Maxime Zecchini: A French marvel in left-hand piano repertoire
Maxime Zecchini: A French marvel in left-hand piano repertoire
French classical pianist Maxime Zecchini, who is among the handful of musicians all over the globe to practise the ‘left hand repertoire’ and play works with just five fingers, as opposed to both the hands, says that it is a delight to share this music with his audience.
“I had discovered this repertoire 20 years ago playing the most famous pieces for the left hand, the Concerto of Maurice Ravel. I did some research on the internet and I have seen that there are a lot of works for the left hand, about 600 pieces. And very few recordings.
“So, I have proposed a discographic label to record the first and unique Anthology in the world for the left hand with 10 CD’s. I have already recorded 8 discs and the complete anthology will be available at the end of 2021. I have recorded a lot of musical styles inside this CD’s: classical music, contemporary music, chamber’s music, concertos with orchestra, film music, etc,” Zecchini, born in 1979, told in an email.
About his repertoire, he says, “the wonder of having the impression of hearing two hands when only five fingers were playing fascinated me. These pieces demonstrate the immense possibilities of the left hand. Thanks to the arrangement of left-hand fingers, its natural flexibility, and the powerful register in the bass of the keyboard, it can even make the piano sound like an orchestra! I am very happy to be able to discover the undeniable poetic richness of this original, virtuoso, and spectacular repertoire.”
Zecchini had completed his 15-day India tour in India in 2016, where he demonstrated the not just the unique repertoire but his masterful skill at it.
Asked how big of a community do left-handed pianists make, the musician says: “We are just three or four pianists in the world to play these works. It’s a delight for me to share this music with the audience, who are always curious and enthusiastic.”
Maxime Zecchini: A French marvel in left-hand piano repertoire
After spending a lot of time at my home without concerts and travels due to COVID-19, Zecchini will also play in front of an audience in Barcelona, Spain, in a concert. Here, he says he will be performing French compositions of Debussy, Ravel, Michel Legrand and other famous French songs.
What are his thoughts on cultural exchanges via music? “I love cultural exchanges via music. For example, when I played in India some years ago, I discovered the music of Bollywood with a lot of beautiful songs. It was totally new for me and this music is very beautiful and romantic! I have listened to these songs on YouTube and written an arrangement for my concert which made the audience very emotional. It’s very enriching for me to discover new melodies and new ways of expressing artistically.”
He concludes by saying that he finds Indian music very romantic and melodious. “I don’t know very well the Indian music for piano and keyboard but I hope with all my heart to discover and listen to a lot of beautiful pieces if I have the chance to play again in India.”
The award-winning pianist is slated to make his debut at Carnegie Hall in New York in April 2021.
The Turkish National Security Council has said that Ankara is primarily in favour of dialogue on every platform to discuss fair sharing of natural resources in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
The Council held a meeting on Thursday after Turkey and Greece recently agreed to resume exploratory talks on the Eastern Mediterranean to defuse the tensions that flared up over the exploration activities by a Turkish vessel in the area, reports Xinhua news agency.
Turkey will not make concessions in the protection of its rights and interests on the land, sea and air, the Council said in a written statement issued after the meeting.
Tensions heightened between Turkey and Greece over energy explorations in the Eastern Mediterranean waters in recent weeks.
Greece considers Turkey’s natural gas exploration in the region a violation of international law.
The Turkish government, on the other hand, believes the waters belong to the Turkish continental shelf.
In August, Turkey dispatched Oruc Reis, a seismic survey vessel, and two auxiliary navy vessels to the disputed region near the Greek island of Meis, also known as Kastellorizo, where Greece claims lies within its continental shelf.
On September 13, Greece welcomed the return of the Turkish vessel to Antalya, while expressing the willingness to enter dialogue with Ankara to de-escalate the recent tensions.
The actors have come together for the video by music producer Priya Hebbar, who goes by the name Faynyx as an artiste.
“Freedom is an entirely personal concept that each individual can experience only through the lens they have and the circumstances they are in,” Jim said, adding: “I really enjoyed discussing freedom and what it means to me with the composer and the director and the rest of the team.”
Talking about his definition of freedom and his thoughts about the lockdown, Jim said: “My conception of freedom is not shaken by any one external event, but (it is) more the sum effects of every single external event, and internal biological function.”
“But people probably felt listless and irritable (during lockdown) because their usual responsibilities were taken away. They don’t realise how these responsibilities are the actual ways they find meaning in life. I just tried to give myself new responsibilities. I loved the lockdown,” he added.
On “Freedom Dance”, Bani said: “My interpretation of freedom is to be in a space where judgement, second guessing, resentment — none of that exists, where none of that has any sort of hold over my present moment.
“The global forced lockdown has been a lot of things for people — in terms of their perceptions with freedom. For someone who loves to travel, I discovered so much creativity in my own self, and the spaces available to me,” she added.
Faynyx feels “these unprecedented times have proven that freedom is a state of mind”.
Vodafone has won the case against India over a retrospective tax demand of more than Rs 20,000 crore.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague has ruled that the conduct of India’s tax department is in breach of “fair and equitable” treatment.
Voafone had moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2016 due to a lack of consensus between the parties’ arbitrators in finalising a judge for the tax dispute.
Following this, a tribunal was constituted in June 2016 after Vodafone challenged India’s use of a 2012 legislation that gave it powers to retrospectively tax deals like Vodafone’s $11 billion acquisition of a 67 per cent stake in Hutchison Whampoa in 2007. The retrospective tax law had been enacted after the Supreme Court judgement went in Vodafone’s favour.
Vodafone had challenged the tax department’s demand of Rs 7,990 crore as capital gains taxes (Rs 22,100 crore after including interest and penalty) under the Netherlands-India Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT).
Buoyed by the arbitration award, Vodafone Idea stock closed 12 per cent higher at Rs 10.20.
In 2007, the Indian Income Tax department had slapped a demand notice on Vodafone seeking capital gains tax.
The man who had sung the one of the popular duets with P. Susheela “Aayiaram Nilevae Vaa” (Come thousand moons) for M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) in the Tamil movie Adimai Penn has finally reached the stars, perhaps to sing for the Gods…writes VENKATACHARI JAGANNATHAN
SP Balasubrahmanyam.
S.P. Balasubrahmanyam or popularly SPB, the playback singer, as well the voice over, of popular heroes of Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi movies has gone silent permanently on Friday.
The coronavirus attacked his lungs and permanently silenced the singer who had sung over 40,000 songs in 16 languages over a career spanning five decades.
On August 5, in a Facebook post, the 74-year old SPB said that he was suffering from a very mild attack of coronavirus and had got himself hospitalised to take rest.
He had said that though the doctors had advised him to stay at home and take rest, he decided to be in a hospital, as at home his family members would get concerned.
He hoped to get discharged from the hospital in two days. But it was not to be.
The man who had sung the one of the popular duets with P. Susheela “Aayiaram Nilevae Vaa” (Come thousand moons) for M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) in the Tamil movie Adimai Penn has finally reached the stars, perhaps to sing for the Gods.
Curiously, during his over five decades of playback singing career, SPB has sung several moon songs.
He is survived by wife Savitri, a son S.P. Charan – a movie producer and playback singer, and daughter Pallavi.
Honoured with Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards in 2001 and 2011 respectively, SPB has won six National Film Awards for the best male playback singer and several other state awards.
Born to S.P. Sambamurthy, a Harikatha artist and mother Sakunthalamma on June 4, 1946, SPB got interested in music at a young age. His younger sister P. Sailaja was also a movie playback singer.
While pursuing his engineering course, he used to participate in singing competitions and won prizes.
“At one such competition, popular playback singer S. Janaki while giving the prize sowed the seed of singing in movies in me by saying that I can shine in the cine world. She encouraged me saying that she too was not a trained singer,” SPB had reminisced at a media meet.
Later he started visiting music directors seeking an opportunity to become a movie playback singer.
A humble person, SPB had said that if a person achieves something significant in a field, then it is due to the nudges and help rendered by several others. And in his case, there were couple of people.
He had said that but for his friend and roommate Murali who had compelled him to reach the recording studio in 1966 December, he wouldn’t have become a movie singer.
SPB recorded his first song composed by music director and his mentor S.P.Kodandapani for the Telugu movie Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna.
Nearly a week later after his debut, he recorded his first Kannada song for the movie Nakkare Ade Swarga in 1967.
Soon he became busy with Telugu movie songs.
Looking back, SPB in an interview said that his evolution as a playback singer was largely due to Telugu music director Sathyam.
It was the Telugu movie Sankarabharanam that made the nation turn towards SPB. The movie directed by K. Viswanath and the music scored by K.V.Mahadevan turned out to be a big hit.
SPB got his first National Film Award for Best Male Playback singer.
Though his first Tamil movie song was “Athaanodu Ippadi Irundhu Eththanai Naalaachu” along with L.R.Eswari and music scored by another legend M.S.Viswanathan (MSV), the song and the movie aHotel Ramba’ did not come out.
As the movie was stopped midway, no music company had bought the rights and made the gramophone recording.
Later SPB sang for actor Gemini Ganesan (Iyarkai Ennum Ilaya Kanni), for MGR (Aayiram Nilavae Vaa) and went on to the Malayalam movie industry.
At a media meet SPB had said he was grateful to MGR for postponing the shooting for “Aayiram Nilavae Vaa” by a month so that the song was ready.
The singer said he was then down with fever. Given his stature MGR could have recorded the song with a different singer and gone ahead with the shooting.
“I had asked MGR about that later. He said after the audition, I would have told my friends that I will be singing for MGR. And if I was replaced the talk would be that MGR didn’t like my voice and so he chose some other singer. That would have been a big setback for my Tamil movie career, which he (MGR) didn’t want to happen,” SPB recalled the incident.
After that there was no looking back for him. In the Tamil movie world, he had sung for MGR, Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth and others.
At one point he was so prolific that he recorded over 15 songs in a day.
The mid 1970s saw the entry of music director Illaiyaraaja who later became a major force in the Tamil movie industry. The two — SPB and Ilaiyaraaja — had known each other even before the latter became a music director.
The 1980s saw the trio – Illaiyaraaja, SPB and S. Janaki- recording a large number of songs and most of them became great hits.
It is a different matter that Illaiyaraaja and SPB had some difference of opinion on the royalty issue. As per law Illaiyaraaja had demanded that SPB pay him royalty for singing his songs on stage performances. The two patched up soon.
It was in 1981that SPB made his debut in the Hindi movie world singing for Kamal Haasan in “Ek Duuje Ke Liye” and went on to sing in movies like “Maine Pyar Kiya”, “Hum Aapke Hain Kaun” and others.
“It was K.Balachander, Director, Ek Duuje Ke Liye who had insisted that I should sing for Kamal Haasan though the music composers Laxmikant-Pyarelal were bit reluctant to try me out,” SPB reminisced.
It is a different matter SPB got National Award for one of the songs in that movie.
During 1990s the list of music directors he worked with increased like Deva, S.A.Rajkumar, Vidyasagar and A.R.Rahman in the hit movie Roja.
Apart from singing, SPB has also dubbed for several leading artists in Tamil and Telugu movies. For Kamal Haasan he was the default voice in Telugu movies. He had dubbed for Ben Kingsley in the Telugu dubbing of English movie Gandhi.
As an actor too, SPB made a mark in jovial father character.
US citizens in the UAE have to complete the voting process latest by Wednesday, 30th September for the US Presidential election 2020, if they want to utilise the voter assistance offered by the US diplomatic missions, an official said on Thursday.
“If people are returning ballots through us, we recommend all absentee ballots be delivered to the US Embassy in Abu Dhabi or US Consulate General in Dubai on or before Wednesday, 30th September,” Daniela Zadrozny, Consular Chief at the US Consulate General in Dubai, told Emirates News Agency, WAM.
However, submitting the voted ballot at the US diplomatic missions in the UAE is an option; alternatively, voters can directly send it to their local election officials in the US before the deadlines, Zadrozny clarified.
Methods to submit ballot
“Various states have different deadlines. The actual times in the US will usually be on or around election day [3rd November]. People are welcome to send their ballots on their own via other means; we just offer the collection and sending as voter assistance,” Zadrozny said.
She advised the voters to check their voter registration deadline based on their state on the website of the US Federal Voting Assistance Programme, FVAP.
Importance of overseas voters
“If US citizen voters have not completed the voter registration process, we encourage them to do so immediately. The process to register to vote and submitt the ballot is fast, easy and an important part of being an American overseas!” the diplomat stressed.
About the importance of overseas voting, she pointed out that there were instances of US elections for the House and Senate having been decided by a margin smaller than the number of ballots cast by absentee voters.
All states are required to count every absentee ballot as along as it is valid and reaches local election officials by the absentee ballot receipt deadline, Zadrozny said.
Number of overseas voters
The US Mission in the UAE estimates there are 75,000 US citizens living in the UAE, as of April 2020.
Asked about the number of voters in the UAE, she said the US Mission does not have the number of voters here because the election and voter registration are managed individually by the states and territories.
However, Zadrozny cited an FVAP study published in July 2020, analysing the overseas citizen population during the 2018 US midterm election. The study found that the global rate of overseas voter participation was 4.7 percent and 1.9 percent in the Middle East. An estimated 2.9 million voting age US citizens are living abroad, based on state and local government absentee ballot records, the study revealed.
For the US presidential election in 2016, the global participation for rate for overseas voters was 7.8 percent and 4.8 percent in the Middle East. FVAP did not provide data for changes in eligible or registered voters since 2018, the diplomat said.
Registration and voting process
Regarding the registration and voting process for overseas voters, the Consular Chief explained that all US citizen voters can request to receive their absentee ballots electronically. Depending on the state in which they are eligible to vote, they may get their ballot by email, fax, or internet download.
Voters should visit FVAP.gov to connect with their state’s voter portal to register to vote and request an absentee ballot, she said.
If voters have not received their absentee ballot 30 days prior to the election, they should complete and submit the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot, FWAB, to ensure their vote is received in time to be counted, she added.
Preparations in UAE
Talking about the arrangements for voters in the UAE, she said the embassy and the consulate are accepting election materials, including absentee ballots, on working days from 8:00 to 16:00, and US citizens do not need to make an appointment to submit their election materials.
When dropping their ballot at the missions, voters should bring a self-addressed, and self-stamped envelope. Security will screen the envelope and return it to the voter who may seal the envelope, which is then deposited into the secure drop box.
The sealed absentee ballots in the locked ballot box are securely transferred from the US missions to local election officials in the US, the Consular Chief said.
How writing became a tool for self-discovery, empowerment for these women.
Being a female author can come with its own set of challenges, especially when one is trying to juggle a career in the demanding field along with a personal life. From burning the midnight oil to pursue writing to managing multiple roles, budding authors share how they used writing as a tool for empowerment.
‘Four Dances of the Moon’ author Shikha Rinchin Tiku explains how every journey is different and so are the challenges. “I got my inspiration for writing from my father, who wrote poetry in his spare time. I wrote my first poem when I was just eight. It was only last year when I was about to become a mother, I felt this urge of fulfilling my goal of becoming a published author, and I embarked on the journey of publishing my first ever poetry book. As they say, it’s never too late. There were a few challenges that I had to overcome during my publishing journey.
“Writing a book requires immense discipline and time management. I am a full time working professional, so setting time aside to create and edit my work was a task. I spent all my weekends working on the book, so that I could get it published by the target date. It was the time when Covid-19 had just hit us, so keeping myself composed was also something that I had to do. I kept myself emotionally resilient to keep at it. I was soon going to be a mother, so managing work, my health, and my book was a challenge. But when you have a burning desire to fulfill your goals, you always find a way,” she told.
There has been an interesting rise in the number of young and empowered women authors who are using the power of their mind and pen to put their thoughts out in the world.
For some authors the journey is more important than the destination. Author Subhashini Prasad, who wrote ‘Not Really Indian’ has this story to tell: “Three years ago, I sat in my office in a commercial bank, running through financial analysis and numbers, when I thought: ‘Is this what I want to do for the rest of my life?’ The answer as you see today was obvious. Since I was 11, I wanted to be an author. Days of reading Enid Blyton and Harry Potter inspired me to create stories of my own. When I was at the crossroads of choosing between a stable job and writing, I chose the latter. I decided that if I don’t act on my passion now, I will always regret it. That was the kickstart to my writing journey and has led to my debut book: Not Really Indian. I have also written my first kids book, titled Hoo and Hau, on Storyweaver.”
Challenges, according to Prasad, of becoming an author were aplenty. “Self-doubt and learning to view failures as stepping stones have been the toughest challenges. As women, we have it tougher than the rest. Society expects more out of us and we expect the impossible out of ourselves. So, when I first decided to pursue writing, I always thought I was not good enough to be an author. As a mother of two, I also feel torn between spending time with the kids and finding no-distraction time to write. But as I read other women writers, I realized believing in one’s work is of utmost importance and key to success. And that it is always possible to find time for doing what you love.”
Tanya Walia, Author of ‘Forever’ shares that she had that “writer’s bone” in her from the word go. “I used to keep a journal and I used to write plays for class projects, one time I wrote a poem for someone else and he was appreciated. But I never pursued it from the fear of people’s opinions. Then at 23, I read “The Diary Of A Young Girl’ by Anne Frank and it blew me away how in such a situation she had dreams and hopes of becoming a writer,” she told. “When I started, I was preparing for a government job and there was a lot of pressure, managing both wasn’t easy. But I think the biggest challenge for me was finding the right publisher because I was new and I didn’t have anyone to guide me. Don’t let the pressure around you break your spirit. If you are happy write and if you are sad write more. Start finding the right publisher from the beginning and not when the book is complete. It can save you a lot of time.”
Young author Anamika Mishra, a motivational speaker and author of ‘For The Sake Of Love” says she was obsessed with stories and storytelling since childhood, and has been writing from school days.
“I remember once when I was a kid, after completing a novel (‘David Copperfield’ by Charles Dickens), I was so inspired by it that I immediately told my mom that I want to write books. I think this kept on hitting my mind. I read more, I wrote more – poems, stories, articles, shayaris.”
Spurred on by her parents to pursue writing as a career, Anamika finds inspiration to be an author in their words even if they’re not here anymore.
As the writers conclude, authors are rarely made overnight, so be patient and persistent until hard work bears fruit.
Male: Prime Minister Narendra Modi felicitates Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on his assumption of office as the 7th President of Maldives in Male, Maldives on Nov 17, 2018. (Photo: IANS/MEA)
The archipelago nation on the Indian Ocean owes about $1.4 billion to China. It is a huge sum for a country which has a GDP of $5.7 billion, this translates to almost one-fourth…reports MAHUA VENKATESH
Prime Minister Narendra Modi felicitates Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on his assumption of office as the 7th President of Maldives in Male. (Photo: IANS/MEA)
As tourism-the most important sector for Maldives, contributing the most of the nations gross domestic product-took a huge blow with the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, concerns over debt repayment to ‘ally China are looming large.
The archipelago nation on the Indian Ocean owes about $1.4 billion to China. It is a huge sum for a country which has a GDP of $5.7 billion, this translates to almost one-fourth. What is worrisome is that, as many analysts said, the figure of $1.4 billion may not be a true representation, the actual debt feared to be much higher.
With the pandemic hitting the economy hard, amid the World Bank’s projection of an 8.5 per cent contraction in its economy, the nation is in no position to make the repayment. Besides tourism, the country’s construction activities have also come to a near halt.
“The shock to tourism adversely affects employment and household earnings, as one-third of adult males and a quarter of females are engaged in tourism-related jobs. Lower-income households that depend on fisheries are also affected as exports of raw fish have ceased due to weak demand,” a World Bank report said.
Tourism accounts for about 28 per cent of the country’s GDP and generates over 60 per cent foreign exchange receipts.
In 2018, the Maldives government had indicated that interest rates extended on concessional loans from the dragon nation constitutes only about 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent, “while those on loans made under sovereign guarantee are around 6 per cent to 7 per cent”. The Nikkei Asian Review had quoted Maldivian Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer as saying, “We are mostly looking into increasing the repayment period.”
The Chinese debt trap
Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, soon after getting elected in 2018, said that the country’s close tie-ups with China has brought about a financial crisis into the nation.
“Solih appeared to be in no doubt that the country’s financial crisis was brought about by the previous administration’s overly-close relationship with China. The implication is that China, as it has done in Sri Lanka, has used financial loans to manipulate the Maldives into a position of indebtedness to Beijing,” Futuredirections.org.au said.
The Maldives-India Relationship: From Frying Pan to Fire?
Just after Maldives celebrated its 55th Independence Day on July 26, China issued a notice asking Male to repay $10 million which was backed by sovereign guarantee. This means that failure to repay would amount to a sovereign default that has serious ramifications for the country’s economy. Reports have suggested that the Xi Jinping government in August sought repayment of a larger amount, paid.
In 2017, China gave a $127 million loan to Sun Siyam Resorts Private Ltd but what is interesting is that the Maldivian government had extended sovereign guarantee for the same.
“At $1.4 billion, of which $857 million has been disbursed, most of the foreign debt is owed to China for financing former President Abdulla Yameen’s infrastructure scale-up,” Maldives Independent reported said.
According to Harvard Business Review, China with its debt diplomacy, currently is a major global lender, with outstanding claims now exceeding more than 5 per cent of global GDP. The lending is done both directly by the government and the state-controlled entities.
India and Maldives
Relations between India and Maldives ran into troubled waters under former Maldivian president Abdulla Yameen, who conceded defeat in the 2018 elections.
Thereafter, however, India-Maldives ties have started improving with Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending Solih’s swearing in ceremony. Importantly, Maldives stood by India at the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) virtual meet at a time when New Delhi had come under attack in the wake of the abrogation of Article 370 and the passing of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
“Targeting a specific country will be like side-stepping the real issue. In this light, let me state that singling out India, the largest democracy in the world and a multicultural society and home to over 200 million Muslims, alleging Islamophobia would be factually incorrect,” Maldives’ Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Thilmeeza Hussain said in the meeting.
Earlier, Solih even thanked India for rescuing Maldivians stuck at Wuhan when the coronavirus pandemic had hit the region.
