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Romanian magic
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The Magical Duo sets the mood for evenings at the Mynt
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I like people who like to make a statement with their music, not just rhythm Eddy Constantin
HARMONIOUS Both Tina and Eddy initially trained in classical music PHOTO: BHAGYA PRAKASH K.
The Italian restaurant Mynt at The Taj West End now has a Romanian flavour. Tina Florentina and Eddy Constantin, who together make up the Magical Duo, liven up the evenings there. Together for the past three years, they have earlier performed at the Taj Palace in New Delhi.
Speaking in heavily accented East European English, they are shy but after assurances that I can indeed understand them, they open up. "Bangalore is very nice. The first thing that we noticed was the traffic and then the special food. Also we like the rhythm in the Indian music."
Tina and Eddy are the new generation of Romanians who were grew up under communism but now ply their trade on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
"Yes, we are from the communist era and we studied music in our school sponsored by the government. Before the revolution it was good, everyone went to school and it was the government's responsibility. Everything was free, including books," recalls Eddy with a tinge of nostalgia in his gravelly voice."Now also it is okay. More democracy, but you have to pay more," laughs Tina.
The duo, as is custom there, started training in classical music. "I started with the violin and piano. Later I switched to the guitar because I found the violin too boring. The guitar has a better rhythm and you can have a better expression. Soon I discovered country music and reggae. It was good to learn first on the violin and then put that to use with the six-string guitar," says Eddy, who adds that he soon rebelled by becoming part of a rock band.
"I played in a rock band when I was 18. It was called Message. We played Beatles, Van Halen, Europe and Bon Jovi. We tried to follow them. My personal favourite was Elvis Presley. I like people who like to make a statement with their music, not just rhythm."
It is the same story with Tina who chose pop instead of opera. "I started in my town as part of `culture building' for the youth. I had vocal training for the first few years and my teacher told me to go to the opera. But I said I didn't like opera and switched to pop," she says.
The two begin their performance every day (except Mondays) after 8 p.m. and play music that encompasses a variety of genres. They say they tailor their performance according to the crowd. "We are a small band. We try to play for the people. We first see the crowd and then decide the music based on the mood. Our repertoire includes ballads, Latin and pop. We try to vary our styles and want to do more jazz."
A.S.
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