Gig review/ SOI & Friends From Scandinavia

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

SOI Chamber Orchestra & Friends From Scandinavia 

Conductor: Maria Badstue, feat. piano soloist Soren Rastogi

Programme: Nielsen, Ingeberg, Rachmaninoff, Sibelius

Genre: Western classical 

Details: Tata Theatre, NCPA, June 27

Rating: ****

(Pic taken by blogger)

Mumbai's western classical lovers will be looking forward to the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI) Autumn 2025 Season, scheduled from August 12 to 26 at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA). American Andrew Litton and Britisher Martyn Brabbins will wield the baton.

Almost as a prequel, the city witnessed two western classical concerts at the NCPA. On June 24, a Brass Ensemble comprising musicians from academies in Aarhus and Copenhagen, Denmark, were conducted by Niels Ole Bo-Johansen. I couldn't attend the Experimental Theatre event which featured the compositions of Carl Nielsen of Denmark, Jean Sibelius of Finland and Henri Tomase of France, among others, but received some positive feedback.

On June 27, the music shifted to the Tata Theatre, where India-born, Denmark-raised Maria Badstue conducted the SOI Chamber Orchestra, which was joined by musicians from the two Danish academies. This time, the show began with a Nielsen composition and concluded with a Sibelius masterpiece, with a new piece and a Rachmaninoff classic sandwiched in between.

Before the show started, one was surprised to see such a large number of instruments packed on stage, This may be because musicians from three orchestras were playing. It looked larger than a chamber orchestra but wasn't as large as a full-fledged Philharmonic. Maybe a new name should be coined.

The evening began with 'Helios Overture', a 10-minute piece composed by Nielsen in 1903 on a visit to Athens, Greece. It's said the post-Romantic composer was probably inspired by the warm beauty of the Aegean Sea, and intended to describe a typical summer day from sunrise to darkness. There was some wonderful intermingling of violin, viola, cello and flute.

Nielsen's introductory piece was followed by Norwegian contemporary composer's Maren Elise Ingeberg's 'The Tale Of A Great Dragon'. The piece talked of the journey of Iroh, a character from the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Before the interval, the audience got to hear the composition they so longed for, but not before the stage was rearranged to make place for a grand piano right up front. Half Danish, half-Indian pianist Soren Rastogi then joined Maria and the orchestra on Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff's iconic 'Piano Concerto No 2'. Before he began, he had to shift his chair a few times to get the right position, but once he got that right, it was all smooth flow from the first note. Maybe a seat check should also be done besides a sound check. 

Rachmaninoff composed his Second Piano Concerto in 1901, after his First Piano Concerto received a lukewarm response and his First Symphony failed miserably. He was going through a period of depression, but more than made up with Piano Concertos No 2 and 3, which are considered landmark in that sub-genre, though his No 4 again received a lukewarm response. Over the three movements, Soren's playing was lyrical and masterly, and the contrasting sound of flute and viola added to the richness of the composition's texture. 

Post-interval, it was time for Sibelius's 'Symphony No 5', which was commissioned to him by the Finnish government to mark his 50th birthday in 1915. He kept upgrading the piece till he created the final version in 1919. The orchestral work is in three movements, of which the third attained legendary status when Sibelius said he composed it imagining a hundred swans flying over his head. Interestingly he wrote the symphony in the standard four-movement structure but the first two were interwoven so smoothly they were considered.a single movement. 

For the encore, the members of the Brass Ensemble, who were on stage all through and participating in thd previous compositions, were accompanied by two percussionists on a lively march. That bit was conducted by Niels  Bo-Johansen as Maria watched from the wings.

This is Maria's sixth visit to India. Interestingly she traces her roots to an orphanage in Pandharpur in the Solapur district of Maharashtra. She was only five months old when she was adopted by her Danish parents and raised in Thisted, a small town in Denmatk.

Maria not only seemed to be enjoying the job of a conductor, but also showed some humour while addressing the audience. Describing how she was commissioned her first big project, she recalls that the agency asked her whether she had any ideas. She responded, "I have thousands of ideas but do you have the money?"

Besides conducting, she is co-founder of Copenhagen's three-day Orestad Klassike MusikFestival, focusing on youth and the environment. At 43, she is considered one of the leading female conductors today. Mumbai is surely ready to see more of her in the years to come.