Minoo Golvala’s singing of The Loveliest Night of the Year had earned him the monicker of "Mario Lanza of Bombay” in the 1960s. Even six decades later when news of the 88-year-old tenor’s death in London was reported in the Bombay newspapers, the opening sentence introduced him with the same epithet. The Bombay born singer, actor and teacher who had pursued music as a career in London succumbed to cancer on January 19, 2024.
His first West End show was Gone with the Wind in 1972, it was reported on broadwayworld.com. He had also performed in the musical version of Two Gentlemen of Verona, had sung at the Royal Opera House, and toured with the prestigious Glyndebourne company. Earlier he had sung as a tenor in the chorus for Capriccio, 1964 and L’Ormindo, 1968. Among the television series where he had enacted different roles were Tandoori Nights, Wainwrights’ Law, Grange Hill, The Duchess of Duke Street, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum…
Minoo Golvala: stellar singer
Until he was in his 70s he continued to teach singing at the Italia Conti in central London, one of the leading performing arts institutions in the UK, mentioned his wife Soonu (née Cooper who had adopted the stage name Sunita) in a brief telephonic chat with Parsiana. He also gave private lessons in singing and piano. Their home always "resonated with music and dance,” remarked the couple’s younger son Zubin Varla. Sunita being an exponent of Bharat Natyam and Kathak had received the distinguished honor of Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2017 "for services to South Asian Dance in the UK (see "MBE for danseuse,” Zoroastrians Abroad, Parsiana, February 21, 2017).” Zubin who had started receiving piano lessons from his father at the age of five remembers that he and his older brother Charez were often required to provide piano accompaniment to their father while "he was investigating Schubert and Schuman song cycles.”
Both Sunita and Minoo had studied at St Xavier’s College. After their marriage in Bombay they settled in London in 1965, stated Sunita. In London, Minoo had trained at the Guildhall School of Music under Welsh tenor Parry-Jones, it was reported on bbashakespeare.warwick.ac.uk. Earlier he had been awarded a scholarship to the Conservatory in Rome.
In addition to their stage performances, the duo was involved in teaching. While Minoo taught music, Sunita taught dance at the Nava-kala Dance Academy that she launched in 1968. Despite their involvement in different art forms the duo would come together for collaborations, recalled Sunita. One such was the concert in 1994 when Sunita choreographed a dance ballet to the music of Songs of a Wayfarer.
Post retirement, Minoo devoted his time to penning his memoirs that resulted in Glyndebourne Summer and Bitter Strawberries, both books published in 2015 by Amazon.co.uk. Growing up in Bombay as an only son in a middle class family, his adolescent years were marked by success in dramatics, creating cartoons and drawing for the school magazine. Popular Bombay band leader Goody Seervai had assisted him in launching his career as a singer that led to his interest in opera.