The best of both

MUSICAL SYMPHONY

The members of ‘The Rockridge Chorale’ from the United States of America and ‘The Minsteracres Rubato Singers’ recently performed in a concert titled ‘Choruses Without Borders’.

They performed to a packed audience at the Mount Carmel College. The popular chorale group joined hands with ‘Little Voices Happy Hearts’, a group of young boys from St Mary’s Boys Orphanage. It was a charity event meant to raise funds for children and adults, suffering from problems with mobility and pain arising from illnesses like cerebral palsy and chronic arthritis. And people came forward to donate rather generously.

The two choirs were conducted by Camille de Sam Lazaro and Devi de Sam Lazaro. Both sisters, born in Shanghai, spent their childhood in Bangalore and later moved overseas. “We were both born in a family of musicians and were surrounded by music. Getting into performing and conducting was a natural progression,” said Camille.

She added, “None of the choir members are professional singers but they’ve picked the notes and some of them can even read music today. They are volunteers who’ve come foward to learn and perform classical music.”
     
The concert opened with ‘Cantique de Jean Racine’, a piece written by 19-year-old Gabriel Faure who won the first prize for the piece when he graduated from Ecole Niedermeyer. Next was ‘Hear My Prayer’ composed by Felix Mendelssohn. The soloists brought out the mood of the piece. Next was a piece, titled ‘Rhythm of Life’.

It was from ‘Sweet Charity’, a musical based on Fellini's screenplay for ‘Nights of Cabiria’. A vibrant piece titled ‘Mi Vida, Mi Cancion’, by Jay Althouse, reflected the tango rhythms of South America. This song paired Latin rhythms with close choral chords and its passionate text alternated between Spanish and English.

Another interesting piece ‘Con Te Partiro’ (which means time to say goodbye) was popularised by Andrea Bocelli, who first sang this Italian classical crossover song by Francesco Sartori and Lucio Quarantotto in 1995. The choir was careful to retain the originality of the piece. Another song ‘Pastyme in Goode Companye’, written by King Henry VIII, was about the good and bad side of life.

The choir in a performance, which was two and a half hours long, sang a set of 21 songs and the audience was treated to a mix of Bohemian classical and popular broadway pieces.  “Bangalore always has something happening on the music front and I am regular to most concerts. This performance was exceptionally good. It wasn’t too heavy but had the best of classical and Broadway,” said Andrew Francis, a member of the audience.