The Neemrana Music Foundation’s forthcoming act will be an opera based on Monteverdi’s story of Orfeo. I Kaur caught up with the cast and crew during the rehearsals at Kamani Auditorium
Spotlight on stage and the sound of footsteps moving to the tune of Indian classical music is enchanting. Odissi recital by Arushi Mudgal outside a Shiva Temple is a part of the opening act. We are not talking about any contemporary folk dance performance here. It is in reference with Neemrana Music Foundation’s next, Orfeo, Crossing The Ganges. It is a baroque opera based on the age-old epic Monteverdi story of Orfeo, adapted and tweaked with an Indian subtext. Stage director François Rancillac says that the opus is an attempt to bring together the occidental and the Indian cultures together. He adds, “The performance is not Indian but has an Indian feel to it. We have tried to mix our musical moods with the Indian ragas. We have old and rare instruments from the time of Monteverdi (60s and 70s), such as the theorbo, viola de gamba, organ and harpsichord. All these instruments have been brought down from abroad along with the musicians. We also have Indian instruments like the sarangi, harmonium, Hindustani pakhawaj and shehnai.”
Dávid Szigetvári (Orfeo) who sees his love, Eurydice, in the Indian dancer makes an entry on stage while the dance sequence is still on. He tries to embrace her and she resists.
The opera starts then as the gates to the mind of Orfeo open to reveal his dream world. Says Arushi, “We go into this world inside his head where I follow him. No one can see me in that world but I can experience everything in his world. It intrigues me to see this person who is so strange because he is not from where I am. I see him falling in love with Eurydice and also see him cry over her loss. I am somebody who is not exposed to this culture, who is very traditional and is in her comfort zone. Through the act I slowly step out of this culture and step into an entirely different zone. My character develops gradually through the act. Initially I am someone who resembles Eurydice and actually leads Orfeo into his dream. But later I am his companion who has seen him go through it all.”
The story unfolds after Orfeo kidnaps Eurydice, who is in the holy service of lord Shiva, and marries her. “This provokes the fury of the God who sends the cobra around his neck to kill Eurydice. Orfeo’s quest to find his beloved is like the crossing of Ganges to reach the sacred city of Varanasi. Presumptuous victim of his illusions, Orfeo fails and is put to death,” explains Dávid.
He continues, “Orfeo is the main character, who is a semi God, hero and a man who is in love with Eurydice. However, even though he is in love with her she is not more important than his success and his ability to sing beautifully.”
According to him, the third act is intense. “It has this long song which I sing. I use all my ability to charm the God to return Eurydice. This is the most difficult part in the opera. It is very complex because it is not easy to be more of an actor than a singer while you concentrate heavily on the singing as well. I need to keep the balance and remember that I am an actor,” he says.
The opera is divided in five acts. The first half has two acts with variations of different kinds of music — slow, fast and dense. Rancillac says, “When Eurydice dies in the second act, even Orfeo changes as a character and so does the music. So we have a break and the second part has act three, four and five. It shows the the journey of Orfeo with faster music and when he dies, we do away with the Indian classical music and end it with a show of compassion from Arushi who is Eurydice’s impersonation for Orfeo.”
The two hours and 10-minute long opera will be staged on September 25, 26 and 27 at the Kamani Auditorium.
photos Pankaj Kumar