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[Sunil_M88]

A German ode to AR Rahman

Germany, the breeding ground of some of the path-breaking musicians of the world including Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Karlheinz Stockhausen seems to be gradually shifting its focus towards the Indian tunes.

How else would you explain this tribute to composer AR Rahman by the renowned German Film Orchestra Babelsberg? The orchestra founded in 1918 has over 3,000 scores to its credit including Metropolis in 1924 to Anonymous in 2011. Now they are all set to bring the city down with Classical Incantations - The German Film Orchestra Babelsberg performs AR Rahman, a new chapter in the history of musical collaboration. As a part of the tribute, the orchestra is on a five-city tour culminating with the grand finale in namma Bangalore today.

An excited Klaus Peter-Beyer, director of the orchestra says, "When I visited India for the first time last year, I took home the recording of our first rehearsal. It had a few selected pieces of AR Rahman's music. For the first time, all my senses felt was symbiotically connected with music. Rahman not just writes the sound track for films, but composes for the entire country and that's the reason for his music to be described as the most melodic and soulful piece of art in the country."

So what can the audience expect to listen to at the concert? "There will be over a hundred members of the German film Orchestra, choir members from Rahman's conservatory, renowned soloists along with conductor Matt Dunkley; and the lineup will include the classic scores of Rahman from Roja, Bombay, Swades and Endhiran. The concerts at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai were interesting and we hope the same with Bangalore as the performance here will mark the grand finale of our tour. After the tour, we are bringing out the album; Classical Incantations - the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg performs AR Rahman."

Are Germans well-versed with the music of the Mozart of Madras? "Though Indian music is not very popular back home, many youngsters love Rahman and associate him with the Bombay theme, which is extremely famous there. There is a huge circle of Rahman fans in Germany and Slumdog Millionaire has only made it bigger. So what's Rahman's opinion on the tribute? "I cannot speak on behalf of him; you will have to ask him about that," says Klaus.

Speaking about the future plans of the orchestra, Klaus adds, "After the tour, we will celebrate the centenary of the Babelsberg Studio by going on a world tour. But as of now, we are extremely excited about performing in India though I am still discovering Indian music. One trait which touched me in India is people always smile back at you. Sometimes they smile at you first. I would like to take that back home to Germany."

source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/e...w/11663815.cms