Reviews
American Record Guide
November/December 2003
The Virtual Orchestra: Technology: here to stay?
By Shirley Fleming
A small opera-training company in Brooklyn stepped on a giant's toe in mid-August and has lived to tell the tale.
The Virtual Orchestra, it must be said, did its job remarkably well.[...] Surprisingly, a certain amount of flexibility is possible: while phrasing, pitch, and dynamics are fixed, tempo can shift with the wishes of the singer, and expressive pauses can be accommodated.
At the well-rehearsed Magic Flute, singers, conductor, and keyboard operator meshed smoothlyÖ
This was a new experience, and I'm glad I had it.
[...] Janinah Burnett, fresh from a stint in Baz Luhrmann's La BohËme on Broadway and at 23 singing her first Pamina (and doing it with great charm)
The musicians union, despite its letter writing campaign, doesn't entirely rule out the use of virtual orchestras under certain circumstances. "The technology can't replace live musicians, it's a different experience," says Bill Moriarity, president of the New York's Local 802, "but in cities where instrumentalists aren't available, the virtual orchestra has a practical use [Ö] You can't just say no to technology--it always wins and you have to learn to live with it."