ON Stage is the cultural magazine of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai, and features authoritative stories on the performing arts.
Know Your Composer
Cited as the first composer to rethink every parameter of his music, Franz Liszt was an inveterate boundary-pusher, as eccentric as he was prolific, and without a doubt, the prototype of the modern-day rock star. By Manohar Parnerkar Franz Liszt, the 19th-century Hungarian-born composer, pianist and conductor, will always remain
News
The pause on live performances at the NCPA has been a period of brainstorming that has resulted in innovative online offerings, and the creation of a strategy for times beyond the lockdown that celebrates the live medium and widens its reach digitally. By Snigdha Hasan The beginning of March at
Features
In moments of social confinement, art, once again, is man’s companion, like it has been in war and peace, sickness and health. By Snigdha Hasan It is the fifth month of the year, and in a parallel, Corona-free world, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra would have been neck-deep in rehearsal
Throwback Thursday
Two stellar pianists, cognoscenti may seldom hear under one roof, were brought together as part of the latest SOI season. Vastly different in their musicality, they share in common what ties together all great artistes. By Jehangir Batiwala The SOI Spring 2020 Season was unique, as audiences in Mumbai got
News
In the absence of classroom lessons, the SOI Music Academy shifts gears and switches to online teaching, bringing together musicians and students under one virtual roof. “I cannot remember having seen such unusually prolonged, testing times for so many countries, including India, where I work, and France, where I have
Music Education
The Resident Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of India, Mikel Toms, takes a moment out of rehearsals to consider the point of it all, as he asks and answers an important question: why do we rehearse at all? For years, I have been fascinated by the etymology of the word
News
Standing ovations, encores and a growing realisation of the hunger for Western classical music in the country were all part of the resounding success of the SOI’s recent tour to Delhi and Bengaluru. Hot on the heels of a very successful Spring 2020 Season, the Symphony Orchestra of India
Throwback Thursday
“April is the cruellest month,” T. S. Eliot wrote in ‘The Waste Land’, “breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain.” I don’t know about April being the cruellest month: March was pretty savage with the Coronavirus pandemic crippling the
Throwback Thursday
Five graduating students of the SOI Music Academy look back on their seven-year journey and how it has shaped them, inside the classroom, on the stage and out in the world. MAIRA SINGH (13), Violin My teacher and mentor Olga Lyapina took me under her fold when I was all
Know Your Composer
Known for his melodic invention and wonderful harmonic language, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s ever popular Piano Concerto No. 2 was an act of hope and rehabilitation. By Manohar Parnerkar Besides being an important composer of the 20th century, Sergei Rachmaninoff was also a brilliant pianist and, potentially, a great conductor. This
Music Education
The two works slated for performance by the SOI on 25th February could not be more different. But both are compelling essays that convey a message directly from the composer that is far broader than any single performance and as powerfully universal as it is timely. Zane Dalal traces the
Interviews
Preparation for the musical theatre gala at the NCPA, featuring excerpts from beloved musicals like The Phantom of the Opera, Cats and Waitress, among others, is in full swing. We talk to the three stars from the West End – Daniel Bowling, John Owen-Jones and Lucie Jones – who are slated to