Goa, May 30 -- LUIS DIAS

A happy happenstance allowed me to hear three Beethoven works (two orchestral and one chamber) in the 'tragic' key of C minor in two cities, Bengaluru and Mumbai, in as many days. The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) Mumbai, in anticipation of Ludwing van Beethoven's 200th death anniversary next year, has embarked on an am bitious project in its beloved Arties festival: to perform the entire cycle of the great composer's sixteen string quartets spread across a pe riod of four months, spanning both 2026 and 2027. It began earlier this month, and I had booked much in advance the concert on Sunday, May 24, featuring Beethoven's string quartet number 4 in C minor, Opus 18. But then our son success fully...