HYDERABAD: “Art celebrates dissimilarities connecting everyone to one point of happiness,” said Roopa Mahadevan the US-based Carnatic vocalist as she and her group ‘Roopa in Flux’ floored the audience at The Park recently as part of the six-city-tour of The Park’s New Festival curated by Prakriti Foundation. She along with her team members Guy Mintus on piano and Anjna Swaminathan on violin created magic with their compositions. No wonder at the end of the concert they received a standing ovation.
The ‘essays’ by the musical ensemble borrowed from jazz, classical and soul idioms surprised and entertained with passionately crafted pieces. The three musicians were perfectly in sync with one another. Shared Roopa, “We all bonded over friendship and decided to perform together for the festival.” It was not just her powerful voice that had deep renderings of Indian and Western music, the pianist Guy Mintus, with his unique style combined with few vocals in Sanskrit, was almost the ‘Pied Piper of Hamelin’ when he along with Roopa and Anjna walked amidst the chairs continuing the rhythm. The audience demanded more clapping and humming tunes.
The New York based Israeli pianist blended jazz with melodies from Ottoman music, Indian ragas, Moroccan rhythms to create the exquisite style that can belong to one with immeasurable passion for music. “The mysticism in my music comes from Jewish Kabbalah and Hindu traditions. I am drawn to the philosophies the thinkers left behind.” After his musical tours in Israel and Europe he’s going to dedicate three months to write an orchestra piece.