At the Museum Theatre in Egmore, an old story of love and loss will unfold beneath the music of a live chamber orchestra. On September 10 and 11, the 133-year-old Madras Musical Association Choir (MMA) and Chamber Orchestra will stage Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, an opera, that has travelled more than three centuries.
For conductor Augustine Paul, the story needs little introduction. He says, “The same theme is there from olden days. Shakespeare has been using it over and over again. And at one point of time, people preferred only tragedies. They thought comedies are very flippant, so they didn’t appreciate comedies. They wanted what you call ‘stories which can evoke heavy passions of emotions and sadness’, so Purcell rightly chose this one.”
Written in the Baroque period, Dido and Aeneas follows love, duty, betrayal, and loss. The MMA production marks the first fully staged opera in Chennai in about 50 years, according to the association.
The production also asks the musicians to enter the sound world in which Henry Purcell wrote the opera. The orchestra will use a harpsichord instead of a piano, while the singers will perform in a Baroque style. Augustine says, “The interpretation part comes from the trying to bring alive the style which was prevalent in that time. The singing, the playing of the instruments is in the Baroque style.” For MMA, the production also continues a much older relationship with Western classical music.
Then and now
Augustine traces the association’s beginnings to European musicians who performed Western music in Chennai for their own communities. Indian musicians later learnt the form and continued the work after the Europeans left in the 1950s.
Today, the MMA is attempting an opera with its own musicians and singers. “We try to produce music with our own people, for our own people. Music for the community, by the community,” Augustine says.
The opera will bring together the choir, principal soloists, Chamber Orchestra, and members of the MMA Choir in a production directed and choreographed by Deepa Nambiar. For Augustine, it is also an experiment. “We thought we’ll start with an English opera. Let’s see how it goes with the public. We may think about doing something bigger.”
Where: Museum Theatre, Egmore
When: September 10 and 11, at 7 pm
Duration: Approximately 90 minutes
Conductor: Augustine Paul
Direction and choreography: Deepa Nambiar
Tickets: Rs 500, `1,000 and `2,000
Available at: BookMyShow, MMA Choristers, Aspire Music Conservatory, Etude School of Music and Musee Musicals
