NAVYA C
Bonding Over Music!
The greatest aspect of music is to bring people of
different nationalities, languages, musical backgrounds
together by finding a common ground and also learning
from each other. Many musicians over the years have
come up with exciting opportunities in this realm
and also brought the best of multiple musical worlds
for the audience. When two different forms of music
blend together, an entirely new form of enthralling
music comes to existence. However, there are some
musicians too who believe that when human bonding
happens, music automatically flows like a free river.
Alliance Francaise Hyderabad, along with Kalasethu,
Keolis, Vikat Bharati and Inchorus organized a majestic
concert named Queens of Melody in the right intention
to bring the cultures of India and France together.
But there is much more to this concert than just the
collaboration between two countries. The French
vocalist and Hurdy- Gurdy player Eleonore Fourniau has
adapted this instrument for playing Turkish tunes and
giving it a Middle Eastern feel- unlike the homeground
of western music. Nandini Shankar’s violin is another
biggest highlight of the show because instead of
playing it like a plain instrument, she does it with
great expressivity and lyrical beauty – simply called
as Gaayaki style in Hindustani music. The rhythm
department was ably supported by Abhishek Mishra, a
young and talented tabla player who had the privilege
to play for legends like Pt.Vishwamohan Bhatt earlier.
The inquisitive trio had very less time to jam and
practice for the show but they bonded over coffee
and food during the weekend. During the bonding,
they could understand the nuances of each other’s
musical backgrounds and came up with the idea of
highlighting mircotones in their concert. They found
common scales like Basant Mukhari, Mishra Khamaj
and Bhairavi which have similar counterparts in
western music. As a result, a beautiful mélange
of different music forms with a common ground
came into picture. So in a way, they did plan their
pieces but at the same time gave utmost importance
to spontaneity and relishing their renditions.
Eleonore’s supreme control over vocals and majestic
playing of Hurdy- Gurdy deserves a special mention.
She has got a thorough understanding of her core music
form along with Indian music forms as well. After her
solo performance which lasted for nearly 15-20 minutes,
Nandini Shankar took over the stage to display the
beauty of Hindustani Classical music. The trio then
gained much momentum by performing together and
bringing their worlds closer. While three of them stuck
to their homeground by being loyal to their learnt
music forms, they also displayed a sense of curiosity
and interest towards each other’s performances. This
actually brought the audience into a new level of trance
and bliss. Fusion when taken in right spirit can create
wonders- was proved time and again with this fantastic
trio. As performers, Elonore is quite mellowed and
grounded by Nandini is sprightly in her renditions.
Abhishek Mishra balanced these contrasting musical
personalities with his gripping rhythm and tabla riffs.
The trio is all geared up to do more musical
shows in Chennai and Bangalore which
are lined up ahead this month.
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
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