SudOuest May 24 2013

Sébastien Orzan, François Ribac (on guitar), and Eva Schwabe. The three accomplices are sharpening their sound on the stage at La Sirène (Photo: Dominique Jullian).

The “nonactual“ concert

Conservatory students, musicians from La Sirène and the Rochefort Rock School, and Dautet choir members join forces to honor George Harrison.

This evening and tomorrow, there will be no question of squirming to the sound of “current” music in the large auditorium of La Sirène. The music will be there, and so will the amplifiers. Beyond that, however, these two back-to-back concerts—bringing 70 performers to the stage—will offer a departure from the usual atmosphere. For starters, the audience is asked to sit quietly, keep a lid on the chatter, and open their ears. And they’ll do just as well, because it’s probably not tomorrow that they’ll have the opportunity to attend a concert like this.

Each in their own element

“Tout un monde de strat(e)s”, dedicated, one can guess, to a certain guitar and to Georges Harrison, is the title of the announcement, not only of the two concerts of the weekend, but of a vast project which, after months of work, is leading to a musical event. This project—involving collaborations with the La Rochelle Conservatory, La Sirène (management and technical staff), the Rochefort Rock School, and the Ribac-Schwabe Company—brought together a diverse group of people to make music collectively, rather than working in isolation. That is to say, stepping out of their usual musical worlds: the “classical” realm for conservatory students, and the rock scene for musicians from Rochefort and the La Sirène studios. To spice up the sound a bit, the strummed and scraped string players rehearsed with the choir members from the Jean-Dautet high school. They were coached and led by a fantastic trio: Sébastien Orzan (trombone teacher at the conservatory) François Ribac (bassist-composer) and Eva Schwabe (singer).

Ribac has a crush on Harrison

But it is François Ribac who truly deserves the biggest tip of the hat. Without the pop bug that bit him, and without his passion for George Harrison’s music, this event simply wouldn’t be happening. Ribac conceived the concert in two parts, based on Harrison’s album All Things Must Pass, released shortly after the Beatles’ break-up. The first part features Irish singer Cathal Coughlan and guitarist Dave Gregory (“who is to pop what Tortelier is to the cello,” according to Ribac) performing music written by Ribac as a tribute to Harrison. “With a common thread,” he notes: “the 12-string guitar, India, and a love of gardening.” For the second part, he has lined up five tracks from All Things Must Pass, plus one written by Ringo Starr. All of this—blending conservatory musicians, rockers, backing vocalists, Eva’s voice, Ribac and his guitar, Pierre-Emmanuel Blanc on violin, Jacques Froger on cello, and a perfectly tuned sound system—promises to make for an excellent concert. But what about you? Does George Harrison strike a chord with you, or leave you cold? To find out for sure—and to hear for yourself—head over to La Sirène

Christiane Poulin