It is not often that musicians from across continents come together for a collaborative effort. Music lovers in the city had a chance to experience a concert of epic proportions in an Indo-Swiss collective recently. The seventh concert in a series titled Cadenza 2015, the gala Indo-Swiss concert at Moevenpick Hotel was a classical evening of musical splendour and entertainment.
Led by Professor Marcovic, the joint venture saw artistes from Switzerland team up with the youngsters of the Bangalore School of Music led by Aruna Sunderlal in a musical educative exchange for a two-week period that culminated in the concert.
Kicking off with ‘Welcome’ from the musical Cabaret by American songwriter John Kander, pianist Maria Rapp and singers Jasmin Andergassen and Reto Knoepfel launched into a masterfully blended greeting of music. Transporting the audience into a musically-magical world, the skilled team went on to perform a rapturous ‘I’m A Stranger Here’ from the musical ‘One Touch of Venus’ by German composer Kurt Weill, setting the momentum for the rest of the evening.
American composer George Gershwin’s ‘I Got Plenty of Nuttin’ from the musical ‘Progy and Bess’ followed in a marvellous vocal delivery by Reto Knoepfel backed by Maria on the piano.
Providing comic relief, Ivan Turkalj took over stage on the cello along with Luka Stamenkovic on the13-string guitar for a rendition of Argentine tango composer Astor Piazzolla’s ‘Libertango’ followed by another foot-tapping dance number of Spanish composer Isaac Albeniz’s ‘Tango’ by guitar duo Luka and Nandini.
A three-piece performance came next with Daniel Bircher on the clarinet, Ivan on cello and Maria on the piano for a beautiful and graceful two-part rendition of German genius Ludwig Van Beethoven’s ‘Trio Op.11’. Artistes Maria and Ranko Markovic teamed up next for a skilful dual performance on the piano for Austrian composer Franz Schubert’s ‘Fantasy f-minor op. 103 for piano four hands’. Just when you thought it couldn’t get better, the duo were joined by Molly Zachariah for a mind-blowing execution of Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff’s ‘Valse for piano six hands.’
The final repartee in the Indo-Swiss act featured cellist Ivan and the BSM Chamber Orchestra conducted by V. Narayanswamy. The vibrant bows of stringed instruments filled the hall with a delivery of German cellist Georg Eduard Goltermann’s ‘Capriccio’ and a rousing finale of the tango ‘La Cumparasita’ by Uruguayan musician Gerardo Matos Rodríguez.
Cellist Ivan shares his thoughts at the end of the concert. “It has been a very emotional week and a wonderful experience of the different culture here. It is amazing to see so many children interested in the Western European classical music. They also taught us about the traditional music here. It was exciting since we don’t have a one-way teacher-student relationship. We both have a learning exchange.”
He added that it doesn’t matter which kind of music anyone plays, collaborations go a long way in promoting music in general. “It is a good thing to exchange musical knowledge. This also inspires others. We want to come back soon to see what work we can do further and learn.”
It has been a very emotional week and a wonderful experience. It is amazing to see so many children interested in the Western European classical music
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