We had a problem. How do you film a trio of instruments when you are locked down in isolation and two of those three instruments are incredibly rare? Answer: you DIY it at home and find a versatile musician who can play all three parts!
My husband Matt is a double bassist and in the last few years has taken up playing the baryton, an 18th century classical instrument with strings on both the front and the back. Normally you’d be hard pressed to find two baryton players in the same room - a world conference of baryton players a few years ago took place around a single table in a bar in Finland, such is the rarity of both players and instruments! Matt has long had an ambition to perform Haydn’s Cassations for 2 Barytons and Bass and so suddenly being off work at the opera at the beginning of March he actually had time. Now of course when I said I would help I wasn’t quite aware of what I was setting myself up for. It was a steep learning curve as we fumbled our way through new software, best recording and filming practices in tiny spaces, and overlaying the three tracks and split screen video editing. Those first three days of lockdown were spent living Haydn and we quickly realised that producing all 12 movements was a big task and we couldn’t continue to pump out one a day if we wanted anything approaching quality.
So we enlisted our 3 year old to help with the recording, and chilled out the production timeframe. This led to some fairly ‘different’ ideas for each video - green screen with a tropical island? Why not?! A stop motion ‘live audience’ made of lego? Sure! I think my favourite though is number 10 when we filmed Matt playing all 3 parts outside on our terrace. It was a beautiful morning and our neighbours got to enjoy the performance as well. Here is the link to see all 12 of Haydn’s Cassations, recorded and filmed in our home during the lockdown.