Opinion
Did you stay up to watch the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Friday 26 July? I preferred to watch it at leisure a couple of days later. I thought the weather played spoilsport to what would otherwise have been a truly magnificent spectacle. But I am rather surprise
Opinion
I was eight when W. Timothy Gallwey’s ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’ (1974) became a bestseller. Over the years, it became so successful that Gallwey followed it up with the ‘Inner Game’ of everything from golf and skiing to music, work and stress. ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’ is
Opinion
I was honoured and privileged to be invited to present a paper at the National Conference on ‘The contributions of the Goan Christian musicians to the musical heritage of Goa’ earlier this month at the Thomas Stephens Konkani Kendra (TSKK) Porvorim, organised jointly by TSKK and the Goa Government Department
Opinion
“American Youth Symphony Announces Permanent Closure” screamed the ‘breaking news’ headline on the Violin Channel newsletter I subscribe. Rubbing my eyes in disbelief, I read further: “Citing financial challenges, the orchestra is ceasing all operations as of March 15, 2024, after almost 60 years.” Due to my interest in music
Opinion
“Starfield” is one of the most anticipated video games in recent history. The game, which was released on Sept. 6, 2023, allows players to build their own character and spacecraft, travel to any one of a thousand or more planets and follow multiple story arcs. The soundtrack is equally epic,
Opinion
Somewhere in the 1980s the audio-cassette boom happened. And thanks to Magnasound, Times Music and HMV Classics, I suddenly had access to more and more classical music. My collection began to shoot up exponentially after I became an intern and had a salary (a princely Rs 1000 a month then)
Opinion
I thoroughly enjoyed ‘Knives Out’, the 2019 American mystery film written and directed by Rian Johnson, and I wrote a column about it shortly after. I wasn’t expecting a sequel, and although it was released on Netflix at Christmas last year, I’ve only recently seen ‘Glass Onion: A
Opinion
No, I’m not referring to gripping pulp fiction novels but to the “person employed to turn sheet music pages for a soloist or accompanist, often a pianist, usually during a performance.” In the last few concerts I’ve been to that feature a pianist, the performers have either turned
Opinion
HBO’s “Succession” delivered its grand finale on May 28, 2023 – the climax of four award-packed seasons of searing put-downs, nihilistic humor and desperate power plays. The show tells the story of ailing media tycoon Logan Roy and his four horrid children who aim to inherit his empire. I loved
Opinion
Musicians and music scholars are excited to see Tár earn Oscar nominations in 2023. The psychological thriller is set in the rarefied world of classical music, starring Cate Blanchett as a brilliant, ruthless conductor of the real and renowned Berlin Philharmonic. Music, ephemeral in its power over our emotions, is
Opinion
Three thousand nine hundred and twenty. That is approximately the number of hours I have spent in choir rehearsals since I started singing in the Gothenburg Cathedral Boys’ Choir at the age of 11. On top of that come concerts, performances, camps, tours, recordings, exams and various other things related
Opinion
Since its premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival last September, the classical music fraternity has been buzzing over ‘Tár’, the 2022 psychological drama film written and directed by Todd Field and starring Cate Blanchett in the eponymous role as a tyrannical conductor at the helm of the Berlin