NEW DELHI: The keys of the piano never fumble to articulate pianist Dinara Klinton unspoken words. In a strangely telepathic way, the 52 white keys and the 36 black ones, find meaning under her gentle embrace. Storytelling through music is what fuels her desires. As she packs her bags to travel to India in a few days, she talks to us about the bespoke music experience she is putting forth. Two animated stories will be set to the music of Klinton piano. Called Magic Piano and The Chopin Shorts, it’s a part of Cinema in Concert by Showhouse Events, wherein cinema comes alive to live music.
Since her arrival on July 21, she has been taking workshops at schools and clubs as a prelude to the public show on July 28. In these, she plays classic piano pieces and then talks about the legends behind them. She’s been giving piano tips and demonstrations, along with there being film screenings with live music and interactive sessions for kids.
Children and their whimsical world has eternally fascinated Klinton. She began reading stories when she was three years old and would read anything she found around the house, specially Western European and Russian fairy tales. They taught her kindness and she wishes adults read them every day. Talking about both films individually, The Chopin Shorts come as four short animations. They are titled Plink!, Papa’s Boy, Hamster’s Heaven and Fat Hamster. The piece has pianist Frederick Chopin’s etudes at its core. The Magic Piano, on the other hand, is a humane story of both attachment and despair, and everything in between experienced by a girl who has to stay from her father.
She decides on taking a long, arduous journey to unite with him, and the journey she undertakes turns out to be a cathartic one. “The main point of difference between the Magic Piano and The Chopin Shorts is that the former is accompanied by 9 Chopin etudes, whilst each of the four shorts is accompanied by a single etude. Hence, in the first case we have a compendium of pieces that are put together to form a story, and in the latter, each of the etudes is a little story itself,” says Klinton.
The concert threw up some challenges too. The dynamics involved in playing for an adult audience is different from playing for children. Considering the fact that keeping their attention could be difficult, the musical set must be constructed keeping their focus. But Klinton worked that out for herself over time. “Kids are very responsive to anything that is sincere and genuine. In this performance, we have a music experience enhanced by the screen, and it catches their interest immediately,” she says.
Music is everywhere for her—in the layers of her mood, in the routine perceptions she forms, through the resplendent colours of life, the essences of people et al. She matches the sounds of music passages she’s heard in the past to the feelings she’s presently experiencing. It’s all so elevating, she says. “For example, Chopin’s etude op.
25 (5) reminds me of a rainy day and raindrops smudged on window glasses, while etude 3 reminds me of a warm relaxing evening in August, when you fall asleep tired of the heat and of all the delicious fresh and sweet fruits you’ve eaten.” She says. All are sweet memories that fill her heart with sounds that resonate with the melodies of her mind. These are the keys to her happiness and she plays them rather well. July 28: 6 pm, Kamani Auditorium. Tickets priced `640-`896 are available on BookMyShow.com
Quickly then...
You’re dishonest about: My fears
Top three things on your bucket list:
Lose weight, start playing a sport, find a hobby
What’s wrong but sounds right: A lie
An involuntary habit: Playing the piano when there isn’t one
An emotion you find difficult to express through music: Disgust cause you’re dying to speak about all the waste humans are producing and recklessly discarding