Mangaluru: Hanv Saiba Polthodi Vetham..Maka Saiba Wat Dakoi ..! That’s right–somebody did show the way to the members of the Austrian band ” Hotel Palindrone” accompanied by Marialena Fernandes ( whose parents were originally from Mnagaluru) from Vienna to Kodiyal/Kudla/Mangaluru. The band who gave a sizzling and entertaining performance featuring some of local Konkani music comprising of Mandos, Dekhnis and Dulpods wowed and surprised the packed audience at Kaalangaan Amphi-theater at Shaktinagar on Valentine’s Day (14 February) evening. Along with European folk music the band enthralled Mangaloreans with a blend of Konkani folk songs.
We all know that “Music” is a universal connector of people. It breaks barriers of nationality, religion and economic status. With this mission in mind, Marialena Fernandes had organized a music tour to the country of her birth, India. Vienna is the City of Music because Music is one of Vienna’s legacies. Musical prodigies including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler, Robert Stolz , and Arnold Schoenberg have worked there. From the “City of Music-Vienna” came Marialena Fernandes along with a four member band called “Hotel Palindrone” to entertain music lovers of Mangaluru.
The audience witnessed some rare Instruments from many different families, eras, regions, well known as well as very rare ones are used by the band on stage. Wind instruments like shawms, saxophones, different bagpipes – French cornemuses in G, D or A, Bohemian bock or Renaissance dudey -, overtone flutes and whistles, clarinet and chalumeau meet stringed instruments like mandola, electric bass, valisette, 5-string fiddle, nyckelharpa, bouzoki, hurdy gurdy. And they were joined by jaw’s harps, piano, diatonic accordion, melodic and small percussion like spoons… And, of course: singing, yodelling, vocal percussion. Wow.. a mixture of all kind of musical instrument sounds!
Marialena and the Hotel Palindrone had been invited to Mangaluru by the organizers of this unique concert by Mangalore Coastal Round Table 190, Joyland School-Mangaluru, and Mandd Sobhann. Eric Ozario, the Gurkar of of Mandd Sobhann welcomed the gathering and introduced the band members- Marialena and Hotel Palindrone. The concert began with a yodeling rendition of a farmer folk song, followed by many other Austrian folk songs. Marialena who played the keyboard is a world renowned pianist and has performed in many countries of the world from Venezuela to Russia. She has played with the Vienna philharmonic (One of the world’s best orchestras) and conducted many music workshops in India and abroad. In India she has partnered with Zubin Metha’s music foundation to help train young musicians in Mumbai.
Hotel Palindrone comprised of 4 members of Austrian & German nationality. They have a cult following among followers of folk fusion music. They are a multi-talented group and among them play more than 20 different instruments. They also do beat boxing and yodelling. Marialena’s initiative has been supported by the Austrian Culture Forum, Berndorf AG (an Austrian company) and the University of performing Arts, Vienna. The band already performed in Mumbai, and will be performing also in Calangute (Goa) & Bangalore.
Mangalore has been specially included in the tour as Marialena is originally a Mangalorean. The band members were determined contrarians who went beyond musical borders. It was just amazing to have a look at their large number of instruments. The musicians succeed in uniting craziness and harmony by a blend of folk traditions, archaic sounds, jazz, electronics, pop, classical music and even yodeling – which resulted in a new, sparkling and powerful style: It was truly amazing and unbelievable music. And the crowd liked every bit of their performance. When the Austrian band took a break, the Best Duo of Soad 4- (TV singing contest) performed some traditional Mandos.
The concert was truly unique, for the fact, along with Austrian/ European folk music , the band members added some masala of Konkani Mandos/Dekhnis/Dulpods, well sung by Marialena joined by the other band members. This was for the first time that a European band had delivered some Konkani songs, which did enthrall the audience. From Undra Muja Mama, Phula Phula Bai, etc the band sang quite a few mandos, dekhnis. The concert was very much loved by the audience, that they even called for encores.
Marialena Fernandes – a brief history:
Born in Mumbai, she completed all the examinations of the Royal Schools of Music culminating with the LRSM (Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music) with distinctions then she graduated from the Bombay University with Psychology and Philosophy Honours with a First Class. A scholarship given by the Austrian Ministry of Education brought her to Vienna to further her musical education at the prestigious Academy (now University) of Vienna for Music and Performing Arts. Here she attained her Diploma in Piano Performance with unanimous distinctions. Her professors were Walter Panhofer, BrunoSeidlhofer, Stanislav Neuhaus,Tamas Vasary.
Already during her education, Marialena participated in several international Competitions in which she was awarded prizes, e.g. Bösendorfer, Beethoven Piano Competition. Solo, Chambermusic and Orchestra Concerts followed in most European capitals, Asia, Africa, America and Australia, at the renowned Salzburg Festival, the Vienna Festwochen, Haydn Festspiele,Styrian Autumn.
Marialena is regularly on Radio and TV Broadcasts, also artistic director for several musical events in which she acts as programme curator and presenter. Her special interest goes for cross-over projects in which she lets classic meet jazz, fusions with ethnic music and international artists interpret their own compositions.
As a profound Chamber-musician she has participated in international recitals with members of the Vienna philharmonic orchestra, much enthusiasm is involvement with the youth, improvisation and spontaneous music making.
Professor of Chambermusic at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, till 2006 professor of solo piano at the Joseph haydn Conservatory. Regular master classes, participation as jury member at international competitions, exchange programmes with other universities as teacher and performer.
Affinity for contemporary music, artistic director for projects on CD with living austrian composers. Fernandes idealism goads her on to more musical energy which in turn enables her to express emotions and hence initiate a sense of communication.with her students and with her audience in general.
About Hotel Palindrone:
Hotel Palindrone was founded in 1995 and includes- Stephen Steiner, Albin Paulus, Peter Natterer-& John Morrissey. The group plays folk music from Scandinavia, the Balkans, the Alps and also classical music. Subtle arrangements were combined with intensity, original compositions complement traditional melodies. The band’s continuous development was very successful: Hotel Palindrone were awarded several prizes at contests and for their CDs. More and more they performed at renowned festivals and concert halls.
Their new project with Marialena Fernandes. is “Hotel Haydn” the Indian-Portuguese-Austrian pianist and Hotel Palindroneplay Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Scarlatti and Bartok combined with world and folk music. Thus showing that those great composers were world musicians in the truest sense of the word. But also their latest album “Jodulator” (two international awards) demonstrates where music is moving to: A pop hit meets traditional dance tunes, Joseph Haydn goes to Transylvania – and Jodulators tell us what the universe will look like in the year 3000. Their message: “All will be fine!”
The members of Hotel Palindrone are masters of an impressive multitude of instruments ranging from early to electronic. And they produce a wealth of sounds – from ancient to brand new and often spectacular, both with feeling and power and combined in intricate arrangements. The Band has received various awards- to name a few : 2005 – Austrian World Music Audience Award; 2007 – Performance of the Year (Folk Club Züri / Switzerland); 2007 –Bravos!!for album “Dial 1702” (Trad Magazine/ France); 2010 – European Folk Music Award “Eiserner Eversteiner” (Germany); 2011 – German Record Critics’ Award for album “Jodulator”; and 2011 –Bravos!!for album “Jodulator“ (Trad Magazine-France).
Please visit the bands website for more information on them- http://hotelpalindrone.com/start-2/
Please also find below 2 youtube clips of the bands performances-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hDjFlF8bv0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrfo5KYbWiI&list=PLNSiKfx9L9fZgxOkXFDoQMb6LX90srY3t