Melodic compositions of maestros

Enthralling evening

The concert featured the husband and wife duo Joanna Brzezinska and Klaus Maurer from Switzerland. While Joanna was on the piano, Klaus was on the violin. Born in Torun, Poland, Joanna Brzezinska started learning piano at the age of four and has performed as a soloist in duos, trios, quintets and with orchestra as a soloist in Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninow, Chopin and Villa-Lobos Concertos. While Klaus started playing the violin at the age of six and simply loves Indian music. In fact, his love for Indian music led him to study the tabla.

The two talented and ever smiling artistes were extremely pleased to be playing music for Bangaloreans. The first part of the show was a piano solo by Joanna, where she rendered many classic pieces. As she played each of the tunes, Klaus explained the significance and the history behind each piece. The first song she played was ‘Nocturne in b flat minor op 9’ by Chopin. Klaus explained, “This is the song of the night and the period that Chopin wrote it in, was both a happy and a sad time for him. It was happy because Chopin was young, all of 16 years, talented and deeply in love. However, it was sad because his young love was married to someone else.”

The second piece was ‘Impromptu in c sharp minor op 66...’ followed by ‘IVth Balade in f minor op 52’. “Of all the four ballads he wrote, this was the last one,” explained Klaus. After a few more melodic compositions, it was time for the two of them to spin their magic by playing together. The duo rendered evergreen tunes like ‘Sonata in B minor’ by J S Bach (Adagio, Allegro, Andante, Allegro), ‘Sonata KV 304 in e minor’ (Allegro and Tempo di Menuetto) by W A Mozart, ‘Dos Esbozos’ by J Rodrigo and ‘Preludium and Allegro’ by F Kreisler.

Said Aruna Sunderlal, the founder of Bangalore School of Music, “It’s wonderful to have an evening of music by two celebrated artistes and we are happy to see so many of our violin students present here.” Speaking of the 25th anniversary of the school next year, she said, “We are happy to have come a long way.”

Ebenezer, a music teacher, thoroughly enjoyed the concert. “All the tunes had a lyrical melody and tenderness to them,” he said. “The first part of the show was dedicated to Franz Lizt, as it’s his 200th birth year, and Chopin, who celebrates his birth centenary this year.” He added, “As a music teacher, I appreciated the technique of each of the pieces played by the two artistes.”