A great deluge of Western classical concerts is about to inundate Mumbai

If you are a man without a passport but with a worldview, and if that worldview is that there are essentially two kinds of men — those who know Beethoven the composer and those who know Beethoven the St Bernard — then don’t trek out of Mumbai in April.

If you do, you stand to lose out on — besides other things — a sensible guy’s idea of a dream date, two once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, sundry blissful evenings, nice accents, elegant women in gossamer silk and… some glorious music.

First, the dream date idea. Pianist Mishka Rushdie Momen. You heard the bell ring right. She is Salman Rushdie’s niece. Pretty, poised and prodigiously talented, the 18-year-old will give her first recital in India on April 2 at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA). On the menu are Debussy (L’Isle joyeuse, or The Island of Pleasure), Beethoven (the Waldstein sonata), and Chopin (the second ballade and the B minor sonata).

This is Zane Dalal’s take: “Mishka is a very fine pianist and I am very happy that she is getting a debut in India. It is going to be an extraordinary recital with a rather difficult repertoire.” (Dalal is the conductor in residence of the Symphony Orchestra of India; he can be safely relied on in matters musical). Google ‘Mishka Rushdie + BBC + Chopin’ for a short clip of her playing the finale of the Chopin sonata. Bad, she is not on YouTube yet.

Second, the first once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (once in a lifetime for odd, hopeless blokes with no prospect of foreign travel). The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) under the baton of Sir Colin Davis. Nothing can be more unreal. Early last year, when hardcore Western classical obsessives learnt about the March 11, 2009, Vienna Philharmonic concert, the effect of incredulity took a couple of days to wear off. The world’s greatest orchestra in Mumbai… nonesuch even by Malabar Hill standards. And just 12 months later the magnificent LSO! Unsurpassed, superlative, inimitable…
Expect a night-long queue outside the NCPA for April 3, when the box office opens for the public.

Dalal’s disclosure: “Colin Davis is a marvellous conductor and is tremendously respected worldwide. He will be sharing the podium with Kristjan Järvi, the son of Neeme Järvi, another very distinguished conductor… Davis is known for his Berlioz recordings, and we are lucky that he has chosen to perform the Symphonie Fantastique.”

D-Days. April 9, Kristjan Järvi: Bernstein, Symphonic Dances from West Side Story; Stravinsky, Firebird Suite; Rachmaninoff, Symphonic Dances. April 10, Sir Colin Davis: Elgar, Enigma Variations; Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique.

Third, the second once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The Kodaly Quartet. One of the foremost quartets in the world, they are known for their monumental recordings of the complete string quartets of Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert. The present members of the Budapest-based ensemble are Attila Falvay and Erika Tóth, violin; János Fejérvári, viola; and György Éder, cello. “A superb quartet, superb quartet…” says Dalal.

The programme. April 14: Beethoven, quartets No 4 and 9 (Rasumovsky 3); Schubert, quartet No 10. April 15: Beethoven, quartets No 5 and 13 (Lieb); Schubert, Quartettsatz.

Kodaly continues the tradition started with the Quatuor Ébène last November of performing the entire set of the 16 Beethoven quartets in Mumbai. Ébène performed quartets No 1 and 14. Among the upcoming ones, No 13 is to watch out for. It is part of Beethoven’s late quartets, which, together with his late piano sonatas, are said to constitute the most profound and sublime music ever written.

Fourth, the sundry blissful evenings.

April 3. The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Renga Ensemble in concert with musicians from the Karnataka College of Percussion. A fusion of Indian classical, jazz and Western classical music, this one is not for the purist. Dalal, for one, is not enthused with this “totally different realm of music making”, where “very complex but very different tonalities meet”. However, such music making “provides lot of joy and creativity to the musicians”. Nothing wrong in giving it a go. What say you?

April 5. Joji Hattori and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra String Quartet; to play Mozart, Haydn, Schubert and Johann Strauss. This will be Hattori’s fourth visit to Mumbai. Dalal’s advice: “Hattori is a great conductor and violinist, and leads a fine group of musicians. His visits are always a success.” The finesse is a freebie. Grab your passes.

April 8. Ramya de Livera Perera and Soundarie David Rodrigo, pianists, to perform probably Brahms, Mendel-ssohn and Rachmaninoff. Dalal doesn’t know of them. Nothing on YouTube either. But googling reveals that the two are London-educated top Sri Lankan musicians. That could mean a class act.

April 16. Cantata Choir. Founded in 1973, the choir is woven into Mumbai’s music mosaic. They will perform Gounod’s Messe Brève in C, sacred music and spirituals. Dalal wasn’t asked to comment owing to an oversight. Apologies.

April 24, 25. The NCPA Chamber Players. Over to Dalal (his home production, after all): “We’ve had a meteoric rise in musical offering over the last three years. The quality of playing is exponentially greater now.” Programme. April 24: Schubert, quartet

No 13 ‘Rosamunde’; Brahms, sextet No 1. April 25: Tchaikovsky, Souvenir de Florence; Mendels-sohn, Octet. Rosamunde, Octet... Must, must listening.

Fifth. Nice accents and elegant women. The extreme other end of the scale from mall bimbettes and MTV prattle. But what really throws a spanner in the works is that sensible guys appear to be odd, hopeless blokes with no prospect of foreign travel. Which makes the women pretty much unapproachable, in fact, absolutely out of reach. But lament not your fate. For you are absolutely in league with Beethoven. Not with his genius (sacrilegious, sacrilegious), but his love-all score with out-of-reach women. Little wonder he wrote music. Glorious, no wonder.

The concerts are in the evening. Check with NCPA