It was only to be expected that the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR) should once again be a step ahead. Since its foundation, this Geneva institution has always been at the forefront of innovation, and history bears it out. Let us salute Ernest Ansermet, who in 1954 made with the OSR the first stereophonic symphonic recording. Even then the orchestra had grasped how important technology would be to the diffusion of music. Today, in 2025, nothing has changed: the OSR is still leading the way, with the launch of Virtual Hall, a virtual-reality application that places the viewer literally at the heart of the orchestra.
Complete immersion in a symphony concert
The idea comes from Steve Roger, the OSR’s director, who wanted to give everyone the chance to experience a concert from the inside, through new technology. The application was developed by the Swiss company Cybel’Art, and the result is quite simply stunning.
I tried it. And I can assure you the sensation is striking. First there is that moment of vertigo on entering the Victoria Hall. You look up, and the famous fresco is there. You turn your head and see the players, concentrated, almost ready to begin. A strange impression takes hold — that of being an intruder, a silent ghost among the instrumentalists. And yet you can sit down among them. A very odd feeling: I find myself in the middle of the musicians, afraid of being in the way, and yet I feel invited, accepted, like a familiar and friendly figure.
Then comes the great revelation: the choice of camera angles lets you move about within the orchestra, slip from one desk to the next, experience the music from every side. Most impressive of all is the view from the conductor’s position — here one recognises Jonathan Nott, the OSR’s chief conductor. You find yourself in the place of the man who brings the music to life, and suddenly your hands appear in virtual reality. You are holding the score; you can follow it in real time, enlarge it, turn the pages, as though you were about to conduct the orchestra yourself. It is quite simply dizzying.
A revolutionary tool, and one for everyone
With Virtual Hall, symphonic music becomes accessible to anyone, anywhere. No need to be physically present in Geneva to experience a concert from the inside. No need to be a musician to feel the orchestra vibrating around you.
For the moment the application offers only two works, but the catalogue is set to grow:
- Beethoven’s Third Symphony, the “Eroica” — an obvious choice, so completely does this symphony embody grandeur, daring and musical revolution.
- The overture to Rossini’s William Tell, a spectacular piece whose contrasts and energy make it ideal for demonstrating the immersive power of the tool.
One can already imagine all the pedagogical and artistic possibilities this opens up. Following a score live, understanding the subtleties of orchestral playing, training in conducting, exploring the orchestra as one would explore a new world… The application, available from 10 March 2025 on Meta Quest and soon on Apple Vision Pro and Pico, promises to transform our relationship with classical music.
Innovation in the service of emotion
There is not only Beethoven’s heroic symphony. There is also this heroic orchestra, which dares to reinvent the symphonic experience. That is what is at stake here: opening a new chapter in making classical music available to all, and proving that technology and emotion are not incompatible — quite the contrary. Virtual Hall is in no sense a gadget: it is a sensory revolution, a new way of experiencing music as never before.
And what if real progress lay precisely in making classical music accessible to everyone, without frontiers or barriers?
Note: this experience was offered to me by the OSR entirely free of charge.
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