When the Renga ensemble travelled to India, journalist Igor Toronyi-Lalic joined the group. He accompanied the musicians to rehearsals, workshops and concerts, and has written an overview of the visit in The Times:
‘One of the most intriguing aspects of the trip is the ensemble’s attempt to forge a viable and uncompromised musical hybrid made up of jazz harmonies and structures, classical instruments and Eastern melodies and rhythms. The bouncy, clean themes from the traditional Carnatic singer Ramamani are filled out by the jazz pianist Mike Herting and then coloured in by the other Renga members. The integrity is kept in check by long and slow rehearsals, in which a musical compromise is slowly hammered out. KCP4 coax riffs from their reluctant LPO colleagues, some of whom are visibly terrified (“I can’t, I’ll have nightmares”) and Scott Stroman tries to get his head around Ramamani’s entries during her complicated talas, or rhythmic riffs: “Seventeen beats times by three minus seven?” “We’re all discovering day by day what works and what doesn’t,” Stroman says. “We come from two cultures with very clear practices. You’re always trying to find out how far you can go— and that’s a lot of the delight in it for us. ” ‘
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Here’s a selection of pictures taken over the length of the Ensemble’s stay in India.
There’s an evocative description plus photos of the Renga/KCP4 concert from author Abhijit Bhaduri on his blog:
The concert began with the piece called “Arun”. Ramamani’s powerful vocals make you imagine the look of the sky at the break of dawn. The piano follows her notes almost like a sarangi does in Hindustani Classical. The mridangam and percussion pick up the notes and soon catch up to create a foot stomping piece. The Philharmonic joins in to create a unique sound that is at once immensely melodious and foot-tapping.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra Renga Ensemble tour of India with KCP4 was reported in The Hindu:
“When we are collaborating we don’t want a grey area but get deep into each other’s culture,” says conductor Scott Stroman from London Philharmonic Orchestra. Explaining the idea behind the Renga ensemble, he says, “You add to what you already have, not subtract.” The idea behind the ensemble, he says, is two-fold – “generate new music for music for Orchestra musicians to play”, as well as “develop skills of Orchestra musicians.”
With the Ensemble having returned safe and sound, Kate Birchall shares her thoughts on the final stretch of the Ensemble’s tour:
I’ll never forget the scorching wind that greeted us as we got off the plane in Delhi. Hotter than the sun on my skin, I could well believe that it was blowing straight from the Rajasthan desert.
I was dying of impatience when our check-in at the hotel in New Delhi was taking forever, it was already 4pm and the Red Fort was closing at 6pm… Finally we’re on our way to Old Delhi, being driven sedately in an Ambassador taxi with Laurie trying to learn a few more words in Hindi from the driver. Close to the fort he arranges for us to complete the journey by bicycle rickshaw as the traffic and parking means he can’t get any closer.
Richard Bissil on a Rickshaw
I’d thought the automated rickshaws in Mumbai were bad but here the poor fellow cycling has almost no acceleration and can barely get us up an incline in the road. All the while we’re negotiating three or four lanes of chaotic traffic.
The Red Fort surpasses expectations, though you can see how it was badly damaged during British occupation. The elegant marble arches, intricate screens and inlaid decorations give an idea of how beautiful it would have been at the time of the Mughals.
Inside The Red Fort
We didn’t know ourselves the morning of the final workshop when we were shown into the purpose-built, air-conditioned auditorium at the British Council. For once we had a fighting chance of our instruments staying in tune and of being heard as there was no background noise.
The audience was impressive, hand picked from a number of schools I suspect. With almost all of them already playing instruments, they picked up rhythms and answered questions with ease.
Workshop audience in Delhi
We had our Bollywood moment afterwards when they all stormed up onstage wanting our autographs and photographs. It was great to finally meet the youngsters themselves, as the regimentation in the two previous schools had meant that we didn’t get a chance to talk to them.
Players pose for photos with workshop audience
Whilst this trip has very much been ‘India Lite’, with fantastic back- up of luxury hotels and private buses, I still feel we’ve managed to get a flavour of India and some of the extremes that make it such a fascinating country.
The Ensemble fly back from India tonight having given their final concert and workshop in Delhi last night. Fiona Higham shares her thoughts at the end of the trip:
The wonderful India tour finished on a high note with a wonderful workshop at the British Council Theatre. The kids were just gorgeous – really interested, engaged, and fully participating with us. What a thrill to play for young people like this. Afterwards we were mobbed onstage like celebs.
The British Council in Delhi, where we held our final workshop of the tour
The last concert tonight with KCP4 was a real treat ! For once the auditorium was fully airconditioned, the sound system worked. Even the Steinway Grand piano was pulled back into working shape by a Sikh piano tuner at the very last minute (we had thought we would have to abandon the piano completely, as it was tuned to A 3.38 before the AC was turned on, and seemed a hopeless case). Actually the concert would have been unthinkable without the genius piano playing of Mike Herting, who wrote most of the arrangements, and was the lynchpin of the whole thing, so thank goodness it was salvaged at the eleventh hour.
Working with these musicians has been one of the most enriching experiences of my career, and I am also in awe of my LPO colleagues who all played magnificently, in a genre they are not familiar with.
Thank you!!
Fiona Higham
Cathedral High School, where we held our Bangalore workshop
The Bangalore visit was a huge success despite being far too short. We managed to pack in an education workshop at the Cathedral High School, where we were warmly received and presented with bouquets of roses, and tea and sandwiches afterwards!
Chowdiah Memorial Concert Hall, the world's only concert hall to be shaped like a giant violin!
The 'scroll' of the concert hall
The afternoon break by the pool was all too short before we departed for the evening performance with KCP4 in probably the world’s only violin-shaped concert hall! It was a very hot concert, with temperatures reaching the high 40s (celsius), but the improvisations were no less exciting for the extreme conditions.
A very late dinner organized by Ramamani’s son, Cartic, meant a short night before departing for the airport at 7am for the plane to Delhi.
Fiona Higham
As the Ensemble leave Banaglore for the final leg of the tour, Kate Birchall fills us in on their stay there:
“Bangalore has passed by in a blur and I now appreciate the luxury of the four nights we had in Mumbai. We were late arriving in Bangalore but Rama persevered with her plan to take the group silk shopping. Undeterred by the closure of a road for the metro line being built she led us straight through a hard hat construction site area, a route Laurie and I later traversed another couple of times getting to a restaurant. The lack of health and safety is at times horrifying but also quite refreshing. Gender divide came into force once in the shops, with the men completing their purchases in under 5 minutes or getting bored and wandering off while for the women the process was clearly more important than the end result. Endless saris and lengths of silk were unfolded, countless tunics tried on and scarves in every hue and texture were deliberated over.
The concert day began early with another bus ride to a school and though the traffic was comparable to Mumbai, the city appeared greener and more spacious. The school was in much better condition and talking to the teachers revealed more of a musical tradition in the curriculum. The headmaster was one of the most awe inspiring men I’ve come across and could clearly strike terror in his pupils. The roses presented to us all after the workshop was a lovely gesture along with the inevitable staff room hospitality.
Back to the hotel for a refreshing dip in the pool and a couple of free hours in which to get ourselves together for the next rehearsal and concert. The heat was extreme in the concert hall which has the distinction of being the only hall in the world built in the shape of a violin. There were any number of Indian men back stage, apparently sitting around with nothing to do except sleep and stare, their resting place of choice being just outside the ladies dressing room. For me the concert felt even more hypnotic than in Mumbai, partly due to the soporific atmosphere but also to a more subdued audience. I think we won them over by the end when they jumped to their feet in a standing ovation.”
Performing on stage in Bangalore, the home of Carnatic percussion
Went to cathedral high school for our second workshop of the tour. We were all prepared for fans blowing music everywhere but all was well, the school was well equipped with decent music stands and microphones. Workshop went very well. Students were engaged if a little reserved. At first they seemed a shy but soon got into the interactive warm up, expertly guided by Lucy, and then sat attentively listening to the ensemble. Almost all of the instruments were a new sound experience for the them and they particularly enjoyed the William Tell Overture and Simon’s demonstration of the bassoon – especially when he played using just the reed The staff were very welcoming and following the workshop gave each player a bunch of flowers and served us food and refreshments.
Anne, 5th April, Bangalore
LPO Renga on tour 