Gig Stream/ NCPA@home, western classical, folk

By Narendra Kusnur

Event: NCPA@home
Artistes: Symphony Orchestra of India, Manganiyar Troupe
Details: Streaming of earlier concerts
Genres: Western classical/ Rajasthani folk
Rating: ****

Following the lockdown and lack of opportunities to perform live, many musicians are streaming directly from home. And with some venues being shut down, they are doing their best for their patrons and audiences.

The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) has thus started the NCPA@home series where viewers can watch recordings of shows held earlier. The daily transmission, which began on Friday April 3, starts at 6 pm, and right now, a week's programme has been announced, covering the fields of music and dance. If one missed the premiere, the shows will be available on the NCPA’s YouTube page for a week after the first streaming.

This blogger checked out the first two days of this ‘event’. On Friday, the rendition of Mozart’s 35th (Haffner) Symphony at the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre was aired. Played by the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI), it was conducted by Marat Bisengaliev, and earlier performed in 2016.

The symphony, written in 1782, is in four movements. It was commissioned by the famous Haffner family of Salzburg, Austria, and thus the name. The opening Allegro Con Spirito is said to be played “with fire” and is energetic all through. After the serious and slow Allegro, the Menuetto has an air of brightness. The finale is the Presto, which has the vibrancy of the opening movement.

Besides the coordination of strings, the piece makes elaborate use of flute, bassoon, oboe, horn and trumpet. The video recording focuses on the musicians well, and the sound is clear. However, it’s a short symphony and with the encore, the programme lasted barely 30 minutes. Perhaps, going forward, the team could consider showing two classical pieces adding up to an hour of viewership.

The second day featured the brilliant live audio-visual The Manganiyar Seduction, conceived and directed by Roysten Abel. A folk community from Rajasthan, the Manganiyars have been represented at various festivals and events in India, using traditional instruments like Sindhi sarangi, khamaicha, morchang, bhapang, khartal, alghoza and dhol, blended with vocals that take from Rajasthani, Sufi and Sindhi texts.

What differentiated this performance was the concept, and the way the show was structured. Rather than having the musicians play in the regular sitting or standing format, the stage was divided into four horizontal tiers with two or three musicians sitting in each cubicle. The lights would focus only on those musicians playing, and the rest of the stage would be dark. For the climax, of course, the whole area was lit up, with all playing simultaneously.

Needless to say, the music gave gooseflesh. After a lengthy rendition of Baba Bulleh Shah’s ‘Alfat’, the troupe rendered a short Meera bhajan. The total length of an hour and 16 minutes was just perfect. The only glitch was that for the first few minutes, the volume was too low, though they settled in a while.

Over the next few days, one may look forward to some interesting shows in Indian dance, folk music, western classical and jazz. Even if you have attended the concerts earlier, these would be worth it.