Dear Peter, Thank you. Please also read Chelsea de Souza's lovely essay, which just came out today: https://scroll.in/article/1051069/silk-road-music-a-mumbai-pianists-quest-for-compositions-that-echo-her-in-between-self <https://scroll.in/article/1051069/silk-road-music-a-mumbai-pianists-quest-for-compositions-that-echo-her-in-between-self?fbclid=IwAR3e7yKQic0kY8lMGp2uyTtSw_RIz6fZ0q80mbQ8h2fX8LaIYzHEdkQbK0A>
On Sat, 17 Jun 2023, 17:00 Peter de Souza, <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Vivek > This is an outstanding review of music, performance and place. All power > to you. Delightful and educative read. The luso Indian world is vibrant in > Goa. > > Give us more > Peter Ronald DESOUZA > > On Sat, 17 Jun 2023 at 3:45 AM, V M <[email protected]> wrote: > >> https://www.heraldgoa.in/Cafe/A-Tale-of-Two-Concerts/206230 >> >> Goa is increasingly Dickensian - just look at the front page of this >> newspaper. It really does appear to be “the best of times and the worst of >> times”, an age of wisdom and foolishness and the season of both light and >> darkness. Yet, snarled within this depressing “winter of despair” there’s >> an unmistakable “spring of hope” coming from an ongoing cultural >> renaissance of immense significance. For concertgoers and lovers of >> classical music, the recent weeks have rolled out an astonishing series of >> delights in India’s smallest state, capped by the spellbinding sister >> pianists Chloe and Chelsea dc Souza on June 3 and 4 at an elegant new >> location in Porvorim, and the brilliant Portuguese guitarist Ricardo >> Martins (along with Sonia Shirsat and Franz Schubert Cotta) in Panjim last >> Sunday on June 11. >> >> To be sure, these were not the only major performance highlights of the >> last few months. On 11 April, the British-Goan master pianist Karl >> Lutchmayer – the first Indian to become a Steinway Artist – played an >> extraordinary benefit concert at the Instituto Menezes Braganza for the >> Panjim-based Child’s Play India Foundation (https://childsplayindia.org/). >> And earlier this year in February, that same excellent organization founded >> by Dr. Luis Dias in 2009 – it “seeks to instill positive values and provide >> social empowerment to India’s disadvantaged children through the teaching >> of classical music to the highest possible standard” – also hosted the >> Moroccan pianist Marouan Benabdallah at the same venue. >> >> I am sorry to have missed Benabdallah, not only for what the New York >> Times hails as his “lyrical instincts and thoughtfulness” but especially >> due to his programme, which included, as per the artist’s note, “ >> discoveries from my exciting exploration of the music from the Arab world — >> and beyond: Two Syrian (Dia Succari and Amer Ali), a Moroccan (Nabil >> Benabdaljalil) and an Israeli composer (Paul Ben-Haim)”. All these were >> part of his Wigmore Hall debut in London two months later, which the critic >> Barry Creasy described in musicOMH as “full of variety and delight”. >> >> Those adjectives apply just as much to Lutchmayer’s appearance in April, >> followed by the blockbusters in Porvorim and Panjim this month, especially >> relating to freshness and originality. We’ve had generations of great >> classical musicians from and in Goa, and seen many concerts of the highest >> standard, but the music only occasionally ventures away from “greatest >> hits” of the European repertoire. That situation is changing much for the >> better in the 21st century, and what I appreciated above all in the four >> concerts I did attend (Lutchmayer, Chloe de Souza, Chelsea de Souza and >> Martins et al) is their wide-ranging selection. >> >> Here, one absolute highlight was Lutchmayer’s crashing, tumultuous >> rendition of *Le festin d'Ésope* (*Aesop's Feast*), composed in 1857 by >> Charles-Valentin Alkan, which stretched the physical limits of both >> performer and instrument. It was the first time this challenging étude has >> been played in India, and it is rather wonderful to see Wikipedia cite the >> early-20th-century Parsi-British composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji about >> it – “full of astonishing harmonic quirks and twists” – because this >> fascinating, born-again-Zoroastrian’s own *In The Hothouse *was one of >> the unexpected treats during Chelsea de Souza’s presentation/recital *The >> Silk Road: Interactions of Culture and Identity between East and West.* >> >> Much has been said elsewhere about Chelsea (29) and Chloe (27), the >> prodigiously talented – and equally hard-working – Goan sisters from >> Bandra, who have separately stormed through colleges and conservatories in >> the USA to emerge as two of the most promising young artists of our times. >> Each is proving to be an individual powerhouse-in-the-making, but together >> (particularly when playing side-by-side) the siblings are uncanny, >> literally incredible. Venus and Serena Williams come to mind, which is >> probably unfair, but they did deliver two truly superlative performances on >> successive nights in Porvorim. >> >> Also notable here is the new and highly impressive venue – it is named >> Kamra - which retains the physical profile and period detailing of an >> early-20th-century home typical of that once-lovely road to Mapusa, but the >> rugged old doorway instead opens to a state-of-the-art cube of air >> performance space: “Kamra is the living room of a private home in Porvorim >> originally built in the 1940s, which has been restored to preserve the >> original elements, while allowing for a 1200 square foot modern living room >> where live music can be shared in an intimate setting. The home of the >> 105-member Stuti Choral Ensemble is equipped with two baby grand pianos and >> an elaborate technical setup to facilitate rehearsals. It is completely >> non-commercial and driven by a sincere commitment to promoting performance >> culture within the local community.” >> >> Kamra is intimate, but versatile, perfectly suiting Chelsea de Souza’s >> eloquent presentation/performance themed on music that tries to pose and >> resolve questions of identity that might seem irreducible in terms of >> nationalism. She played Debussy leaning eastwards, and the Japanese pioneer >> Tōru Takemitsu shading in the other direction. The triumph was Reena >> Esmail’s shockingly good 2012 composition *Rang de Basant*, where the >> 40-year-old Indian American composer manages the singular feat of >> successfully inhabiting both Hindustani and western classical musical >> traditions. A side note: it appears her mother is Goan, from Kenya. >> >> This, then, is the paramount lesson from the great classical music we’ve >> been privileged to hear recently. Art far surpasses boundaries, languages, >> nations, eras. It gets to the heart of the matter. That is why, if pressed >> for the single highlight of this run, I would say Chloe de Souza’s probing, >> powerful rendition of Prokofiev’s second War Sonata – aka “The Stalingrad”. >> The composer’s preoccupations are so apt for our times: coded, dark, >> heart-rending, resolute. I felt it also in the jangling, emotional >> three-part suite *A Guerra*, composed and played by Ricardo Martins, >> which he dedicated to the people of Ukraine. In the end, on that evening, >> of course, the showstopper was undoubtedly Sonia Shirsat, our reigning diva >> who just keeps getting better. Don’t miss the next chance to hear her! >> >> >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Goa-Research-Net" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web, visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CAN1wPW7vvAX6AhjkCf9RrPrAXrpvTqhDAY6trGcWhD2pVrE1Hw%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CAN1wPW7vvAX6AhjkCf9RrPrAXrpvTqhDAY6trGcWhD2pVrE1Hw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CAN1wPW5_BisZQU6W5BhMCWXs9X9HBgGTDWx9JAea521vMuEEVQ%40mail.gmail.com.
