Operatic ode: Indian roots in Western sensibilities

Music often moves a storyline forward, through a mix of drama loaded with emotions. In the authentic opera, which has its origins in Italy, there is a celebration of the melodic splendour of this art form. Giving a glimpse of the same is the musical production, Opera Celebrating India, which is all set to be staged in the Capital.

Composed by The Neemrana Music Foundation, on the occasion of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the concert will be staged as part of One Ocean Events, performance art series. It endeavours to showcase the rich landscape and mythology of India, which has inspired European opera makers for hundreds of years. The musical production has 16 excerpts, and songs and scenes in five languages — German, French, Italian, Spanish and English — which will be performed by soloists accompanied by the vocal ensemble and children’s choir.

Savitri composed by Gustav Holst, which is based on the episode of Savitri and Satyavan from the Mahabharata, will be sung by Anuja Thirani. She has two solos in the show, one in English and another in French, and shares, “Savitri is a classic story where death comes to take her husband Satyavan, and she is negotiating with death. At the end, Savitri wins. One can see why such stories fascinated the West. It is an amazing amalgamation of Indian culture with western operatic music. I will also be playing Sundra, in the street scene of the 1922 French opera The Fakir of Benaras.There in I’ll be accompanied by the children’s choir, who will sing in French. We will be staging a couple of scenes from this opera.”

Another section, which is from the opera I Were King, will have Akash Gadamsetty performing on the stage. The soloist and chorist was introduced to the world of opera back in 2015. Today, prepping to deliver his two solos and one duet in the upcoming production, he says, “It’s a party song and I have a choir accompanying me. One of the intense roles I’m doing is in Jessonda (by Louis Spohr, written in 1822), which is about the sati (an abolished practice that was earlier followed by widows who sacrificed their lives in their husband’s funeral pyre) of a woman who has just lost her husband. I’m playing the part of a Portuguese boy who falls in love with the widow and tries to save her life.”

Promising to be an enjoyable evening, for both music connoisseurs as well as first-time opera goers, the production has a lot to offer. “Some of the items are really authentic, they are texts from Mahabharata, compositions incorporated with Indian music and others who are fantasising about the East,” informs Aude Priya Wacziarg Engel, managing trustee of the foundation, which had produced the first-ever opera that was staged in the Capital in 2002, by filmmaker Muzaffar Ali. “In many ways, opera is like Bollywood. It has simple storylines all about emotions and a lot of costumes, dancing and singing. Opera is more singing than Bollywood, and this is why we thought this art form can do well in India. To help people relate to it, we thought of sourcing an opera set in India. And while doing this, we realised how much India has been a source of inspiration for opera. We wanted to present that while celebrating 75 years of India’s independence,” she adds, and Jasmin Martorell, head of the voice department at the foundation, says, “It is a great pleasure for me to work with Indian students and help them discover their operatic voices and western classical music. I am very pleased with the beautiful results.”

Catch It Live

What: Opera Celebrating India

Where: Auditorium, Baha’i House of Worship, Lotus Temple, Kalkaji

When: May 29

Timing: 6.30pm

Nearest Metro Station: Kalkaji Mandir on Violet and Pink Lines

Author tweets @AngelaPaljor

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