Classic Incantations-The German Film Orchestra Babelsberg performs A. R. Rahman

Classic Incantations - The German Film Orchestra Babelsberg performs A. R. Rahman, a five-city concert tour, exclusively presented by Lapp India, a leading cable and connectivity solutions company, the musical extravaganza will for the first time, showcase over a hundred orchestral musicians as they perform live in India as part of the collaborative celebration titled “Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities”.

The tour coincides with the celebration of the centenary year of Studio Babelsberg, the world's oldest film studio in Germany, and Indian Cinema that were incepted in 1912. The concert will debut in Mumbai on 20th January 2012 and will subsequently travel to Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore, creating a new highpoint for music lovers across the nation.

From Roja to Robot, the 100-member strong musical alliance between the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg and students of the KM Music Conservatory, Chennai, will perform orchestral sweeps composed by A. R. Rahman for Bombay, Swades, The Rising, Elizabeth: The Golden Age and many more.

Commenting on this unique initiative A.R. Rahman said, “I am really excited and grateful for this gesture of the Babelsberg Orchestra for doing this tour in India along with our students and kids from the KM music Conservatory. I am sure this will be a new experience to Indian score lovers. It will give them a great opportunity to experience and see how many people are involved in creating huge scores and create a thirst among the younger generation to become orchestral musicians…”

Dr. Marla Stukenberg, Director, Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Mumbai commenting on this one-of-a-kind association said "We are very grateful to musical maestro A. R. Rahman for accepting our invitation to collaborate with the renowned German Film Orchestra Babelsberg. It is for the first time that a Western classical orchestra comes to India to perform A. R. Rahman's compositions in his home country. The tour of the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg to India in January 2012 pays tribute to the rich cultural collaboration between Germany and India and opens a new chapter in the area of musical relations between the two countries. I am sure fans of A. R. Rahman will enjoy this different experience of a classical orchestra from Germany performing to his scores, signifying truly that music has no boundaries.”

Commenting on the new initiative, R. Fathima Rafiq, Executive Director of the KM Music Conservatory said, “We are all excited to see how this unique collaborative program unfolds on stage across five cities. Our focus through this tour is to develop art and cultural infrastructure between India and Germany. The five-city concert tour will also have contributions from our young choir in addition to renowned soloists from all over India. The re-interpretation of Dr. Rahman’s compositions with German Collaboration hopes to create a pleasurable journey in the era of new age music.”

Mr. Andreas Lapp, Chairman of the Board LAPP HOLDINGS AG and Honorary Consul of the

Republic of India to Baden Wurttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, said, “Lapp India is extremely proud to be associated with the Classic Incantations Tour. With this concert, we are further deepening the relationship we have chartered with India, by establishing the Stuttgart India Business Center way back in 2005 and our recent associations with the Bollywood & Beyond Film Festival and the recent Stuttgart meets Mumbai Wine Festival. The common thread between our association with the current tour and all our events is much like our business of cables that connects various sectors and industries. We are hopeful that we will establish new connections in the hearts of people from both Germany and India through this unique initiative.”

Klaus-Peter Beyer, Director of the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg, said, “As a musician, I have had the opportunity to travel to many countries and most of the continents on this planet. The music that we played formed an inherent part of us. It was European, influenced by composers such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms. A peculiar sort of fascination grew through the juxtaposition of visual and mental images I formed of these new lands, and the familiar music that accompanied me wherever I went.

I was immediately enthralled when Max Mueller Bhavan developed the idea of German Film Orchestra Babelsberg interpreting the music of A. R. Rahman in India. Except for documentaries and films reinforcing age-old clichés, I knew next to nothing about this subcontinent. All this changed dramatically when I visited this wonderful country for the first time in September 2011. I had brought with me the recording of our first rehearsal. It contained a few selected pieces from A. R. Rahman`s music.

For the first time everything that I saw, felt and perceived was symbiotically connected with music. A. R. writes not just the sound track for films, he composes the sound track for an entire country and thus describes what is most beautiful and precious in this country – its people.”