Zane Dalal talks about sharing the stage with Zakir Hussain as part of the Symphony Orchestra of India’s Spring 2019 Season’s finale act
Zane Dalal, associate music director of Symphony Orchestra of India, and tabla maestro Zakir Hussain will perform at the finale act of the SOI’s Spring 2019 Season today at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. The talented duo will regale music aficionados with Peshkar, a concerto for tabla and orchestra. A concerto is a musical composition for instruments in which a solo instrument is set off against an orchestral ensemble.
This piece has also been presented in Muscat and Switzerland by both the artistes. After the SOI’s debut tour in London later this month, nine performances of Peshkar would have been conducted.
Zane describes it as ‘an extraordinary piece’. He says, “These collaborations are always a work in progress. We build towards each performance. The piece has had a metamorphosis from the time when it was written. It is so much more comfortable in everybody’s hand, heart and ears because of repetition. There is a sense of liberal abandon when you play, which is so much fun.”
Zane informs, “When Zakir bhai wrote this piece, he was concerned about it. From time to time, he has got this ridiculous opposition that he is not a purist and what’s he doing playing with an orchestra? People who make these accusations are completely off base because there is no such thing as purity. All our traditions evolve, all that we have has been borrowed from somewhere and will become somebody else’s. He is in a position to explore the realms of tabla and break the boundaries of it because he’s such a master of the instrument. We should be supporting that process. So, when he was writing peshkar, he had this niggling suspicion in his head that what would the purists say? If you took away the whole orchestra and he played his part, it would unfold like a tabla solo and traditional listeners of Hindustani classical music would be pleased.”
Quiz him how they work in tandem and he smiles and says, “We complement each other. We allow the tabla and the orchestra to do their own thing. When Zakir bhai plays these rhythms, all of them come through in the cello and flute, which is fascinating to hear. People should come with open minds because they will enjoy the piece for what it is. They should not come with pre-conceived notions of what they think it should be.”
Having played it so many times, it’s easy to presume that the artistes might end up becoming complacent. However, Zane admits that they don’t follow any rules per se.
“We always start our performance with a smile. He starts off the beat and I know exactly what to do with the orchestra. There’s a sense of give and take, which has to be in music making. Nothing is rigid. He is the chef and I am the sous chef. We know exactly where the sauce goes on and how much to add it. From what I remember, there is no fighting,” he smiles and signs off.
When: Today, 7 pm
Where: Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, NCPA
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