An alternate view of SONCINEMAD 2007

I was surprised to read the recent news item on the SONCINEMAD 2007 festival held in Madrid:

http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/viewarticle.php?articleid=1347

I'm not sure if there was some other music event being held in Kinepolis at the same time as SONCINEMAD, but the SONCINEMAD I attended was a much better experience in comparison with the anonymous reporter.

"Let's see what went wrong"
For a congress that provided the opportunity to see and hear examples of how music and film interact, using a movie theatre complex as the venue was a very good idea. Having on hand a large movie screen and the audio capability to fill the whole room was used by several of the composers to great effect. Things were not perfect - these sorts of things never are.
The room was on the dim side - as the photos selected for the news piece expertly showed - but the statement that "only the first row could see the expression on the face of the speakers" only highlights the tone of what's to come.

"The rehearsals" & "The concert in Kinepolis"
I had also heard that there was too little time for the composers to rehearse with the orchestra and that there was a level of disappointment amongst the composers and organisers that things hadn't gone as well as everyone had hoped. All of this makes (for me at least) things seem more remarkable - I thought that some of the music that the orchestra was very beautiful and emotional, with some wonderful solo vocal performances. Illarramendi and Cases' music in particular was particularly well played by the relatively small orchestra.
It was disappointing to see that the venue was not full and there were some issues with using a large movie theatre as a concert hall - several of which were related to the large amount of TV equipment. But by the end, having heard the concert and seen all the composers united arm-in-arm at the end (in relief that the concert was over rather than having enjoyed the experience?) it was a very worthwhile concert with some wonderful memories.

"And that was not all..."
The organisers certainly tried to limit the number of items presented to composers for signing, but that is understandable when some people had brought all their CD covers from a particular composers, as well as movie posters, LPs, books, etc. I don't really see the need to have everything signed. Pick one or two items that are really special and leave it at that. Also, there was nothing to stop people with lots of items rejoining the cue at the back and waiting to have something else signed.
In any case, composers were generally pleased to sign most of what was presented to them and were keen to ignore the organisers and make sure that everyone who waited had something signed.

"Saved by Alan Silvestri"
The Silvestri concert was certainly the highlight of the festival.

"A short note..."
There has been some discussions elsewhere about what sort of ambience was present in Madrid (particularly compared with the meeting a few weeks later in Ubeda) and it's again mentioned that there was little ambience at SONCINEMAD 2007. From the experience I had in Madrid I find what's written in this piece hard to accept. Most composers seemed very pleased to participate in the congress and were happy to meet with fans. The composers certainly made it clear how much they enjoyed their time in Madrid and fans and organisers were keen to reinforce to the composers their appreciation of the support they had given to SONCINEMAD. This year's event was certainly much better organised that the previous (and first) SONCINEMAD festival. And with constructive suggestions on how next year's festival can be improved, I'm sure of a successful 3rd meeting.

alan, August 17, 2007; 5:30 PM