Musical notes from violin, cello, flute, trumpet, viola and kettledrum echoed inside Kamani Auditorium when the Neemrana Music Foundation Choir and members of the Indo-Italian chamber orchestra came together to celebrate the two hundred years of the great composer Giuseppe Verdi, an Italian romantic musician known for his operas.
The Embassy of Italy and Indian Council for Cultural Relations organised this gala concert of Verdi’s most famous arias and choruses with chamber of orchestra. It was conducted by maestro Marco Balderi, who is known for his acclaimed productions of Madama Butterfly at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and the Opera Bastille in Paris as well as Georges Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers in the Capital. He has studied numerous symphonic works , including all the symphonies of Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky. Mozart and Schumann and over 200 operas.
Since, the evening was dedicated to recitals from the popular operas of Verdi, it started with one of the acts from Nabucco, a four act opera composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi. Based on the biblical story and the 1836 play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornue, the Chamber of Orchestra’s musical piece enthralled everyone in the audience.
It was just a hint to the musical extravaganza that the audience were set out to experience that evening. It was time for the Sopranos (classical female singing voice in operas) performance. Soprano Ashwati Parameshwar recited a piece from Un ballo in maschera ( A masked ball). Then came the Tenor ( those who sing lowest notes) Prabhat Chandola reciting an act from Il Trovatore. Ramya Roy and Tara Kumaravelu also rendered lines from the same opera.
While David Sotigu and Bhanu Sharma performed on La Traviata, a story of Violetta, who was in search for the love of her life. Violetta keeps wondering about Alfredo, a man brought by a friend to a party she is hosting. He also turns out to be the she had been looking for. Alfredo and Violetta fall in love and live together for a short while before they are separated. Eventually the lovers are reunited. Alfredo suggests that they leave Paris, but it turns out to be too late as she dies in Alfredo’s arms.