In pictures: A classical evening celebrating Mozart and Beethoven at Kolkata’s Victoria Memorial Hall

On January 27, lovers of Western classical music came together at Kolkata’s Victoria Memorial Hall for a mellifluous evening organised by the Alliance Française du Bengale and the Consulate General of Italy in Kolkata, in collaboration with the Victoria Memorial Hall. The programme celebrated the compositions of music legends Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven through a unique musical partnership between Didier Talpain and Alessandro Commellato

The Consul General of France in Kolkata, Didier Talpain, and (right) Daniele Panfilo, the Consul of Consulate of Italy in Kolkata, were joined by (centre) Nicola Facino, the director of Alliance Française du Bengale at the music concert. The Franco-Italian initiative was the third edition of the Western Classical Music Concerts in Kolkata

Virtuoso pianist Alessandro Commellato mesmerised the audience at the piano concerto, playing classics by the European maestros. The Kolkata Sinfonietta Orchestra and Choir joined Commellato in the rendition of the classical pieces

Talpain, who is also a noted music conductor, collaborated with Commellato and Kolkata Sinfonietta. Talking about his bond with Commellato and the concert, Talpain said to My Kolkata, ‘Commellato has been a friend of mine for almost 20 years, and we wanted to do a concert together. We did a lot of concerts in Europe, and also did recordings. Mozart and Beethoven are the glorious stars in the sky of western classical music’

Talpain, who now routinely conducts the orchestra at live music events in the city, played a lesser known transcription of Beethoven with Commellato

Academic, author and Western classical music lover Niladri R. Chatterjee, was at the concert and shared his experience of the evening. ‘My first Western classical music concert was in 1985 at St. Paul’s Cathedral. This city has witnessed performances of the likes of Zubin Mehta and Philip Glass! I am glad that Alliance Française is keeping that tradition alive. The concert of two concertos was wonderful, not only for the superb rendition of Beethoven’s very popular ‘Concerto for Piano No. 3’, but also for the lovely bonus of two encores. My only peeve: I wish this city would learn not to clap between movements’

Indranil Chakraborty, professor at the Jadavpur University (top) and Iman Zaki, social entrepreneur (bottom, extreme right) also attended the concert