Strains of Debussy, Rachmaninoff and Khachaturian filled the Max Mueller Bhavan auditorium on a late March evening as the Kolkata Classics Club presented Dreams of Summer, partnered by t2. There were four hands and one piano, and a surprise act for the little ones. 

Focusing on tunes of summer, the duo of Jennifer Heemstra and Chanda VanderHart turned to Felix Mendelssohn, the composer of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and spiced up their ebony-and-ivory offerings with anecdotes. “This piece is about sailing and you can understand the rhythm; it’s almost like rocking waves,” said Jennifer about Claude Debussy’s En Bateau, which is a part of Petite Suite. 

That wasn’t all. Isha Daga, a member of Kolkata Classics Club, joined the duo on stage and narrated Zekeye and The Very Little Tune, a children’s story from Cameroon. With help from the piano and a tambourine, the trio easily managed to get the little ones in rapt attention. 

“This is my first visit to India and I feel it was too short. I loved performing here, especially because I hear that Calcutta really likes its culture,” said Chanda, who’s from Vienna. Is she aware that her name has an Indian touch? “Yes, I know it means the moon. I think my parents were a bit of hippies,” she laughed, promising to return soon.

Text: Deborima Ganguly