Reviews
It is not every day that we get to hear a piano giant who is a legend in his own lifetime. Born in 1960 to Irish parents in Belfast, Douglas studied piano at the Royal College of Music, London with a teacher whose lineage dates back to Liszt’s Weimar
News
This month, the NCPA inaugurates the Dr. Jamshed J. Bhabha Memorial Exhibition, a collection of artefacts, rare photographs and stories from the illustrious family’s oeuvre. Once upon a time, Mehrangir, the beautiful art deco bungalow in Malabar Hill, was home to two overachievers: Dr Homi Bhabha, nuclear physicist and
News
In its concert series titled “With love, from India”, The Capital City Minstrels showcases music by Indian composers, as well as international composers and groups influenced by India. The choir will perform two concerts in Delhi, then take the program to the UK from June 1-15 and perform in Edinburgh,
Music Education
Cafés with a beautiful ambiance are an important part of my existence as a student. Not because it serves good coffee (partly) but because it has a visual appeal to it. A perfectly proportionate coffee cup in my hand gives me immense satisfaction. And I know there are many like
News
The Bangalore City Chamber Orchestra (BCCO) is poised to be the first ever professional orchestra in the state of Karnataka. This landmark project is a crucial step to breathing life into a more recognised and opulent space for cultural excellence. The BCCO intends to be a season-based program for Indian
Music Education
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Contemporary young composers of classical music are frequently taken to task for placing marketability and profit orientation above artistic integrity and compositional skill. In reality, however, placing the emphasis on the profitability of a given composition is not really a 21st century phenomenon
Throwback Thursday
The antique church had an organ played by Mozart. It was small and filled with the faithful waiting for the music to begin. A child danced before the first row, as only children can with abandon regardless of who’s looking – God or parents. The performers then arrived – a baritone
Features
“From the minute a child is taught how to play an instrument, he’s no longer poor” Many years ago, soon after we had set up Child’s Play India Foundation, a music charity inspired hugely by the phenomenal success of Venezuela’s El Sistema movement, a wealthy Bombay socialite
Interviews
Barry Douglas returns to India with Camerata Ireland – the only orchestra to unite musicians from both Northern Ireland and Ireland – to perform Beethoven’s five piano concertos. Interviewed by Cynthia Lewis Barry Douglas is more than just a renowned pianist and conductor. He is a man on a mission to
Throwback Thursday
The opening bars of Mozart’s Fantasia in D minor are a gateway to an inviting sonic escape. Through the sombre arpeggios of the Andante, the weeping Adagio, the fiery Presto, all the way to the final resolution of the Allegretto, one is left surprised, seduced and seeking more. It
Reviews
The Artie’s were back with a bang last month, arriving in India for four recitals in Mumbai and Pune as part of their 21st season of the bi-annual Festival. Most of the musicians have been here before including the outstanding Olivier Patey – principal clarinettist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Know Your Composer
The composer has long been seen as a symbol of divine order. But his music has an unruly obsession with God. “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!” The words of the Psalm look bright on the page, but the music pulls them into