Here's the article on tomorrow's display

L'Espagne brisera la glace

Merci Mylene pour votre article.

I saw the soundtrack for Igual's display last night and was rather surprised. After hearing the title of the display, "Odyssey," I was expecting - or hoping for - a re-telling of the epic Greek poem "The Odyssey." It sounds like Igual is not re-telling the story, but rather writing their own.

The concept seems pretty basic. I hope that Igual provides its audience with a reason to become attached to this 'journey,' otherwise the display may conceptually fall flat.

Here is the tracklist for the display. Whomever it was who mentioned that Igual has been using short pieces of music in recent displays will be happy to see the long list of tracks to be used tomorrow night.

Title - Interpret

Barcelona - Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé
Orgia - Danzas Fantasticas - Joaquin Turina
Titans (OST Alexander) - Vangelis
Hunger (OST Black Hawk Down) - Hans Zimmer
Barca Solaris - Hadouk Trio
Throw Down - The Ananda Chankar Experience
The Conference - Nintin Sawhney & Beyond Skin
Welcome - Zeus & The spiritual traders
Yu Jun Zhang -Thundering Dragon
Explore japan - Patric Wilson & Adam Routh
Concerto for Sitar & Orchestra - Ravi Shankar
Lights & Shadow (BSO 1492) -Vangelis
Sherezade Op. 35 - Rimsky-Korsakov
Celos (Jealousy) -Danny Malando
Ritmo do brasil -Batucada
Samba Quente - Batucada
Cuba que lindos son tus paisajes - Celia Cruz & Willy Chirino
La Califfa - Sarah Brightman & Ennio Moricone
Navras (BSO Matrix Revolutions) - Juno Reactor
What the world needs love - Jackie Shannon
Do nothing till you hear from me - Robbie Williams
Alegria - Cirque du Soleil
summer of 69 - Brian Adams & Bon Jovi
Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne
Bad Reputation - Avril Lavigne

And here's the official press release:

The all-time leading prizewinner kicks off the competition this Saturday!

Montreal, Friday, June 19, 2009 – The leading prizewinning fireworks company in the history of the Montreal International Fireworks Competition is back in town! Pirotècnia Igual, winner of six Jupiter Awards since 1987 – including two Gold Jupiters – will kick off the competition at the 25th edition of L’International des Feux Loto-Québec presented by TELUS in grand fashion. On this special anniversary occasion, it will offer spectators a dazzling light-and-sound journey from Barcelona to Montreal.

Titled “The Odyssey,” this dazzling show will transport spectators from Catalonia’s capital to Quebec’s metropolis in just half an hour, not by way of the space shuttle Endeavour, but through the power of the imagination. The “light-and-sound craft” that will carry spectators will not follow an east-west itinerary; instead, it will travel east and provide spectators with a wealth of sights and sounds and moods from many different lands.

Naturally, in the first part of the journey, we will discover the colours of Spain – then, there will be stops in Egypt, India, China, and Japan before alighting on the coasts of Argentina, Brazil, and Cuba to name but a few of the destinations. Be warned, says Pirotècnia Igual, “The Odyssey” is full of unexpected adventure and sudden storms. And while the theme is global, as befits a journey around the world, Pirotècnia Igual’s performance is truly Spanish, featuring colossal set pieces with numerous and surprising shifts in tone and rhythm.

At its inception in 1880, Igual was a modest, family-run company of artisans. It has since grown into a fireworks multinational, employing nearly 100 people, with offices in Abu Dhabi and Chile. In Chile, the company launched as many as 24 grand fireworks shows to celebrate the New Year, including one gargantuan, 20-kilometre display using 18 launch points throughout Valparaiso Bay.


Interview excerpts with Pirotècnia Igual can be heard online at http://www.internationaldesfeuxlotoquebec.com The site also lists the 25 or so musical selections that will be heard as part of the show

Thanks for all the information, guys. It sounds like an interesting display will be put on by the famed Spanish team tomorrow evening, and it seems that there might be some cool transitional points in pace as well as good sequenced pieces.

The soundtrack looks really diverse and seems relevant, though I can't say that I am a fan of the last two - they seem so deviate from the rest and I don't really see how those couple of tracks fit in to the overall theme of the display. (I don't care for them as choices for a faux finale/finale, too). With respect to the general information of the display, I particularly liked this part in the press release: " Be warned, says Pirotècnia Igual, “The Odyssey” is full of unexpected adventure and sudden storms."

Hoping for a similar display like we had witnessed in 2001, although I noticed that Igual has been losing their touch a little since 2004 whenever they made an appearance in Montreal. However, I believe this display will revive all their glory once again.

Trav.

Mylène, excellent article sur le feu de demain. Tu écris: "Depuis janvier dernier, les quatre concepteurs s’affairent à construire un immense voilier qui nous fera voguer de Barcelone à Montréal." Est-ce une figure de style ou la figure d'un voilier sera-t-elle assemblée sur l'une des rampes?

Le concept et la trame sonore sont très prometteurs. Cela rappelle le feu d'Igual en 1999, "Voyage de la Catalogne à l'Amérique", et le "Tour de feux" de Foti en 2001. Je crois que je relirai le rapport de Paul sur le feu de 1999 pour voir s'il y aura des ressemblances. Le communiqué et l'article de Mylène parlent de tempêtes et autres événements qui surviennent en mer: j'espère que ces éléments se feront voir et entendre, cela ajouterait à la qualité du concept artistique. Débuter le feu avec Barcelona, une pièce très forte au plan musical, est un choix audacieux qui donne à penser que les concepteurs veulent bien s'imposer.

Vraiment, Igual semble avoir développé un concept qui pourrait plaire à l'auditoire, davantage que le "Pure jazz" de 2007.

Mais tout cela demeure sur papier: attendons la suite!

Fred

Salut Fred !

Merci beaucoup pour les bons commentaires ! Much appreciated !

Est-ce une figure de style ou la figure d'un voilier sera-t-elle assemblée sur l'une des rampes?

As Paul wrote in his interview, there will be a sail-shape structure of 15 metres high...

Also, the soundtrack of Matrix is very appropriate for the storm thing... i'm sure it will be nicely represented... at least, i hope

See you tomorrow !

Hi ! Indeed it sounds like an interesting display. I'm not sure if the way Igual chose the songs is the best. From my point of view there are too much songs in the soundtrack. 25 songs for only 30 minutes! I think its too much. An avarage of 1,2 minutes per song...

I think is not possible to show all technic aspects in just 1 minute. Moreover if each minute the music is changing the viewer is not able to feel the display entirely.

However I have the feeling (after reading the interview and Mylene's article ) that it will be a very special display. Seems that Igual did a hard work trying to do someting more special (with the 15 meters structure and the boats cerating a new ramp 5).

I don't like the last songs, mainly the last one, for two reasons:

1- I'm not too much fan of pop songs in a Pyromusical, less for a finale.

2- I don't understand why they use Bad Reputation to finish the show. If the idea is to create an Odissey that starts in Barcelona and finish in Montreal, why they chose a song called BAD REPUTATION?! Who will understant this?


Just a thought.


Rovira.

I'm not too much fan of pop songs in a Pyromusical, less for a finale.

I second that statement. However, perhaps it will allow for a powerful and enduring closing segment. Also, as I mentioned in my previous post, those last two songs just seem sort of random. We'll see what happens, I guess.

Trav.