A Spanish evening

The Bombay Chamber Orchestra (BCO) along with three Argentinian musician brothers presented A Spanish Evening as the second Jal H. A.Vakil Memorial Concert at the Tata Theatre, National Centre for the Performing Arts on August 23, 2015. Vakil had been an enthusiastic contributor to the music scene of Bombay along with Mehli Mehta (father of Zubin) and other musicians of that vintage. A distinguished member of the bar in Bombay, Vakil was acting chief presidency magistrate (CPM) in 1976 and then additional CPM.

The second Jal H. A. Vakil concert at Tata Theatre, NCPA

The contemporary Spanish-Latin American program brought to the Bombay audience not only works by Argentinian composer Astor Piazzola, Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos and Spanish Manuel de Falla but also fellow Valencian Joaquin Rodrigo and the Mexican Arturo Marquez living in Los Angeles, USA. Santiago Lusardi Girelli, who conducted the BCO has worked as choir and orchestra conductor in South America, Europe and Asia. He currently holds the Anthony Gonsalves Chair as Visitor Research Professor at the Goa University. The brochure states: "He works next to young musicians and children, attending to them pedagogically and offering classes and courses.”
His brother Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde, who specializes in Spanish flamenco guitar, played a Rodrigo concerto for guitar. He is exploring the connection with traditional Arabic and Andalusian (a region in Spain) music through the oud (a pear shaped guitar), which is used in Arabic, Greek, Persian and Turkish music and believed to be precursor to the modern guitar. Youngest brother Juan Lusardi was at the drums and also doubled up as the palmas (hand clapper) in the flamenco encore. All three siblings and the Spanish first violinist Raquel Batalloso Manzano only claimed fares from Goa as a gesture of appreciation for the work that the 53-year-old BCO does in providing free training to hone musicians’ skills.
Jini Dinshaw, founder trustee of the BCO, was delighted at the audience’s reception to the music and artists. She had been apprehensive that the "new, non-traditional sounds” would not be well received. Girelli sustained audience interest by sharing details about the music and its intricacies and built a rapport which was evident from the enthusiastic applause at the performance. The clapping reached a crescendo when he acknowledged Dinshaw’s contribution to the BCO. Among the 54 desks that evening in the orchestra, there were nine guest musicians. The Indian Navy’s band continues to support the BCO in the wind section though the Police personnel were conspicuous by their absence as they now demand a high fee.
Continuity is assured at the BCO with several youngsters in the string section along with Parsi stalwarts Freddy Dinshaw, Bomi Billimoria, Zubin Behram-Kamdin and Jini herself who plays the violin, viola or cello, as the need arises. Sherna Doongaji was the first cellist. The wind section boasts young Shalom and Shihan Palkhivala — all of 12 years — playing oboe and clarinet respectively.