Today was a concert by the Bombay Chamber Orchestra (BCO) at the Tata Theatre at NCPA conducted by Dr Ernest Hoetzl to commemorate the 200th birth anniversary of Frederic Chopin. there were two polish pianists, Pavel Sobowiec and Krzysztof Trzaskowski ,students of the Frederic Chopin University of Music (formerly the Warsaw Conservatory). as luck would have there was a faulty allotment of tickets and we were forced to shift seats. with lady luck by our side, we moved over to the front row!!
Chopin was a genius of the piano and his compositions till date are technically very demanding on anyone who plays them. for most of the latter part his life, he was settled in Paris after the Russian invasion of Poland in the 1830s where he died at the age of 39 but not before leaving a treasure trove of compositions. three of his compositions, polonaise in a major, andante spianato and grande polonaise in e flat for the piano and finally the concerto for piano and orchestra in e minor were played flawlessly by the two gentlemen just 23 years of age ably supported by the equally brilliant BCO. there was a tribute to the Late Mr Burjor Shroff a former cellist with the BCO and an encore in the form of the one minute waltz to close curtains. in a concert that lasted a little about an hour and a half, there wasnt a dull moment with the magic of chopin enthralling us philharmonics. just goes on to show good music can never cease to amaze. but i guess i know myself better than most, so the irritating part was the fat lady who sat next to us jabbering in a fake accent during the intermission till our ears nearly steamed and eyes sprouted full grown six feet tall and heavy daggers...luckily she didnt sing..or it would have been a requiem. the other part was that of the concert brochures. the length and breadth of seven pages on either side would have made it a classic. it really doesnt require ugly aishwarya rai and the rest of the sponsors to overshadow the essence of chopin's genius.
Chopin was a genius of the piano and his compositions till date are technically very demanding on anyone who plays them. for most of the latter part his life, he was settled in Paris after the Russian invasion of Poland in the 1830s where he died at the age of 39 but not before leaving a treasure trove of compositions. three of his compositions, polonaise in a major, andante spianato and grande polonaise in e flat for the piano and finally the concerto for piano and orchestra in e minor were played flawlessly by the two gentlemen just 23 years of age ably supported by the equally brilliant BCO. there was a tribute to the Late Mr Burjor Shroff a former cellist with the BCO and an encore in the form of the one minute waltz to close curtains. in a concert that lasted a little about an hour and a half, there wasnt a dull moment with the magic of chopin enthralling us philharmonics. just goes on to show good music can never cease to amaze. but i guess i know myself better than most, so the irritating part was the fat lady who sat next to us jabbering in a fake accent during the intermission till our ears nearly steamed and eyes sprouted full grown six feet tall and heavy daggers...luckily she didnt sing..or it would have been a requiem. the other part was that of the concert brochures. the length and breadth of seven pages on either side would have made it a classic. it really doesnt require ugly aishwarya rai and the rest of the sponsors to overshadow the essence of chopin's genius.
