Bhubaneswar, Sept. 29: The capital witnessed magic of western classical music as Spicmacay presented Brazil-based cello exponent Gustavo Tavares accompanied by Norwegian classical guitar wizard Anders Clemens Æien at Rabindra Mandap on Tuesday.

The state tourism department organised the programme on the occasion of World Tourism Day.

Spicmacay is a national organisation that works towards taking classical music to all corners of the country.

Playing a number of traditional compositions from Norway, the musicians rendered solo performances as well. Having been only over a week in India, the instrumentalists feel overwhelmed with love and reception of the audience here.

“When Spicmacay director Rashmi Mallik met me in Norway few months ago and asked me to perform in India, I got excited. However, since cello is a novel instrument for the audience here, I was a little anxious. But, there has been great enthusiasm from the listeners for our shows both in Delhi and Bhubaneswar,” said Gustavo.

He said that since classical music requires a certain time-bound attention of the listener and the fast life does not allow it, the contemporary genre of music such as pop and hard rock gets more fan following.

“However, the solace that classical music provides, makes it special and thus pulls listeners to it even today,” he said.

“Classical music has always had a limited section of followers. Those who have the time and interest are inclined towards it. But, it is heartening to see a large number of music students getting attracted towards western classical music,” said Anders.

The musician duo came together for the first time.

“When I asked for suggestions from artistes of the music fraternity in Norway, they recommended Ander. We met and even performed in Norway. It was a success there and the story continues here,” smiled Gustavo.

Talking about the challenges of instrumentalists as compared to vocalists, Anders said: “Instruments are not bound by language barriers and they speak the language of the heart. Music is finally the supreme form of expression.”

“The cello, for example, produces the widest possible range of music starting from the lowest range of a male voice to the highest pitch of a female voice. This makes it a special instrument,” said Gustavo.

Legendary sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar, rudra veena player Ustad Bahauddin Dagar, violinist L. Subramaniam are some of the numerous Indian artistes they have witnessed performing. “Indian music is fascinating and we are lucky to have interacted some veteran artistes over the past week,” said Gustavo, adding, “we are humbled and would love to frequently perform in India.”