Feast on western classical at NCPA

MUMBAI: “Putting together a musical programme is like planning a delicious meal,” says Harvey de Souza, a Sangat 2010 organizer. “You have to make sure all the different courses follow on from each other or it’ll be unpalatable for your audience.”
Harvey is helping cook up the three-day Chamber Music Festival, where top musicians from around the world meet in Mumbai to play a selection of western classical music, including works by Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Mozart and Puccini.
“If, for example, you’re going to have pieces by Brahms in F minor and then Mozart in G minor, you have to have something like Haydn in C Major for dessert to lighten the mood again, or your audience may leave feeling very depressed,” explains Harvey.
Internationally renowned musicians are flying in from San Francisco, London, Paris, Berlin, Santa Fe and Sri Lanka to take part in the musical feast at NCPA. They all have busy schedules touring the world’s greatest music halls, but are happy to waive their fees and find time to take part in Sangat.
Carla Maria Rodrigues, Principal Viola of the San Francisco Opera, explains why: “Taking part is Sangat reminds us all why we’re musicians . In our day-to-day lives, we all play for the love of music but we also have to earn a living. But being here is not about the money or thinking about what agents might be in the audience. It’s just about playing together and being ambassadors for classical music.”
Musicians are also talking part in master classes throughout the week, helping inspire and teach students of the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation. The foundation currently has 1,000 students and a further 1,000 on its waiting list — a number that’s growing all the time. With this growing interest in western classical music, there’s no reason why in a couple of decades the Sangat festival couldn’t be made up of Indian musicians , says Harvey.
From lovesick adolescents to worried businessmen , there is something for everyone, he adds. “The music is so relevant to our lives,” says Harvey. “Mozart may have been born over 250 years ago, but he wrote music about things that matter to us today; heartbroken teenagers , desperation and economic destitution.”
Those interested can also attend the rehearsals, running from 9 am to 5 pm at NCPA until Thursday .