A Chopin polonaise, but I play with my clone 👦🏻 👦🏻

Frédéric Chopin
Polonaise from Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major, Op. 3
Cello and piano: Josep Castanyer Alonso
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After so many videos featuring me playing the piano, it was about time to showcase my main instrument—the cello. However, I needed a twist to stay true to the essence of my channel, which is all about presenting classical music in an unconventional way, using atypical video editing and cool graphics.

What better twist than cloning myself through video editing to form an impossible duo with my pianist self?

This video is the result of a two-year endeavor and is by far the most technically demanding project I’ve ever undertaken. From the complexity of the piano part to the challenges of synchronizing the filming of myself and the clone with a motorized crane, the production and post-production of this video required meticulous planning and took several months to complete.

To create the most realistic imagery of these “impossible” shots with my clone, I invested early on in a programmable motorized crane, which allowed for some of the spectacular moving shots seen throughout the video. The highest level of precision was essential to achieve proper synchronization between the cello and piano parts. Robin Danehav and Isak Friberg (@storybydanehav) provided crucial support with their technical expertise, generously contributing their time during rehearsals of the filming process and an exhausting full day of shooting.

My dearest sound engineer, Ingo Petry, made an incredible recording. Hearing my own playing in such high audio quality is truly breathtaking, and I can’t thank him enough for the time and effort he put into it.

I personally learned a lot about video editing through this project and discovered various masking techniques (Mocha, rotoscoping, traditional masking, and different tracking methods). I’ll carry this knowledge into future videos. I also believe that learning this monster of a piece has helped improve my piano playing (and the cello part wasn’t easy either!).

For those curious, the behind-the-strings shot is a nod to the legendary video of Emanuel Feuermann playing Popper’s "Spinning Song" (   • David POPPER : Spinning Song - Emanue...  ). Can you guess how it was filmed? 😉

Lastly, I want to thank The Association of Friends of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic for their financial support, which helped bring this video to life.
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00:00 Video intro
00:13 A
02:19 B
04:28 A
05:05 Coda
05:55 Video outro