Golden Melodies

Delhi had a date with a soprano with a golden voice opera singer Patricia Rozario,who has regaled audiences at Londons Royal Opera House and at concerts across the world.

Delhi had a date with a soprano with a golden voice opera singer Patricia Rozario,who has regaled audiences at Londons Royal Opera House and at concerts across the world. On Thursday night,the Mumbai-born Rozario dazzled the lovely friends she had left behind in India with an exuberant performance that had the guests humming along.

Rozario,in her mid-40s,for whom the performance at the India Habitat Centre in Delhi was the start of an India tour,breezed onto the stage in a peach gown and unleashed her magic with a selection of arias from baroque composers like Handel and Donizetti. The audience was treated to more than just beautiful music Rozario,her pianist husband Mark Troop and two young soloists Alistair Digges and Dhilan Gnanadurai used a gamut of theatrical skills to enhance the effects of her songs. My husband and I performed together in Delhi after 27 years, she shared.

The one-and-a-half-hour long concert began with Whereer you walk from composer Handels Semele by Digges. Rozario sang Endless Pleasure,Endless Love. Next,Sri Lankan performer Gnanadurai held the audience captive by singing an aria in German from Mozarts opera The Magic Flute. He was accompanied by Rozario,both of them teasing out the comic elements of the piece with skill and delicacy.

Story continues below this ad

Among those in the audience were Italian ambassador Roberto Toscano and with his wife,Francis Wacziarg of the Neemrana Foundation,which had organised the concert,writer Githa Hariharan,art critic Aman Nath,artist Anjolie Ela Menon,soprano Situ Singh Buehler and dancer Anusha Lall.

Rozario,who has been awarded the Order of the British Empire for her musical prowess,said she was also scouting for new talent in India. I am looking for young singers who will not just perform but can also work as teacher, she said. Rozario is also a founder of Sangat,a music festival in Mumbai,which,she regrets,has been reduced to instrumentals. Nonetheless,she is upbeat as her tour takes her to Pune,Mumbai and Goa through this week.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram