Faure’s ‘Requiem’ concert in city

Gabriel Faure (1845- 1924) was known for his musical experiments with small scales and bold sounds

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: A concert featuring ‘Requiem’ composed by French Composer, organist, pianist and teacher Gabriel Faure in 1888 will be performed by Bengt Forserg (Piano), Jonas Olsson (Baritone), Anisha Chandy (Soprano), The Bangalore Men (Choir), Cappella Bangalore (Choir) and Maria Forsstrom (conductor) here on March 2. Gabriel Faure (1845 - 1924) was a pioneer in his style of music in his time.

His musical style consisted of experiments with small scales and bold sounds for which he was also criticized but he had a huge influence on 20th-century composers. His best-known works are Pacane, Requiem, Nocturnes for piano, Apres un Reve and Clair de Lune. His later works when he was in his 40s were more harmonically and melodically complex in music style.

The concert will follow Faure’s compositions for piano, Theme et Variations Op 7 and Impromptu No 3 Op 34 which will be performed by Bengt Forsberg, who is an alum of the Gothenburg School of Music Musicology with a major in the organ. He received his soloist’s diploma as a pianist in 1978. He has trained with Peter Feuchtwanger in London and Herman D Koppel in Copenhagen.

His collaboration with Anne Sofie Von Otter won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. He will be joined b y Maria Forsstron, an internally acclaimed musician. He has studied church music and piano which was conducted at The Royal College of Music and Drama.

In 2019, Maria won the Best Musician at the Baroque Festival, Croatia and has recorded for Musica Rediviva, Sony Classical, Chandos Records and BIS. Jonas Olsson lives in Bengaluru and has extensively performed across the country. He has introduced classics by Schubert, Schumann et all and Scandinavian composers to listeners.

His musical education started at the Cathedral of Gothenburg which was followed by his studies in musicology at the Gothenburg Conservatory alongside his studies in song and vocal techniques from a diverse range of teachers. Anisha Chandy has been performing since the age of thirteen years.

She performed repertoire which includes sacred music opera, lieder and classical crossover. She has worked as a recording artist for the Indian film industry since she was 12 years old. She was accredited with the Licentiate Performance Grade Certificate by Trinity College, London in 2017.

The Bangalore Men is India’s premier all male voice ensemble, comprising 22 singers. The group was launched in January of 2016. They perform vocals in Western classical music ranging from medieval music to contemporary.

Cappella Bangalore which was founded in 2019 is an all-female choir comprising 25 members who have experience in singing choir. The group has covered music by legendary artists Beatles, Queen, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Simon and Garfunkel and many others. The ‘Requiem’ concert will be held at the Bangalore International Centre from 5:50 pm to 7:30 pm.