Nicola Benedetti's Indian Serenade

MUSIC: "Romance" by Dmitri Shostakovich

A winner has to be picked,

and that winner is Nicola Benedetti.

APPLAUSE

I think it's going to be one of those places,

when I leave, I'll be quite heartbroken.

MUSIC: "Silent Invocation 1" by AR Rahman and Naveen Kumar

This is my very first time in India.

And just the beauty, actually,

has been the thing that's struck me the most.

It's just a golden opportunity

for me to experience a culture I know a lot about from afar

but...um, have not had the chance to experience.

One of the things that attracted me to the entire prospect,

right from the beginning,

was the fact that it's not just to delve in and out -

it's to really try to get a more broad sense of an exchange,

of a cultural experience, of playing to young people,

to older people, to diplomats,

to people from all walks of life.

This trip to India has been...three, four years in the planning.

It's been hard work, it's been an uphill climb,

but actually arriving here,

it's been...a kind of revolution.

The people couldn't have been

more friendly, more helpful.

It's been overwhelmingly fantastic.

I'll go round now and check everyone's got the Mozart.

MUSIC: "Anitra's Dance" by Edvard Grieg

This is a very special day, a very important day.

Um...our concert tonight is being broadcast

live on Indian radio

and is being filmed by state television,

so it's a big deal.

We feel the pressure

and the excitement of being able to do something like this in Delhi.

Getting myself ready - I try to do it as fast as possible

cos I don't enjoy that process very much.

I think, after years of playing

in so many different kinds of environments,

I...I've basically let go of any set pre-concert ritual,

because I tended to find that if it didn't work out

or it didn't happen then my mind would latch on

to what I didn't manage to do.

So I basically...

I need to change, I need to get ready

and I like to have my violin in my hand

about half an hour before I play.

SHE WARMS UP ON VIOLIN

CHATTER

(OK, ready to go, Nicola, when you are.)

APPLAUSE

I'm so grateful to have the violin that I do.

It's an incredible Stradivarius.

But it's a really interesting subject,

defining your sound versus the sound of the violin.

There's a famous anecdote of Jascha Heifetz,

one of the greatest violinists who ever lived.

Somebody came to him,

and complimented him on the sound of his violin,

to which he lifts up the violin and said, "I can't hear anything."

And, um, it's kind of...

It's kind of silly but it's really true.

The violin is a very small instrument

and it's very difficult to project that fullness of sound

and fullness of personality

through a couple of pieces of wood and some strings.

But that's what Nicola does.

She has a fantastic instrument, of course,

but she wouldn't be able to do anything with it

if she didn't have that depth of personality

and insight and vision as a great musician.

What people hear in the first couple of minutes,

they will hear volume, colour, tone.

But, after that, they start to basically hear you

and they start to hear your actual voice,

they start to hear and pick up something

about what you have to say to them.

And that's something that is absolutely yours,

just as much as your facial features are yours

and the way you walk is yours.

APPLAUSE

I tripped over my dress!

-Thank you.

-That was wonderful.

-Oh, thanks.

-I would like both of you to sign this.

-Oh, that makes me feel better.

-No, no, no.

-Yeah.

-Thanks.

Do you want "Nikki" or do you want my full name?

-Yeah, anything you would like.

-OK.

-I'll put "Nikki Benedetti" then.

-Thanks a lot.

-Thanks a lot.

-Kiss.

-Thank you.

-OK.

-Kunbo. Please.

-No, no.

-Kunbo.

-Sign it!

-No!

-I only signed it because you said you would sign it.

-You have to sign it.

-OK.

-Here.

If there is one form of art, or performing art,

which can really transgress every possible ugly, man-made difference,

it is really music.

You don't even need language to understand it

and music, sound, notes have a universal language

which crosses all barriers.

It appeals to your mind and heart.

That's why music is very important, that it should travel,

and it should bind people together.

I think music is an extraordinary bond.

It's like, er...falling in love.

You know, when you are the same species,

you don't need the language, you know?

You sometimes just have to look in somebody's eyes

and your whole life is handed over to somebody.

For me, personally, going to play anywhere, I try to be an open book.

I'm just trying to learn as much as possible,

trying to listen to as many people as possible,

ask as many questions as possible

and just soak in as much about this culture

and these people as possible.

'I knew it would be a huge culture shock and change

'but what you never can really gauge from documentaries you see

'or material you read is the feeling that the people have

'and the feeling that the people give you.'

I was reading about the origins of the music of this worship,

is-is about the...

-..the need to have everybody understanding the Scriptures.

-Right.

And it's therefore taking the form of music.

They have captured the idea of praying through music.

HE SINGS IN WORSHIP

The way in which ragas are organised in northern Indian music

is by the time of the day.

So the basic idea in this kind of organising

is that certain notes evoke certain emotion,

evoke certain sentimentality and feelings.

So, for instance, if you have a set of what are called morning ragas,

which are only sung in the early morning, you know, before sunrise...

People are very sacrosanct about not singing a certain melody

at a time when it is not supposed to be.

-May make you feel sleepy in the morning, or...!

-Yes. Yeah.

Yeah.

What I knew already, but I've been wakening up to

even more so since I arrived in India,

is the notion that our music is...

is definitely Western classical music,

and the music here is classical music...

whereas we would say we have classical music

and their music is Indian classical music.

That's always just humbling, and wakes you up again

to realise that all cultures have unbelievable histories

and music often tells... a truer, more subtle

and, therefore, often more accurate story of that history,

and it's something that carries from generation to generation.

We just arrived in Mumbai. Such a different feeling instantly.

Just the temperature and the atmosphere and the smell.

You can see a...a slum with skyscrapers behind it.

Look.

All going in for a swim! Such contrast in this city.

It's like an entirely different world.

This is my unbelievably packed... hectic case.

So, these are... I've got, like, two concert dresses.

One is black and gold, the one I wore the other night.

Really, like, simple material and just very comfortable.

And the other one is practically the same,

but it's all black with just a little bit of gold.

I don't like to be wearing things on stage

that I haven't tried out lots of times and that I don't trust.

I'd rather just pick, like, three concert dresses

and just go round and wear them until they're dead.

I don't even particularly enjoy

the whole getting dressed up for concerts thing.

It's not really... It's just... It feels like work clothes.

-WOMAN: Which it is, I guess.

-Which it is work clothes!

HORNS BEEP

I think my desire to share classical music

is just the most natural thing.

There's nothing fancy or pretentious about it at all.

It's just literally like you have a plate of great food in front of you

and you want to share it with the person next to you,

or you want someone to taste it.

We have some very, very, very special musicians

who've come from very far away... to play for you.

You know from where they've come? They've come from Scotland.

Do you know where that is?

-Do you know where London is?

-ALL: Yes.

It's close to London.

The first piece we are going to play is called Meditation.

So, we're going to play something very slow and very calm

and very peaceful,

so I want you all to relax and maybe even close your eyes,

if you want, and just allow your imagination

to think very peaceful thoughts, very calm thoughts.

OK?

MUSIC: "Meditations"

I think, with classical music,

when you've spent that long getting to know something that great

and you feel like the heavens have opened for you

and that something has just taken you into a world of optimism

that you never knew was there, it's just such a phenomenal feeling.

I would like to give people the chance

to feel that about classical music.

This is the first time we've had something for them,

like, which was just pure music.

But something like this was really wonderful,

because they really got a good exposure

to different types of instruments,

which was an experience for me as well.

Do all of you know what this instrument is called?

-Anybody know this instrument?

-Violin.

-Very good.

They're symbols, like how we learn the English alphabet.

Like, they are symbols... they are music symbols.

So, it's like a language. You have to learn it.

I am sure that, with the children's reaction,

they said that the music has really touched their lives.

I think it's going to be a really lifelong experience for them.

-How do you feel to do this?

-I love it very much.

Because you know your emotions?

Emotion?

The music can make you feel all kinds of emotions

and makes you feel very good.

'Children, they want to be challenged.

'If you give children quality experience with great music,

'it will affect every single part of their life,

'and that's from their communicative skills, their social skills,

'their ability to work together,

'their ability to express themselves.'

You're so close to them, just get an entirely different connection

from what it's possible to get

from playing in an auditorium with thousands of seats.

So, these small-scale things are just absolutely...

absolutely vital, both ways, for you and for them.

This afternoon, we're going to the Mehli Mehta Foundation.

They're all children

that are learning to play classical instruments,

learning to play classical music.

They'll play for us, we'll teach them, and then we'll play for them.

So, it's going to be a fairly standard workshop-style event.

The Mehli Mehta Music Foundation has been named after Mr Mehli Mehta,

who was a violinist in Mumbai.

The purpose of the foundation

and one of the reasons that it was set up,

and certainly the entire aim of the education programmes,

is that we have to spread Western classical music

to young people across the city, across the country

and, of course, also go to communities

who may not have access to Western classical music

and, more importantly,

hope that this music has a positive impact on their lives.

CHATTER

OK! We have a lot of musicians everywhere.

You all have space?

OK, shall we start?

MUSIC: "Canon" by Johann Pachelbel

OK.

It sounds very, very beautiful,

and the sound is very present and very full.

But if you imagine, this piece is very repetitive, as you know.

So, we want to feel at the very beginning

like you have a long way to go.

So, really just soft... What note do you start on?

SHE PLAYS SOFTLY

I'm just trying to make everything more of a...more of a story.

Throughout the piece, you want people to feel like...

like sometimes like you're telling them something

and they're like this, "Wow!"

And then other times, you're playing something

and you want them to go like,

"What? What are you... what are you telling me?"

You want them to come forward to you

and to be drawn into your performance.

OK. Let's try once more.

THEY PLAY SOFTLY

And this part of the bow.

At the end of the bow. Yeah.

Too slow.

For Nicola, I think this has been a really exciting tour,

and it plays into absolutely her strengths

and her love of educating, reaching out, empowering

and inspiring young musicians and young players and young people.

That was wonderful. So much control and such amazing sound.

Really excellent.

Their playing was really good, really impressive.

They've clearly been getting good teaching,

but they don't have enough teaching,

and they're having to sort of bring people in from abroad

in order to give them that exposure and that experience,

so I guess we're just here

to pass on as much knowledge as we can in a short space of time,

but also, it's more of an inspirational visit,

as they always are when they're short.

Second half starts with Tchaikovsky, and there's no Grieg.

BUZZ OF CHATTER

The idea this morning of this concert

is really to play to a new audience, a family audience.

We haven't done this before on the trip,

so I don't quite know how it's going to go.

So, now we have a very special treat for you,

because we have brought

one of the most amazing violinists in the world to India.

Her name is Nicola Benedetti. Please welcome her onto the stage.

APPLAUSE

When I play, I try not to think!

That's my ideal state, is just not be thinking at all, and really be...

..taken by...

something greater than the intricacies and details of...

of what you're going through onstage.

I'm not one for colours or pictures or stories.

I'm just trying to get to an overwhelming sense of something,

and it can be a happy feeling, a sad feeling, a depressed feeling,

or really elated or excited,

and I think I'm trying to get to that place

within the story of the music.

I'm so happy! I am. I...

I'm, like, your number one Indian fan, you know, but wow!

I think the concert was amazing.

I've travelled over 800km to be here,

because I'm a huge fan of Nicola Benedetti and the orchestra,

and I'm not disappointed, I will come again.

I thought it was wonderful. It was really wonderful.

I have heard symphony live for the very first time.

-It was a really amazing experience.

-Really nice.

I mean, like, I just touched an angel, you know?

An angel has touched my life. Wow! On TV!

There are some places that really stir you up

and are very evocative and provocative...

..and I would say that about this entire trip.

Every time you go to an entirely new culture

and play classical music, you do take away, I guess,

a regained sense of trust in what you do

and the purpose of what you do...

the fact that it's so enjoyed and loved

and seemingly relevant to so many different people.

And I...

I have yet another little piece to the ongoing puzzle

of trying to work out your place in the world you live in

and trying to work out the world you live in.

Um...

Maybe not a small piece of the puzzle.

Maybe this has been quite a big piece of the puzzle.