A GLIMPSE OF GUPTA
As the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 100th anniversary, Rolf Gupta is making waves.
A phone interview is, at best, a straightforward interview about a topic. And that’s what this piece was intended to be. But after an hour on the phone with Rolf Gupta, you can actually hear the Otra River flowing past his house, filled with Setesdal music and the sound of the Hardanger fiddle he played as a child. Just as vivid are the images of the dark-haired six-year-old glued to the piano in his living room. He has just discovered that he needs music. He has to play. And it is impossible not to feel the excitement of the 18-year-old who, in 1985, steps onto the podium to conduct the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra for the very first time.
Rolf Gupta speaks vividly and melodiously. With a charisma that could lead a symphony orchestra without a sound, Rolf Gupta—with sound—has a presence that comes through clearly over the phone. Perhaps the power comes from the emperors who ruled the Indian Gupta dynasty for several hundred years. Rolf’s mighty ancestors, who represented “the golden age” of Indian history. Now it is the composer Rolf Gupta who is experiencing his “golden age.”