Accompanied by a symphonic orchestra, popular segas or R&B hits breathe and take on a new amplitude that sends shivers down the spine of a room of four hundred and fifty people, as soon as the first notes of a familiar melody resound, magnified by the subtleties of the orchestra’s sound. This climax would not have been possible without the fifteen days of intensive rehearsals led by the fourteen Mauritian and French musician-educators who made the trip. By resurrecting forgotten works from the Mauritian repertoire, both classical and popular, all stifled by the advent of “modern” Mauritius, these experiments break down the walls that separate styles and audiences.
At the height of the concerts, there were sixty of them on stage, and it would take a few years of this exciting work with conductor Sébastien Taillard, composer/arranger Simon Barbanneau and special guest and godfather Henri Roman, who demonstrated the virtues of the bassoon, for Maurice’s first professional symphony orchestra to be born… That’s the goal, and it needs to be encouraged by more than just fine words.
Photo: © Frédérick Bréville
