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
An examination of early and late influences of Mozart as seen through his ‘Coronation’ Mass and the ‘Requiem’. By Zane Dalal Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart will perhaps never be fully understood, nor will our modern scholarship – that now delves deep into the psyche of composers trying to explain the ‘why’ instead
Interviews
It has been ten years since cellist Gauthier Herrmann, artistic director of the Artie’s festival India, has been coming to the NCPA with his chamber ensemble. A biannual fixture on the NCPA calendar, he talks to ON Stage about the tenth anniversary. “Ten years, 20 editions, more than 50
News
The Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra has been active in the music festival circuit in Europe and beyond for over seven decades. Ahead of its performances at the NCPA, we take a look at how the orchestra has carried forward its rich heritage. By Beverly Pereira Since 1940, the Lithuanian National
Interviews
Stephen Hough’s piano-playing is enhanced by his work as a composer, writer, painter, cultural blogger, activist, poet, novelist and professor of music. By Karishma Attari Stephen Hough is a British-born, internationally acclaimed pianist, who needs little introduction in classical music circles. His major accolades suggest his mastery of the
Music Education
Sixteen million dollars – roughly `104 crore – would be a modest price to pay for a Picasso or a van Gogh, such are the crazy amounts auction houses run up nowadays. That’s probably indicative of the fact that there’s too much money chasing too few paintings. Or less charitably,
Interviews
Amar Muchhala is that rare Indian artiste who is assimilating himself in the world of opera on the international stage Indian tenor Amar Muchhala completed his studies in the opera course at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and continues his vocal training with Janice Chapman. His training in Western
Know Your Composer
ON Stage brings you excerpts from the NCPA Quarterly Journal, an unsurpassed literary archive that ran from 1972 to 1988 and featured authoritative and wide-ranging articles. In the second part of a two-part series, George Ruckert draws a comparison between Bach’s music and Indian ragas. Johann Sebastian Bach was
Know Your Composer
Was Johann Sebastian Bach Western classical music’s “last Asian composer”? The question was raised in Bombay in March at a seminar celebrating the 300th anniversary of the birth of the great German composer. The seminar focused on one of Bach’s final works, the famous Art of the Fugue.
Throwback Thursday
Since its beginning, the NCPA’s performing arts archive has preserved a staggering 6,200 hours of music, 1,250 hours of video recording, 300 hours of folk music and 65 hours of film recordings. By Anil Dharker ‘Archive’ is a wonderfully evocative word, suggesting a civilisation, which values its
Know Your Composer
Shyam Benegal’s composer for most of his films, Vanraj Bhatia’s music has the unusual quality of being both loved and ignored at the same time. By Vipasha Aloukik Pai There are those who have heard his music but not his name. Play for them one of his more
Throwback Thursday
From reclaiming new land to finding the right acoustics, Dr. Jamshed Bhabha had to undergo every struggle imaginable to launch the NCPA. By Anil Dharker “We will build the NCPA on this part of the Arabian Sea.” These could well have been the words of Dr. Jamshed Bhabha as he
Music Education
And why people love it to distraction. A series of personal recollections by Zane Dalal There is something absolutely riveting about the world of opera. Even if your connection with Western classical opera is limited, you might immediately notice that friends and acquaintances who profess to loving it, don’t