The inauguration of the largest musical instrument in Russia, the Great Concert Organ at the Zaryadye Concert Hall in Moscow: an immersive experience into a realm of music and light for a 24-hour long event.

An an immersive artistic installation created by the Compagnia Finzi Pasca upon invitation by the City of Moscow and conceived as a sound-reactive labyrinth around the organist, with a horizon of 200 LED video tubes and 6,000 pages of musical scores covering the ground, outlining the pathway through the labyrinth.

A unique celebratory event starting on the stroke of midnight between 28 and 29 February 2020, during which  24 of the best organists in the world took it in turns to play for 24 hours non-stop, thus reaching the record of the longest time an organ was ever played (registered in the Europe Book of Records and soon in the Guinness World Records). Sixty-seven music and theatre students from schools of Moscow delicately accompanied the public to the discovery of this huge organ (5872 pipes, 85 registers), by giving them some fundamental information and allowing them to sense the “sacredness” of the moment.

An overall audience of 10,000 estimated people attended this very special one-day long celebration, among which Russian authorities and more than 100 media representatives.

“An organ is air, sound and light and these are precisely the elements that will create the atmosphere for the inauguration of the Great Concert Organ, enabling the audience to experience emotions: the light will come to life, it will breathe and dance to the sound produced by the organist, who will be centre stage.”

Daniele Finzi Pasca, General Concept and Direction

“The flow of the public was managed in such a way that small groups of visitors could walk, in a continuous flow, through this immersive installation of sound and light conceived as a labyrinth around the organist. The spectators experienced the power and refinement of this instrument – the largest and most technically advanced in Russia – by approaching it in an unusual, intimate and at the same time grandiose way.”

Hugo Gargiulo, Set Designer