Now in its sixth year, Con Brio (With Brightness) is one of several western music festivals/competitions held in Bombay and saw significant participation by Parsis. The Experimental Theatre at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) was once again the venue for the event held from July 12 to 19, 2015.
This season, two presentations were the highlight — an arrangement of the Choral of Ludwig von Beethoven’s 9th Symphony for eight grand pianos and Vanraj Bhatia’s opera Agnivarsha. The arrangement of the Choral, Ode to Joy, was written for 32 hands by Parvesh Java, each grand piano played by duos. The well-known music was sung in English instead of Friedrich Schiller’s original German poem. The melodic line (distinctive sequences) was distributed between pianos and voices with no orchestration. Java, whose mother is a Parsi, thrives on experimentation and was festival director of Con Brio, conducting both the choral works. With one or two exceptions, the artistes are mainly of Indian origin. Mark Troop and Paul Stewart have entertained festival perennials every year, with Troop being at the piano for both works.
(Top, l-r): Navroze Godrej, Farah Ghadiali and Kersi Gazdar
This was the world premier for Bhatia’s opera where only act three, ‘The Wedding Scene,’ was performed. Equally comfortable with Indian ragas and the western classical tradition, Bhatia incorporates both styles in his compositions. The setting is in India a few centuries ago. Librettist Rani Day Burra created the story of lovers from different castes who decide to marry despite taboos and patriarchal domination. However, due to ill fate the bride Nitilai is married off to another when the groom-to-be, Aravasu, fails to show up for the marriage as he is compelled to stop on his way when he sees his cousin’s decapitated head. Stage director Rehaan Engineer conceptualized the choreography and development of this last act.
Soprano Farah Ghadiali played Nitilai, intercepting her studies at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London between year one and two to take part in the festival. Navroze Godrej was Nitilai’s father who marries off his daughter to a man from among those assembled. Kersi Gazdar played the unlucky groom-to-be. The other Parsi connection was Coomi Wadia who trained the Paranjoti Academy Chorus along with Java, as one of four participating choirs.
The Bombay Chamber Orchestra (BCO) performed under the leadership of founder Jini Dinshaw. Zubin Behram-Kamdin, Freddy Dinshaw, Sherna Doongaji and Shalom Palkhivala also performed with other members of the BCO.
On the final day, July 19, when prizes for the competition were awarded, Ghadiali sang the lighthearted Mein Herr Marquis from Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus (The Bat). The full houses encouraged the organizers to hold an unscheduled Sunday matinée for those who had been unable to attend the performances of Beethoven and Bhatia on July 17 and 18. The last evening must stay with the audience until the next festival in autumn 2016.
Sponsored by Furtados, the music shop which is celebrating 150 years of making available a variety of music books and instruments to music lovers all over the country, Con Brio’s main schema is a pan India piano competition for players of Indian origin. The music event also offers instrumental solos, chamber music, voice performances, choral works, operas and operettas. At such festivals, past awardees also perform. Three performers are selected and the winner is assisted to train abroad.