A symphony orchestra in Brazil recently stunned the audience by continuing to play flawlessly in the dark, despite a power outage caused by a raging hail storm. Footage of the incredible moment went viral on social media.
The power outage occurred during a performance by Piracicaba Symphony Orchestra (OSP) at the Teatro Municipal Erotídes de Campos in Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil, at around 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 12. The orchestra was presenting “Farandole” from Georges Bizet’s work “L’Arlésienne” as part of a program celebrating the 256th anniversary of Piracicaba, a proud city of 400,000.
“At that moment, a heavy hail storm took over the city,” Knut Andreas, artistic director and chief conductor of OSP since 2022, told The Epoch Times. “The storm caused electricity to go out in several neighborhoods ... Inevitably, we were taken by surprise while on stage.”
However, the musicians continued playing for approximately 15 seconds without light after the initial failure and then for the next 30 seconds until the power generator system kicked in.
“We continued the work until the final applause from the audience,” he said.
Even with the musicians playing, it was possible to hear the sound of rain, but the conductor felt there was “no other option” but to continue. “I believe the musicians thought the same,” he said, adding, “The moment during the concert was really fun. I thought, ‘Let’s see until which measure of the music the orchestra continues playing,’ and they didn’t stop!”
As the piece drew to a close, the audience rose to their feet to applaud the orchestra’s flawless performance despite the power outage.
Mr. Andreas later told the audience that “very few orchestras in the world are capable of playing with or without light,” but the OSP “knows how to do this very well.”
During their hour-long break, Mr. Andreas said the musicians joked in the wings that “this could eventually happen in the next performance that same day, and that we would keep playing!”
“When we realized the potential reach, we used the recording made by one of our instrumentalists, Denis Usov, on our social networks, and people’s receptivity and engagement was even greater,” Mr. Andreas said. “Among the biggest recognitions is that of American violinist Hilary Hahn, who shared the video in her stories with the title, ‘Even the conductor kept going!’”
The blackout performance has been compared by netizens to the scene from James Cameron’s movie “Titanic” in which the violinists continue to play as the ship sinks into the ocean.
Mr. Andreas lives in Potsdam, Germany, where he also serves as an honorary professor of music history and management at the University of Potsdam. He said conducting OSP is “a great gift for my life,” and it is his responsibility as principal conductor and artistic director to ensure that his orchestra feels ready ahead of the concert season.
“In person, we only have three rehearsals with the entire group together, on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays lasting three hours each,” he said. “Therefore, the repertoire needs to be extremely aligned.”
OSP’s very first concert after the orchestra’s inauguration took place on March 25, 1900. Today, the orchestra is made up of 60 musicians, including professionals who work in different orchestras across the state of São Paulo.
