The keys to 20th century melodies

CHENNAI: As part of its fourth anniversary celebrations, The Chennai Western Music Association is hosting a concert by acclaimed international pianist Marouan Benabdalla. The Morocco-Hungarian artiste brings natural skill, powerful technique and fresh experiences on stage and calls his journey something that ‘never repeats itself’.

For Marouan, his interest in music came from a very young age — from when he was as young as one, thanks to his parents who were both musicians. “My mother used to teach music, piano lessons at home and still has a choir, but in a different country,” he shares. So, he grew up around music every day, and was naturally drawn to it. “It was never a question of whether I wanted to be a musician or not,” shares Marouan, whose father was a trained guitarist who later became a conductor.

His first performance was 30 years ago, when he was five, but he has no memory of it! “Perhaps my first full recitals at the age of 13 was the first milestone in my career. It was in a little town in Burgundy (France), where we were spending some days during the summer,” he recalls. The president of a renowned festival hired him for a recital on short notice, but the concert was successful and he invited Marouan again several times in the following years.

Despite having travelled around the world and performed in numerous concerts, he says there’s no  fixed routine. “Each experience is different and the audiences are different. So, everything is new and special to me!” he shares.

His first visit to the country dates back to 2007, and this is his fourth time in Chennai. “I am looking forward to bringing a new programme to the audience and making them discover new repertoires. I am presenting a recital in two parts. The first, mostly meditative music of the 20th century with works by Hans Otte (German) and Gyorgy Kurtag (Hungarian). In the second half, works by Kodály, Debussy and Liszt,” he explains.

Ask him if his bond with the country has grown over the years and he shares: “Yes, absolutely! Since my first visit, I have come to India almost every year and have given more than 50 concerts so far. I love the country, the people and the food!”

He is also a trained conductor and likes the 20th century music the most. He has performed in several stages including the Carnegie Hall in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington, the Aspen Festival, the Gstaad Festival in Switzerland, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing.

For him, being the guest soloist of an orchestra is always an uplifting experience. However, due to schedule and budget restrictions, nowadays, there are hardly two to three rehearsals before the concert. “I prefer solo recitals where I am the only performer and the responsibility of delivering a good concert weighs on my shoulder only,” he opines.

Talking about Indian musicians, he reveals his interest to collaborate with Zakir Hussain, “I would love to collaborate with him, but Indian music is hardly compatible with Western classical music because of the difference of modes. But I think we can find a common ground!” declares the artiste, who looks up to other performers like Rachmaninov, Gieseking and Zoltan Kocsis.

He likes new experiences and has even orchestrated a ‘perfumed concert’ wherein, a perfume designer from Paris devised an olfactory programme for his musical concert and different scents were diffused in the hall, while Marouan was performing. “The feedback was very positive! I am excited and hope to get the audience to move beyond monotony,” he adds.

Marouan Benabdallah will perform on November 11 from 7 pm, at the CSI Synod Auditorites Road, Royapettah.For details, call: 9884195052

Upcoming projects

Three years ago, Marouan launched a project called ‘Arabaesque’ to research and present classical composers from the Arab world. He discovered 83 composers from different Arab countries, composing in Western mode, but with an oriental, local touch. He is also launching a series presenting these composers at the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco starting from December
this year.