One of India ’ s most well known faces of Western music and director of the country ’ s first full fledged opera production ‘ Il Matrimonio Segreto ” - Patricia Rozario talks all about the production and her journey as the ’ Soprano in Saree ’
SRIRAM RAVISHANKAR
Patricia Rozario
One of India ’ s most well known faces of Western music and director of the country ’ s first full fledged opera production ‘ Il Matrimonio Segreto ” - Patricia Rozario talks all about the production and her journey as the ’ Soprano in Saree ’
India ’ s expansive musical culture and popular media has given general audiences a rather vague and hazy image about Western music and Opera , unless you are a connoisseur of the art form , of course ! What is popularly mimicked as “ shouting ” or “ screaming loudly ” is an age old art form with a rich heritage running for over 300 odd years ! Opera , in fact Western Music itself in India has been quite a niche since its arrival from the British times . Except for the passionate few , the rest of them have barely accessed the music until artists like Zubin Mehta put Indians on the world map of Western musicians . On the lines of such heritage , meet Patricia Rozario , a Mumbai based British Soprano who is one of the country ’ s finest musicians . She has performed at the English National Opera , Opera North , Glyndebourne Festival Opera , and the Garsington Opera in England , and has performed on stage across Europe in Aix-en-Provence , Brussels , Frankfurt , Ghent , Innsbruck , Lyon and Stuttgart .
“ When Patricia and I inaugurated the opera house musically last year , we immediately thought ‘ Now that the opera house is open , it is time to put an opera in there whenever we can . Since we teach Indian singers , we thought it is absolutely perfect ! It is a purpose built space for opera ,” said Mark Troop ( Piano ) as we began talking about their first full fledged Opera Production ‘ Il Matrimony Segreto ’ featuring a completely desi crew which staged at the Royal Opera House , Mumbai . “ We chose a light comedy , not too grand not too very early opera . we thought our students can cope with it . Its comic ! it has marriage in the title which is good in India - “ The Secret Marriage ” - Its a comedy of manners !
Its light and sparkling . We thought it is better to do that than the really heavy ones- it will fit really well in the opera house ,” he briefed . Talking about the opera house , the historic building in Charni Road , Chowpatty is India ’ s only surviving opera House form the British Times built in 1911 . “ All of these opera houses are built on the european model of the opera houses ; So they look similar , sound similar , have the same type of acoustics , so this opera is perfect for that ,” Troop exclaimed !
Cutting through the brief conversation Troop and I were having , Rozario walked in elegantly and introduced herself shortly as she sat down by the sofa next her ancestral baby grand piano . Without wasting much time , we got talking about her beginnings as a musician , “ We grew up with my mother teaching me and my brothers , the piano ( as you can see ). My parents both sang , so we learnt to sing with them . And in this area of Santacruz , all the adults organised a festival with great enthusiasm . Every child in the area was allowed to perform or participate in a competition - vocal , piano , and violin . Choir , plays , recitals - very unusual ! This was my platform to develop the experience of getting up on stage and communicating with an audience . I didn ’ t realise that my bachelor ’ s degree in English and French , would be such a great asset to learning this art form ! It really helps you connect to the pieces you ’ re singing with greater confidence ! The literature is what did the magic ! Then , when I went abroad , I went to the Goth Institute to learn German , Italian at Guildhall ( school of music and drama ) where I went on to study , I was firmly convinced that I would come back after three years . During my time at the Guildhall , I went to numerous competitions in Spain , Salzburg , Holland , England etc . which helped float my name around . Soon enough , I had agents coming to me offering work . Before finishing college , I met Mark which was a huge sock for my parents ( laughs )! but i gave them some time to come around it ,” she recollected . From there , started Rozario ’ s illustrious career as an Indian British Soprano often remembered as the ‘ Soprano in Saree ’.
One of her most notable appearances was across Europe in The Marriage of Figaro , conducted by Sir Georg Solti . She has also given concerts in the Royal Opera House , Covent Garden , and as part of The Proms in England , and abroad in Amsterdam , Athens , Berlin , Halle , Helsinki , Hong Kong , Cologne , Leipzig , Madrid , New York City , Paris , Riga , Rouen , Strasbourg , Vienna , Winterthur and Zürich . She performed in a production of Elvis Costello ’ s Meltdown . Rozario has made numerous recordings of the works of composer John Tavener . Gifted with a voice described as “ liquid gold ”, Rozario ’ s wide concert and opera repertoire ranges from baroque to contemporary music . She is an exponent of bel canto – the fabled method used by the great Italian singers of the 19th century . Feted for her achievements , Rozario is a recipient of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman , royal honour OBE , and is a fellow of the Royal College of Music .
The Score Magazine
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