Pineapple on pizza, Sabyasachi and Louboutin, Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé — if you are presuming that millennials have had their fill of staggeringly successful and eccentric collaborations, think again. As the audience poured into the Edouard Michelin Auditorium of Alliance Français of Madras late Tuesday evening, they were in for a pleasant surprise.
Éléonore Fourniau, a hurdy-gurdy artist trained in Kurdish-Turkish folk music, shared the stage with Nandini Shankar, an Indian violinist, and tabla artist Abhishek Mishra at Queens of Melody, an Indo-French musical event by Alliance Francaise of Madras under the Umbrella of Inchorus series. Bruno Plasse, director of the institution, emphasised on the importance of such experiments — “To be exposed to this kind of performance, I think for young people who are curious, is a very big opportunity.”
An unusual instrument
The concert commenced with a solo performance by Éléonore, who is a vocalist and a self-taught hurdy-gurdy player. With a wheel fiddle for a bow and keys similar to that of a piano that press against the strings to produce sensitive microtones, the hurdy-gurdy is an old Baroque instrument which is also used for playing folk music by the French. Performing a Kurdish lullaby, the musician’s resonant voice put everyone in a trance.
This was followed by a captivating piece by the violin-tabla duo Nandini Shankar and Abhishek Mishra. While Nandini is from the coveted lineage of violinist N Rajam who introduced the gayaki ang in violin, Abhishek Mishra from the Benaras gharana has been playing the tabla from an early age.
The two artists who have been fundamentally trained in Hindustani classical music, delved into the depths of raga jog, and indulged in an impromptu jugalbandi that won them an echoing round of applause.
As the two distinct genres progressively merged into an Indo-Kurdish fusion, Nandini Shankar talked about how the artists found common ground — “Both Middle-Eastern music and Indian music are very melody driven. In fact, Hindustani classical music has a lot of Persian influence, so there are similar ragas or makams in which the same notes are used, but differently.” Abhishek Mishra followed suit as he skillfully alternated between these two kinds of grooves.
As Nandini Shankar played ‘Vaishnava Janato’, spinning delicate musical ornamentations out of thin air, Éléonore’s crystalline voice filled the auditorium, and the audience swayed to the music spontaneously.
The artistes will also perform in Alliance Française Pune today, as a part of their tour across India.