The Baroque to Beatles concert at Kala Mandir ended rather suddenly after a little less than an hour, leaving the audience longing for more. The crowd was just about settling in to enjoy music that was both steeped in the classical ethos and reminiscent of an era that was more full of love than the present one when the curtains came down on the orchestra conducted by Abraham Mazumder. There were overwhelming emotions and conviction in the numbers presented that evening. The first of the two encores to set the mood came with “Rondeau” by Henry Purcell and “Music for the Royal Fireworks” by Georg Friderich Handel.

Anirban Mazumder was eclectic in playing the first movement from Antonio Vivaldi’s solo concerto. While there was no mistaking the distinction of the A minor sonata, surely there were more colours to be found in its playing than was found here. Vivaldi’s “Double Violin Concerto in E minor” by Anirban and Dwaipayan Dasgupta had a narrative of its own, to the point that it was almost superfluous. Mozart’s “Serenade No 13” commenced as per expectations with a real sense of familiarity, taking the first movement at a tempo that stayed just on the right side of creativity, thus bringing a sense of wholeness to the evening. The same goes for Tchaikovsky’s piece from Swan Lake, which had its moment of wild flourishes while reaching a crescendo.

There was no heaviness in Tagore’s “Khoro bayu boy” or in Mohiner Ghoraguli’s “Jokhon dekhi ora kaaj kore”. In the two Beatles gems, “Imagine” and “Let it Be”, the vocals kept a taut focus, albeit with some restless energy. As was the case with the propulsive “Hotel California”, which struck perhaps the most polished and satisfying balance. The evening was presented by Sangit Kala Mandir.