“Even as the worst days of the pandemic wane, it might seem a little soon to hop a flight to Paris. But the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas can take you there while you remain (physically) in the comfort of your own living room,” writes Becca Martin-Brown in Sunday’s (3/28) Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock). “It just required nine musicians; a magical, immersive piece of artwork; and the skills to merge the two into one. Charles Gounod … wrote his Petite Symphonie in 1885…. It debuted on April 30 of that year in Paris, which was, quite simply, the center of the artistic universe … So when SoNA set out to record the Petite Symphonie, music director Paul Haas wanted a … ‘multimedia production … to present a truly contemporary interpretation …,’ Haas says…. Haas collaborated with visual artist Romain Erkiletlian [to create] ‘superpositions of visual layers accompany the Petite Symphonie,’ … said Erkiletlian…. Darren Crisp … recorded the nine SoNA wind players on greenscreen … then combined that performance with Erkiletlian’s art…. ‘This work opens up new possibilities for the listener to connect with classical music and the musicians they love through a new perspective,’ SoNA Executive Director D. Riley Nicholson says.”
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