「世界最大のオーケストラ」　１万２０００人がギネス挑戦　ベネズエラ

【カラカスＡＦＰ＝時事】ベネズエラの首都カラカスで１４日、約１万２０００人の演奏者が、ロシアの作曲家ピョートル・チャイコフスキーの「スラブ行進曲」を演奏した。「世界最大のオーケストラ」のギネス世界記録を更新する試みだ。（写真はベネズエラ首都カラカスで「世界最大のオーケストラ」のギネス世界記録更新に臨む、公的音楽プログラム「エルシステマ」の指導を受けている演奏家たち）
　山に囲まれたベネズエラ士官学校の中庭に集まった演奏者は、夕日を浴びながら１２分間にわたって演奏。国際会計事務所ＫＰＭＧの監査人約２６０人が審査員として立ち会い、「楽器を共有しない」「少なくとも５分間は演奏する」などの項目が守られているかをチェックした。
　参加者は、１９７５年に設立された、労働者階級の子どもにクラシック音楽を指導しているベネズエラの公的音楽プログラム「エルシステマ」を介して集まった。
　指揮者のアンドレス・ダビド・アスカニオ氏（３４）は演奏前に、「弦が切れても（演奏を）止めないで。どこを演奏しているか分からなくなっても、記憶を頼りに続けて」と伝えた。
　参加した若手の音楽家たちは、大型スクリーンに映った指揮者を見ながら演奏に臨んだ。曲が終わると、楽器を高く掲げて喜びを表す演奏家の姿も見られた。
　現在の「世界最大のオーケストラ」のギネス記録は、ロシアのオーケストラが保有している８０９７人。記録の更新が認定されたかどうかは、１０日以内に発表される。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/11/17-13:03）

Sunset in Caracas was accompanied by the sound of classical music on Sunday as thousands of Venezuelan musicians performed Tchaikovsky's 'Marche Slave' to set the record for the world's largest orchestra.
Flanked by mountains, the courtyard of the Venezuelan Military Academy hosted around 12,000 classical musicians looking to make their way into the Guinness Book of World Records.
If you break a string, don't stop. If you lose the score, go on by heart, but don't stop, conductor Andres David Ascanio, 34, said before the performance.
The 12-minute piece was observed by around 260 auditors from KPMG, charged with ensuring each musician complied with the rules to set a new record, which include not sharing instruments and playing for at least five minutes during the score.
Guinness will announce in the next 10 days whether Venezuela has outflanked a 2019 Russian orchestra of 8,097 musicians as the world's largest.
The performers were brought together by Venezuela's publicly funded 'El Sistema' program, which was founded in 1975 and has since provided classical music training to thousands of working-class children.
Gustavo Dudamel, the music director of the Paris Opera and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is one of its most notable alumni.
On Saturday, macaws flew overhead as the young musicians in white t-shirts followed Ascano's instructions displayed on a large screen.
It's the first time in my life that I have experienced seeing the conductor on a screen, but... we adapted quite well, said violinist Ernesto Laguna, 21, who traveled nearly 450 kilometers (279 miles) from the western city of Coro.
The percussion came in with booming cymbals during the dynamic central section of Tchaikovsky's 1876 work, which mixes Slavic, folkloric and nationalistic elements.
When the score was finished, many of the musicians released their emotions by raising their instruments to the sky.