Nearly two-century-old German composition to make Kolkata debut

German composer Felix Mendelssohn's unique composition pairing both the piano and the violin will be performed for the first time here, nearly 200 years after it was written, as part of the centenary celebrations of India's oldest Western music school.

The Calcutta School of Music (CSM) celebrates its centenary in 2014 and as part of its year-long celebrations, the "Mendelsson in The Monsoon" concert Aug 9 brings for western classical music enthusiasts the famed 'Double Concerto' by the great musician.

Concerto is a musical composition written in three parts. Mendelssohn, a pianist of the early Romantic era (beginning late 18th century) wrote it in 1823 when he was just 14 years old.

"The Mendelssohn Double Concerto, which has a very uncommon pairing of solo piano and solo violin in the concerto world, will be performed for the first time here and that too with local artists," the school's president Dickoo Nowroji told IANS.

The concert has been organized in collaboration with the Max Mueller Bhavan which is also the venue.

The composition will be rendered by pianist Arup Mitra, violinist Sandip Halder and Sanjib Mondal, resident conductor of the Calcutta Chamber Orchestra.

Founded in 1914 by violinist and musician Phillipe Sandre, CSM was then the first Western music school in the country and over the years it has evolved from imparting training in all forms of Western music to dance, speech training, elocution, drama and Indian music.