Dr. Cesarczyk drizzled harmonics in the rain
Milan Ashem *
Among the twenty-seven lakh people of Manipur, only a handful (or rather a pinch) of music enthusiasts, roughly 50-odd, encountered a small yet intimate classical guitar recital in JN Dance Academy Ballet Hall, Imphal, Manipur on the 7th of May, 2018.
Dr. Paul Cesarczyk, a Polish-born American classical guitar maestro landed in the drizzles of rain. Little did we knew that he was there to trigger our minds to view more profoundly into the widely unexplored region of classical music by Manipuri listeners through his captivating guitar performance.
Least to mention, it encompasses guitar styles ranging from baroque, Irish folk, to Julian Bream's. His closing performance of "Asturias" by Isaac Albeniz was spectacular. Before much ado, here's a hors d'oeuvre of our guitar maestro, Dr. Paul Cesarczyk: He was educated in La Guardia High School for the Performing Arts in New York City.
He received his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from Manhattan School of Music, and completed a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree, at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is a recipient of several awards like the Andres Segovia Award and the prestigious Aaron Copland Award.
During his performance, the most interesting sight was not only his graceful fingers over the guitar fretboard, but also his facial expression. His serene face was the index of his fingers seamlessly carrying out slides, vibratos, and harmonics. It left the awestruck audience in a state of trance, fit enough to be called "Cesarczyk's Effect".
Nonetheless, the audience was rather alluring, switching off their mobile phones, even when it was a time to receive their lovers' calls. Dr. Paul Cesarczyk's performance was both finesse and the finale of the recital.
Before him, three Manipuri gentleman warmed-up the stage with performances including an exquisite guitar rendition of a piano piece by Mozart and a duet called "Morineta do Brazil". We do not need to worry that there is not a single stain of classical music in Manipur, because there is.
The seeds were already planted by the non-profitable Manipur Classical Guitar Society, needless to say that it consists of many talented classical guitarists which currently serves as main protagonists to popularize Western Classical Music in Manipur.
The spectacular art of the classical guitar is underrated these days. The eclectic and necessary use of staff notations is the distinctive feature of it, which one does not experience much from other forms of music. It possesses identifiable meanings, historically significant and symbolic content, in the notations arranged for every piece. Talking about significance, we cannot help but marvel at Bach's "Crab Cannon", can we?
Popular music overshadows classical music, globally. This is also a disconsolate but non-trending issue. I really do wish it were a trending issue like the hype of national integration.
In contrast to the aesthetics of modern popular music, classical music has traditionally focused on the content that is strictly musical in nature, excluding any additional content conveyed through lyrics, or ina any other media. This is where the beauty of classical music lies. This was the reason why there was free entry to Dr. Cesarczyk's recital.
At the same time, hadn't there been Bach, Mozart, Schubert in the late 18th, 19th centuries there will be no rock, jazz or hip hop. Every modern genre of music was spawned extensively or narrowly by classical music somewhere. Classical music artists play a vital role in evolution of modern music traced back from baroque period.
In our small valley, where many music listeners have affinity to popular music and matam-esei, the mass admiration of classical music is a far driven case.
But I do believe that one day a classical maestro's recital in Imphal will be sold-out. The ultimate necessity for us, is to host and set up stages for maestro like that of Dr. Paul Cesarczyk and much more in the future.
We need more music enthusiasts who can appreciate at the same time enjoy the beauty of classical music. Even if Camila Cabello's album is topping the charts and Khalid's songs becoming the talk of the hour; the good old six nylon strings will always win our hearts in every way they vibrate.
( as part of Blue Bannerman Reviews )
* Milan Ashem wrote this article for e-pao.net
The writer can be contacted at milanashem78(AT)gmail(DOT)com
This article was posted on 16 May , 2018 .
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