A NIGHT AT THE OPERA 🎼🎶

 

It was good to spend an evening at the Tata Theatre, NCPA, on the 3rd of August; listening to an orchestra and a choir, blending together in harmony, to play and sing a selection from various Operas.🎶

Music is always enjoyable, especially when you recognise a few of the songs; but the highlight of the day for me, was watching the 5 young boys in the 'Percussion section', trained by my friend Winston Fernandes.😊 Everyone in the audience, was very appreciative of how focussed they were, and how they did such a great job, even though playing in an Orchestra, was a first-time experience for them.👏👏👏

The informal way in which the Conductor, interacted with the audience, right through the concert, was also something that deserves to be mentioned. He introduced every song, with some interesting background information, adding a lot of humour right through, which is rare to see at a concert like this. I thought that was amazing.

I also liked how he told us about many of the instruments, being played in the Orchestra, all through the evening; right before the songs, where we would get a chance to hear that instrument prominently.👍

The 'Bombay Chamber Orchestra' was conducted by Guest Conductor, Tobias Drewelius, for this Concert. They were accompanied by 'The Cathedral Choir', which is directed by Mario Nazareth.

Farah Ghadiali (Soprano) and Kersi Gazdar (Tenor) were the Soloists for the evening and sang so beautifully.

Concerts like these usually have songs, sung primarily in Italian, which an audience in Mumbai, would not understand. However, they had actually picked a varied selection of songs, many of which were popular and well-known; and they sang many of the English versions, which was great. 🎶

Besides that, since the Conductor literally turned the Concert into a 'Workshop on Operas and Orchestras', introducing both the songs and the instruments to us, with lots and lots of background information; I was so glad I decided to go for it. The evening turned out to be a wonderful learning experience for me, and for every single person in that 'Full House' audience.

Seeing known people on stage, both in the Choir and the Orchestra, always makes the concert more enjoyable. It was also nice to meet quite a few friends in the audience, at the event.💕

BCO concerts are generally not very long, and get over earlier than most events. This one though, ended up becoming one of their longest concerts, because of all the additional information shared. Despite that, almost every person in the auditorium sat through, till the end, which means it was enjoyed by everyone there.👏👏👏