 The concert in Weimar |
 The concert in Görlitz |
 My view of the world |
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The concert in Weimar |
The concert in Görlitz |
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My view of the world |
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Conclusion
Without the enforced restrictions of Corona I would not have done the concert like this. I am glad to have got the impetus for this through this unpleasant occasion. Live streaming cannot replace live concerts, but it is worth thinking about how it can complement ordinary concerts.
In detail
Visits: The stream was called up to 53 times at the same time, throughout the concert listeners came and left. Since I assume that the fewest have heard alone and know of up to 4 simultaneous listeners at one call, one can probably assume a maximum of about 100 simultaneous listeners, which is much more than usually in a solo concert of mine.
Until April, 16 32 people decided to pay an entrance fee for (probably) 50 listeners. I think that's remarkable! Most of them followed my suggestion, but since some of them also paid a suupporter-fee (sometimes very generously), the total amount is 729 Euros. With this I was able to donate 400 Euros to the Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi. This is probably a contribution that expresses solidarity rather than direct help. On the other hand, it was also many smaller amounts of money that made it possible to get this sum during the concert.
I assume that the high attendance is related to the fact that it was my first live streaming concert and that Corona makes times so different. And the great willingness to pay admission is probably also connected with the announced donation. So it's a double positive corona effect for this concert. On the other hand, it encourages me that the concept is also financially possible, since it is obviously clear that freely available does not mean for free.
Streaming as media for a concert A replacement remains a replacement! Compared to a real concert, two things were missing: 1. The right sound. Even if our living room would sound better, the reproduction over loudspeakers can never offer what the real cello sound has. 2. Interaction. As nice as it is that there is the chat and so much fun chatting after the concert was, to have a real counterpart is something different, better.
On the other hand, it was the right thing to play a live concert and not to pre-produce it. Many listeners have told me afterwards how they built listening into their day, even celebrated it, at that time. And told me that they too behaved differently than if it had been a production. This corresponds to my perception when I played. Despite all that was missing, it was a concert situation. Even though the audience was reduced to the abstract number of stream calls, I knew that someone was listening to me right now. And so it was decidedly different from sitting down and playing a run-through of the program. In a real concert, players and audience come together in a state of higher concentration. It was certainly not like that, but it went towards that direction.
And the stream has advantages: 1. Above I already mentioned the number of visitors. It also comes from the fact that I am audible simultaneously in London, Prague, Paris, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Frankfurt etc. - and also in Dresden. 2. It's a very low-threshold offer. If you want, you can listen without any obligation and will not disturb anyone if you want to leave earlier. 3. Of course it's banal, because it's so typical for the Internet, but in fact it brings people into contact internationally who wouldn't have met otherwise.
Technically: Of course there is still room for improvement. It was right to have bought microphones for it, in my eyes it was no problem to have only the laptop camera. For the volume I had chosen the wrong reference (I would have had to try it on the computer without external speakers or with the mobile phone - that's how you learn). Now there is a remix with increased volume (https://youtu.be/912j0_U7a8I) which I would only recommend if the original is too quiet. Nevertheless, it is astonishing how small the effort was to do all this.
Feedback: There is a review of the concert in the Neue (musikalische) Blätter. If anyone would like to send me another report of perception from the listener's perspective, I would be happy to publish it here. The same applies to photos of the listening situation.
Perspectives: Currently I can imagine two main variants for the future: 1. Before a regular concert you make a live stream with the same program. This would allow access for all those who cannot be there and perhaps encourage others to listen to the concert in the concert hall. 2. In addition to the live concert you can also stream it live. The disadvantage, however, is that you would then have to choose between the local audience and the online audience (either talking to people or chatting with them...) And that the time-perceptions are different. What should the online audience do during the concert break?
I am of course grateful for further thoughts on this and ideas on how it could be done!