Towards the end of our conversation, The National Centre of the Performing Art’s chairman Khushroo N. Suntook takes out a stack of photographs. Some of them are with ace conductor Zubin Mehta, and a few are with actors Sir Ian McKellen and Aamir Khan. Many others were taken at various events featuring the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI).
The SOI has been performing in Mumbai twice a year, mostly in February and September. This evening, a special series is being unveiled, to mark a decade since its formation. Niccolo Paganini’s ‘Violin Concerto No. 1’ and Johannes Brahms’ ‘Symphony No. 1’ will be conducted by the celebrated Martyn Brabbins.
To mark the celebration, four additional shows have been lined up this month. SOI music director Marat Bisengaliev and associate music director Zane Dalal will conduct some performances. The repertoire includes compositions of Gustav Holst, Gustav Mahler, Dmitri Shostakovich, Edward Elgar and Johann Strauss II. Interestingly, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig Van Beethoven and Pyotr Tchaikovsky don’t make it to this list.
“The Mumbai audience has grown and diversified its interests,” says Suntook. “Much against popular belief, there are a lot of non-Parsis in the audience today. The Catholics have always been into Western classical, but now we find more South Indians and people from West Bengal attending our shows.”
The SOI has had a long journey so far. “There have been nightmares and dreams,” Suntook says. Back in 2003, he had seen violinist Bisengaliev perform in London. He talked of his idea of forming a professional orchestra in India, something that NCPA founder Jamshed Bhabha was excited about too.
“Many other Asian countries have a professional symphony orchestra. China has many,” says Suntook. “Here, we had this defence that we had our own great classical music, and thus there was no need for Western music to be given importance. I would say we should stop playing cricket and tennis, and stick to kabaddi and hu-tu-tu .”
Bisengaliev soon came to India for a few concerts, and was appointed music director. A lot of work went into preparing the orchestra, and in September 2006, it had its first performance with Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Nutcracker’, conducted by Fuat Mansurov.
A couple of years later, Dalal was recommended by someone who knew Suntook. After being resident conductor for seven years, he was made associate music director. “They complement each other very well,” he says. “Marat is very involved with the teaching and spends a lot of time with children at the Special Music Training Programme. He is wonderful with violin technique and well-versed with the east European school. Zane has studied music at Oxford, and knows a lot about history and theory of music, and opera.”
Though Bisengaliev and Dalal spend a lot of time abroad with their other commitments, they are regularly in touch with Suntook regarding the orchestra. One of the early problems they discussed was the shortage of adequate Indian musicians.
According to Suntook, in the short term, one could not find many local musicians with good calibre. “There were a few, who have been with us from the beginning. But the number was small,” he says. “So we got a lot of talent from abroad. In the long run, we decided to train more and more Indians, especially children. Today, we have about 35 Indians who play from time to time. The aim is to take that to 100 or more.”
Every season, the programme has been decided among Suntook, Bisengaliev and Dalal. The idea is not to feature the same composers repeatedly or stick to only the popular names. The NCPA chairman adds, “At the same time, we cannot overeducate the audience by playing rare compositions.”
Over 10 years, renowned conductors like Charles Dutoit, Karl Jenkins, Augustin Dumay, Yuri Simonov, Lior Shambadal, Adrian Leaper, Alexander Anissimov and Christoph Poppen have made appearances. Memorable performances have included Richard Strauss’s ‘Don Juan’, Igor Stravinsky’s ‘Firebird’, Beethoven’s ‘Symphony No 9’ and Giacomo Puccini’s opera ‘Madama Butterfly’.
A special highlight was the ‘Triple Concerto’ in 2013, conducted by Bisengaliev and featuring Ustad Zakir Hussain on tabla, Bela Fleck on banjo and Edgar Meyer on bass. “We are open to more such performances blending Indian and western music.”
Besides numerous shows abroad, SOI also has chamber music concerts at the Prithvi Theatre in Juhu. “Another initiative is the Special Music Training Programme, which brings a professional level of teaching to gifted young musicians,” adds the chairman of the NCPA.
The aim obviously is to groom more young Indian musicians and prepare them to play for SOI. “This is our real plan,” Suntook says, opening a brochure and showing a group of children playing the violin or cello. Surely, the musical waves are moving in the right direction.
The author is a freelance music writer
The SOI will perform today at 7 p.m. and on September 17, 22, 27 and 30. Visit ncpamumbai.com for timings and ticket details.
