Music concert

In pics: Alliance Francaise du Bengale organises Women’s Day concert at Victoria Memorial

A tribute to female composers by female composers to end a run of five French classical music concerts in Kolkata

By Udita Chakraborty | Published 10.03.23, 07:42 PM

(L-R): Marie Radauer-Plank on the violin, Kim Barbier on the piano and Iseut Chuat on the cello, as part of a special Women’s Day concert on March 6 at the Victoria Memorial Hall, organised by Alliance Francaise du Bengale, in collaboration with the ministry of culture, Government of India, and the French consulate general in Kolkata. The performance was a tribute to three gifted but often overlooked 19th and 20th century French female composers — Mel Bonis, Germaine Tailleferre and Louise Farrenc — and marked the climax to the series of five concerts of French classical music that began in the city last November. The series had previously featured pianists Maxime Zecchini, Alessandro Commellato, Philippe Engel and Nadine Jo Crasto, opera singer Paul Gaugler, oboist Theirry Benoit and violinist Ambre Palusci

Photos: Amit Datta

‘Kolkata never fails to amaze me with the kind of warmth with which the city accepts dynamic cultural and musical forms. And what could be better than to conclude the series as part of the occasion of International Women’s Day with an all-women trio,’ said Nicolas Facino (featured), director, Alliance Francaise du Bengale, who garlanded the performers along with Didier Talpain, consul general of France in Kolkata

Radauer-Plank (left), who played the violin, is also a soloist, interested in the baroque genre, having played chamber music with stalwarts such as Julius Berger, Wolfram Christ, François Dumont, Lukas Hagen and Leonid Gorokhov

Barbier (right), a pianist, is a versatile artiste who has performed in some of the world’s most renowned orchestras such as the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra

Complementing the two was Chuat (right), a cellist and passionate chamber music performer who has worked with the likes of Gyorgy Sebok, Ivry Gitlis, Kolja Blacher and Barnabas Kelemen

The first act of the evening comprised Farrenc’s Trio, which seemed to reverberate amidst the grandiosity of the Victoria Memorial Hall. This was followed by the compositions of Tailleferre and Bonis. The final piece performed by the trio was taken from Maurice Ravel and served to underline the importance of equality. All three performers received a standing ovation at the close of the concert

Tags: Music concert Live music Victoria Memorial Women's Day