Musician and conductor Damián Mahler tells us about “The Beatles Symphonic Fantasy,” which will be presented on October 26 at the Movistar Arena in Bogota
A symphony orchestra of 30 musicians, chosen singers who represented Latin America at the Beatle Week in Liverpool, a complete sound and video set-up and an experienced director like Damián Mahler, are responsible for “The Beatles Symphonic Fantasy,” the mega stage proposal that will arrive on October 26 at the Movistar Arena in Bogota.
Although music has always been a part of Mahler’s life, The Beatles entered his sound universe at the age of 13. And now, after 30, it was time to pay a unique tribute to the British band in which his creative impulse and his admiration merge. “Every decision I made in the orchestrations was made very consciously, knowing that we are manipulating, in the best sense, a masterpiece of world musical literature,” says Mahler about this show that approaches the classics of the iconic English group in a renewed way.
THE INTERVIEW WITH RODOLFO BELLA FROM THE LA CAPITAL, NEWSPAPER OF ARGENTINA
How and when did your admiration for The Beatles come about?
When I was 13, I was given 3 albums, and among them was “Help” by The Beatles. I was starting to make music, but at home they were not heard that much, or very little, it was something that I discovered as I grew up. Many times there are things that one hears as a child and then forgets when growing up, but what happened to me with The Beatles was the opposite, they were gaining more and more space because I was understanding their importance, their music, the relevance of their message, the vitality and the validity that they always maintain and how they are becoming more and more powerful through their music.
What will fans find?
The public will find a meeting between worlds: the rock band and the symphony orchestra and the interaction between them. Each one will have its place, its space and prominence. It is a space where we propose to enhance everything that makes each of them so special: the power of the rock band with the grandiloquence of the symphony orchestra.
When and why did you decide to put together this show?
It is a project that we began to develop with Javi Fernández from Sira Música during the pandemic and that had different stages until the final completion. We were sure that The Beatles’ music had a spectacular and almost natural appeal to be brought to the symphonic field. Their extensive knowledge of the world of tributes was key to finding a balance between the expected and the innovative.
What do The Beatles mean to you today?
Their musical legacy is immense, it is a music that broke all kinds of barriers and that was and continues to be influential for all those who are dedicated to making music. In other words, there is no musician, there is no artist who has not been strongly influenced directly or indirectly by The Beatles. I am still surprised today by how 60 years ago, or 55, they raised the issues they raised through their lyrics and songs and how they are still as current, relevant and necessary.
What was the biggest challenge in paying tribute to an iconic pop band?
There are two in this case: one is choosing the repertoire, because it is literally impossible not to leave out two dozen unmissable songs when you put together a list to play at a Beatles musical show. So, the challenge had to do with being able to choose a list that was representative of their entire repertoire and at the same time not leave out any unmissable music. And on the other hand, the challenge also has to do with the fact that by making orchestrations, because the show has original orchestrations, you are playing music, a masterful and total work of art that I deeply respect. Every decision I made regarding the orchestrations and the concept of this show was made very consciously knowing that we are manipulating, in the best sense, a masterpiece of world musical literature.
What was the challenge of approaching and making symphonic arrangements on music that could be said to be part of some kind of sacred pantheon of pop and rock?
I think the challenge of this show is to propose to the spectator a musical journey that alternates between the known points, the comfortable places of the spectator’s ear and the new places that it proposes, because by generating these versions we suddenly have the luxury of being able to make a slightly longer introduction of “Come Together”, suggesting what is going to happen through the orchestral music. It has to do with emotionally moving the spectator’s ear by taking it out of its comfort zone at times and returning it to its safe places. I think the richness of the show is in that alternation.
How did you solve the vocal aspect?
Our extraordinary interpreters have been playing the Beatles’ music for as long as they can remember. In fact, several of our members were chosen to represent Latin America at Beatle Week in Liverpool. They won a contest here in Argentina that is based in Buenos Aires and is Beatle Week in Latin America, where bands from all over the region come to compete to be chosen to travel to Liverpool and play Beatles music at Beatle Week. They know this material like the back of their hand, and it is a pride to be able to count on them because they represent this music in the best possible way.
In the title, “The Beatles Symphonic Fantasy,” does the word Fantasy indicate how much of your own inspiration the show has?
There may be something of that, I think the title refers to the fact that there is a bit of fantasy through symphonic music as a bridge, that the public is not going to find just the band playing the songs as they are and with an orchestra behind them, there is a musical work around the work of The Beatles that is done in a respectful way because we are above all lovers of this music and we take care of it as the treasure that it is and at the same time we give ourselves permission to, for example, play a fragment of “Across the Universe,” make a musical bridge that joins with “The Long and Winding Road.” As I said before, the show proposes a musical journey through the work of the Beatles, taking advantage of the symphonic orchestra as a magnifying element of their work.
What do you think was the secret of The Beatles becoming a world reference?
I think nobody knows. I think their compositional capacity and their poetic flight are really unfathomable. It was and is immense. In eight years they had a musical and philosophical journey that many people would not achieve in a lifetime. That evolution and that path that The Beatles promote through their music is unique. I think that one thing that has made them unique is that they were committed to many causes and went through many situations that they managed to capture and express in their music and lyrics. They did not let anything that happened around them, what was happening globally, locally, pass them by. They took everything, expressed it and poured it into their music. And they were true, that essential ingredient to move others in the way they did.
