After performing with the Bangalore City Chamber Orchestra at the SAIACS CEO centre
auditorium, Bangalore, the next performance of the extraordinary musicians was
in Goa, at Kala Academy, Panjim, with 90 minutes of music, all classics by
Christoph Willibald Gluck, Gioachino Rossini, Bela Bartók, Samuel Barber,
Antonio Vivaldi, Anton Arensky, etc. Opus Gala in collaboration with the
Directorate of Art and Culture and Kala Academy presented ‘A Midsummer’s Night
Dream’, an evening of orchestral music. A young musician, Joris Decolvenaer,
was conducting the orchestra for the first time, making his debut in Bangalore
and then Goa. Accompanied with the talented musicians, the orchestra received
two encores and a standing ovation after the concert with many music lovers
rooted to their seats waiting for more.
Opus Gala has been working closely with
musicians and conductors from Germany and this is their first interaction with
musicians from Belgium. Speaking about the orchestra, Schubert Cotta, who heads
Opus Gala, informs, “The Chamber Orchestra of Goa together with the Bangalore
City Chamber Orchestra (BCCO) completed their first season with their final
concert at the Kala Academy, Goa after having had concert on May 4 and 5 in
Bangalore. The programme consisted of a range of works, seven Romanian folk
dances by Bela Bartok, two Arias by composers G Rossini and C W Gluck featuring
Mezzo- Soprano Tanisha Herbert as soloist, the famous Adagio by S Barber, the
‘Summer’ from A Vivaldi’s four seasons with Goa’s very own Sanya Cotta as soloist
on the violin and Variations on a theme of Tchaikovsky by A Arensky. As special
encore, there was a special arrangement by conductor Joris Decolvenaer of
‘Tujhe Dekha Toh’ from the movie ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’.”
He adds, “The orchestra rehearsed for five days in Bangalore
with rehearsals going up to nine hours every day. The orchestra musicians are
carefully selected and consisted of the best string players from various parts
of India including Goa, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune
and even Sri Lanka.”
Another feather in the cap for this concert was a special
acoustic shell designed and fabricated by Rui Lobo, a musician and engineer
from Goa. For the first time in nearly 40 years, the Kala Academy Dinanath
Mangeshkar Hall experienced the benefit of an acoustic shell which also added
to the visual beauty of the performance.
The concert was tastefully presented with excellent chamber
offering and Joris worked well with the musicians with good tempo training. The
ensemble playing was of a very high talent. The orchestra supported the voice
of Soprano Tanisha Herbert very well with the right accompaniments. The
musicians from Goa comprised Sanya Cotta (Concert Master), Eshvita Menezes,
Frederika Cotta, Judyline Fernandes, Syanna Fernandes and Leo Velho. Andrea
Leitan, of Sri Lankan and Goan origin, was also part of the ensemble.
Lisa
Dias-Noronha of Opus Gala is confident in the younger generation taking the
music scene very seriously. “Opus Gala is a well knitted family that works on
music and art; the younger generation is creating programmes and planning out
even the smallest details. They are even composing music for Konkani films and
taking over music. Dayn Cotta is a silent worker yet amazing as he puts
together everything for the concerts,” says Lisa.