Stiffly starched Bengal cottons. Dresses, in black, blue and gold. Flamboyant anarkalis, designer saris, elegant salwar kameezes and sharp suits. Bowties, black ties and of course, there were some with no ties. Nehru jackets. Gucci purses and jholas. It was an evening, when Chennai in its own characteristic manner took a ‘black tie’ event and made it, its own.
The red carpet was rolled out and beautiful, twinkly lights hung in bunches around the many trees and plants. And the city was out to have a good time.
Krish Kumar, who is the head of operations of Sir Mutha Venkata Subba Rao Concert Hall, in his opening note ahead of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s performance held on March 29, told the audience, “Good evening! You look wonderful tonight.”
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The event showcased the city at its best to the performers and vice versa. The audience was a generous mix of the young and the old, college kids and celebrities, performing artistes, the musically knowledgeable and novices out to explore a new genre, all of whom arrived on time for one of those rare events of a large scale that began on time too.
Even as the orchestra performed, the audience put its best foot forward. Very few left their seats in between and hardly a mobile phone rang. The anticipation in the air was palpable as was the respect for the artists.
Apoorva Satish, an aspiring filmmaker and pianist who attended the event says, “I have always been a huge fan of BBC SSO. Especially ever since I saw them perform the introductory music of the song ‘Oruvan oruvan mudhalali’ from the film ‘Muthu’ on Youtube. The event was well-organised and the set up was definitely very classy. I was thrilled to be a part of this one-of-a-kind event, which was also my first black-tie one. As a student of music (Carnatic and Western), I felt really lucky to have witnessed a professional symphony orchestra perform. And in my opinion, the best part of their performance was the overture. It sounded magnificent!”
Jayshree Venkatesan, city-based playwright, says, “It was an aesthetic and sensorial treat to watch the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Chennai with such a turn out and the audience showed how truly global Chennai is… Kudos to Krish and his team for their impeccable planning and execution of the event! I just loved the way James Macmillan conducted the music and hats off to the musicians; the notes, the cues, and the symphony as a whole was just perfect. I never felt a dull moment through the concert.”
Here’s hoping that the evening that featured violinist Nicola Benedetti with the BBCSSO marks the beginning of the coming together of an appreciative audience for this genre, and we certainly look forward to the many talented local orchestras too performing live.