Another Interview at the NCPA, Coffee with Firdaus and an Evening with Verdi's Aida

Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Bombay

Another Interview at the NCPA, Coffee with Firdaus and an Evening with Verdi's Aida

     Namaste from Bombay!
     So I was back to waking up at 5.00 am--which is not a bad thing as the loss of morning time tends to push my entire day back. I followed my routine steps of blogging, reading and catching up with world news through Twitter.
     Since I had a long day ahead of me, I did not go to the gym. Instead I had my breakfast of muesli and coffee while watching House Hunters International (in Antwerp and Okinawa) and then made myself a sandwich (with chicken cutlets, a lick of HP Sauce and cheddar cheese with mayo--sounds weird but was delish!) for my lunch. I hopped into the shower, dressed (slightly smarter today as I had an evening out with one of opera's greatest heroines, Aida) and then left my flat at 9.30 to catch a bus to the station. Surprisingly, I got the 9.45 am Bandra local train (it was late departing) and was at the NCPA library by 10.45 all set to start another day's work.

An Interview with the Director of Western Music at the NCPA:
     Instead of going straight to my seat in the library upstairs, I went to the Reception and asked for Xerxes, Director of the Western Music Program, to reschedule our interview appointment (he had called in sick two days ago). It turned out that he could see me right away and we sat down in the Opera section of the Music library for a chat. Xerxes was just a brilliant subject to interview and filled me with wonderful details about his own career path. He is such a good example of how Western music education can lead to a successful career in a city like Bombay. What a fascinating hour I spent with him!
     Then, it was back to swatting for me as my research on Theater Group continued from Alyque Padamsee's autobiography A Double Life. My early breakfast left me with hunger pangs by 12. 45 but I continued till 1.00 pm when I had my sandwich lunch. Back at my desk, I texted my friend Firdaus who is back in Bombay from 6 weeks of travel in the UK and Italy. It turns out that he too would be at the HDLive evening screening from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York of Verdi's Aida. It was a no-brainer to make plans to meet an hour earlier for coffee. And with those plans sorted, I got back to my reading. I was delighted to finish the book--which now makes me well prepared for my interview with the author and with the many people who worked closely with him in Bombay theater from the 1960s to the millennium.

Coffee with Fridaus:
     I closed shop at 4.45 pm when Firdaus texted me to tell me that he had arrived at the entrance of Godrej Theater. It was fabulous to see him again as I did not have a chance to do so when I had first arrived in Bombay as he had headed, at about that time, for Europe. Firdaus is one of my closest friends--we were together at Oxford having both received scholarships from the British Council to study the Modern British Novel at Exeter College. In addition to our love for Literature (he is one of the most voracious readers I know), we share a common passion for travel, theater and operatic music. A true Renaissance Man, Firdaus retired as Chief Financial Office of the Tata Group in Bombay but along the way managed to pick up a Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate degrees in English Literature, taught English to Masters' level students at the University of Bombay and has traveled all over the world chasing new critical writings on Graham Greene. It is always a joy to see him.
     He led me across the street to a lovely coffee shop in the lobby of a five-star hotel (I believe it was the Trident, though I will need to confirm this) where we settled down with Americanos (decaf for me) and gabbed. He told me all about his travels in Europe and began with the following words, "See Ravenna and Die!" I told him I had been prepared for death since July! He also had the good fortunes of visiting the smaller islands off the coast of Naples--apart from Capri (where I have been), there are Ischia and Procida which he visited (I have not). He also went to Trieste in Italy following in the footsteps of James Joyce--except that he said the properties associated with his life have not been maintained. Firdaus caught a whole lot of great opera and theater in London and shared some of his impressions with me.

Finally! Aida at the NCPA:
     We left the coffee shop when my friends started texting me. They had started to arrive at the Godrej Theater which screens the HDLive shows from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Firdaus was meeting his Italian friend Golfredo and he introduced me to him as I introduced Firdaus to my friends--Shahnaz, Nafisa and Marisa. Then, it was time to go into the lobby where people milled around. I was surprised to find a much younger crowd than I expected. Yes, here were a lot of what the British would call 'Pensioners' and the Americans would call "Seniors" and the Indians would call "Senior Citizens"; but there were teenagers and some children in the audience too--something I have never seen in the US when Llew and I go for similar screenings.
     As for the show, well, what can I say? It was simply superlative. Since I am now reading my blog posts from ten years ago, I remembered only two days that, that I had seen Aida before--at the ENO (English National Opera) in London in a live production whose costumes were handled by the famed British couturier Zandra Rhodes. Here is my blog post on Aida, that I saw live in London from ten years ago:

Then, it was time for me to close shop for a week and make my way towards the London Coliseum where Guiseppe Verdi's Aida was on at the English National Opera. I was delighted to discover that though I purchased a ticket for 20 pounds, I was able to move to the 50 pound seats as so many of them remained unoccupied. If there is only opera one can see in a lifetime, I truly believe it should be Aida for every element that constitutes classic opera is present in fullest measure. Take the plot, for instance. This one is full of intrigue and passion. Take the setting. This one is set in ancient Egypt. Take costumes. This one had a wardrobe designed by one of Britain's most talented contemporary designers, the flamboyant, pink-haired Zandra Rhodes. To say that they were sumptuous would be an understatement. Take stage design. This one was spectacular with turquoise blue and flaming orange dominating the color palate and repeated both in the props and the costumes. Take the music...Aida has some of opera's best-known melodies such as The Triumphal March and Celeste Aida and they were sung by virtuosos from Jane Dutton's stunning Amneris to John Hudson's Radames, from Ian Paterson's Amonasro to Claire Rutter's Aida. My favorite artiste was Jane Dutton whose strong mezzo soprano voice soared to the rafters of the ornate Edwardian hall with its plush boxes and its frescoed ceilings. What a treat it was to be able to listen to such fantastic music in such a lush production! It was nothing short of extraordinary!

And here are my impressions of the same show, ten years later, screened in Bombay live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York:
      I have waited a long time to see Anna Netrebko perform. About six years ago, my friend Ira Hymoff, another huge opera buff, had told me that she was the world's reigning soprano diva. I had tried to find shows in which she performed live but tickets were always sold out. Perhaps it was fated that I would finally see her in the greatest role written for a soprano--as Verdi's Aida. And that too from the Met which pulled out all the stops to present us with a show that was staggering in impact.
     Based on the fictitious story of the love for Radames by two women, the Ethiopian slave Aida who is actually a princess and Amneris (daughter of the Pharaoh), the story is set in Egypt and presents all of the ingredients that make opera spectacular. Llew saw it in Fairfield last week and he could not stop raving about it as he texted me throughout the two intermissions. I would agree with him that "the sets were movie standard". Indeed, they towered on a stage that was at least six storeys high. They achieved this effect by using hydraulic lifts (if you can believe it!) that were powered by oil.  They had horses (yes, real ones!) on stage pulling chariots and carriages. The costumes were dazzling in a cool color palette of vanilla with gold, turquoise and sea green highlights. One expected Netrebko to shine, but who could imagine that mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili as Amneris would compete with her, note for note, and almost upstaged her. It was truly a tour de force of outstanding virtuosity that left us reeling by the end of Act IV. All of the passion, jealousy, ardor that characterize a love triangle were in evidence, matched by great acting and stirring music. I reiterate what I had said ten years ago: if one is to see only one opera in one's lifetime, it ought to be Aida.
     It was 10.00 pm when it ended--the backstage interviews and two intermissions during which we bought chicken sandwiches and cold coffee (meaning that my friends did--I avoided the caffeine) contributed to the total running time. Nafisa who had driven to the venue gave us a lift to Churchgate Station after which Shahnaz, Marisa and I hoped into a train and were in Bandra in less than half an hour. En route, we could not stop talking about Aida and are now making plans to see the next one: Saint-Saens' Samson and Delilah in early November. What a boon it is to have these shows right here in Bombay! And what a boon it is to have found friends that share such esoteric interests as opera. Marisa could not stop thanking me for telling her about the screening--she had also seen it live, two years ago, in San Diego. California.
     We shared a rick, dropped Marisa off, then I got off as Shahnaz continued on to Pali Hill.
     What an incredible day!
     Until tomorrow....