until today, no transcript of Meisel’s partition for orchestra existed. Jean-Christrophe Monnier has rewritten and adapted no less than 400 pages of music for orchestra. The task thereafter was to assimilate an uninterrupted 80 minutes of partition: A colossal work of synchronization, with to the second precision achieved. For the musicians, this cinema concert demands constant concentration and constitutes an impressive physical effort.
The film: This version of the film was restored in 2007 by the German Film archives. It corresponds to the Russian Film version which was screened for the first time on December 24th 1925 at the Bolchoï Theatre in Moscow then in Berlin in 1926, accompanied by the Edmund Meisel’s music. The tragedy in 5 acts was ordered by Eisenstein to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1905 revolution. He focused on one historic moment: the mutiny of the mariners of the battleship Potemkin which led to a bloody retaliation. He imagined a hecatomb of Odessa’s population, amassed on a grand staircase. The emotional impact was very strong.
The music: From a Viennese decent, this is Edmund Meisel’s (1894-1930) first film music. It was almost improvised and was written in a record time in 1925. The language is rough and tense and is in total harmony with the drama of the film. It was met with considerable success, which greatly contributed to the film’s eventual international success. Meisel’s partition, partially lost, was restored in 1986 by Alan Fearon and Mark Andreas and later on, by the German chief of orchestra, Helmut Imig in 2005. The harmonic orchestral transcript is completely unique and was specially produced for “Orchestre Harmonique de l’État de Genève” by its director, Jean-Christophe Monnier.
► Registrations are closed.
A few tickets are still available at the Information desk of the Esplanade
This event is reserved for members of the EPFL community