The city witnessed a musical extravaganza, Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities, as hundred orchestral musicians performed live as a tribute to AR Rahman. The five city tour of Orchestra Babelsberg that was organised by LAPP India saw a number of music aficionado in attendance.
From Roja to Robot, the 100-member strong musical alliance between the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg and students of the KM Music Conservatory, Chennai, performed orchestral sweeps composed by A R Rahman for Bombay, Swades, The Rising, Elizabeth: The Golden Age and many more.
Commenting on this initiative AR Rahman said, “I am really excited and grateful for this gesture of the Babelsberg Orchestra for doing this tour in India along with our students and kids from the KM music Conservatory. I am sure this will be a new experience to Indian score lovers. It will give them a great opportunity to experience and see how many people are involved in creating huge scores and create a thirst among the younger generation to become orchestral musicians.”
Klaus-Peter Beyer, Director of the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg, says, “As a musician, I have had the opportunity to travel to many countries and most of the continents on this planet. The music that we played formed an inherent part of us. It was European, influenced by composers such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms.” He further adds that he was enthralled when Max Mueller Bhavan developed the idea of German Film Orchestra Babelsberg interpreting the music of A R Rahman in India. “Except for documentaries and films reinforcing age-old cliches, I knew next to nothing about this subcontinent. All this changed dramatically when I visited this wonderful country for the first time in September 2011. I had brought with me the recording of our first rehearsal. It contained a few selected pieces from A R Rahman`s music.” says the director.
He further adds, “For the first time everything that I saw, felt and perceived was symbiotically connected with music. A R writes not just the sound track for films, he composes the sound track for an entire country and thus describes what is most beautiful and precious in this country -- its people.”
The event was organised on the occasion of completing 60 years of Indo-German diplomatic relations.
Marla Stukenberg, Director, Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, commenting on this association said, “We are very grateful to musical maestro AR Rahman for accepting our invitation to collaborate with the renowned German Film Orchestra Babelsberg. It is for the first time that a Western classical orchestra comes to India to perform A R Rahman’s compositions in his home country. The tour of the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg to India in January 2012 pays tribute to the rich cultural collaboration between Germany and India and opens a new chapter in the area of musical relations between the two countries. I am sure fans of A R Rahman will enjoy this different experience of a classical orchestra from Germany performing to his scores, signifying truly that music has no boundaries.”
Commenting on the initiative, R Fathima Rafiq, Executive Director of the KM Music Conservatory said, “We are all excited to see how this unique collaborative programme unfolds on stage across five cities. Our focus through this tour is to develop art and cultural infrastructure between India and Germany. The five-city concert tour will also have contributions from our young choir in addition to renowned soloists from all over India. The re-interpretation of Dr. Rahman’s compositions with German Collaboration hopes to create a pleasurable journey in the era of new age music.”
The Chairman of Lapp, Andreas was very excited on the success of the event and said, “Lapp India is extremely proud to be associated with the Classic Incantations Tour. With this concert, we are further deepening the relationship we have chartered with India, by establishing the Stuttgart India Business Center way back in 2005 and our recent associations with the Bollywood and Beyond Film Festival and the recent Stuttgart meets Mumbai Wine Festival. The common thread between our association with the current tour and all our events is much like our business of cables that connectsvarious sectors and industries. We are hopeful that we will establish new connections in the heartsof people from both Germany and India through this unique initiative. I am content at the appreciations. ”