ON Stage is the cultural magazine of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai, and features authoritative stories on the performing arts.
Features
Every corner of the historic cityscape of Edinburgh—the cobbled streets, the tall medieval architecture and the green hills—has learned to breathe art and music. It is a small city, but the cultural wealth it nurtures is enormous. The Scottish Parliament Building that sits within the UNESCO World Heritage
Throwback Thursday
Luisa Tetrazzini was one of the most famous Italian sopranos of the 19th-20th centuries. She began singing at the age of three, which is perhaps why her father compared her to one of the great coloratura singers of the 19th century, Adelina Patti, who had also begun performing as a
News
Much has transpired between the SOI’s maiden tour of the U.K. in 2019 and its upcoming one this November and December. Mr. Khushroo N. Suntook, Chairman, NCPA, reflects on the orchestra’s growth in the intervening years. Not too long after the Symphony Orchestra of India’s tour
Reviews
Running a symphony orchestra is a full-time job indeed. It goes without saying that a music director must know every bit of the tools needed to curate a season from scratch. It is impossible to predict how a season will turn out, even with advanced knowledge of the forthcoming repertoire
Throwback Thursday
Mattia Battistini, the great Italian baritone, was born in Rome on 27th February 1856. After completing his studies, his debut came about as follows: It is 1878. The leading baritone of the Teatro Argentina is indisposed, the opera La Favoritahas been announced and the director is in despair when someone
News
Maestro Zubin Mehta, NCPA Chairman Khushroo N. Suntook, SOI Music Director Marat Bisengaliev and members of the audience share their thoughts on the concerts which brought the Maestro and the SOI together for the first time. Zubin Mehta My friend of 80 years, Khushroo Suntook (we were classmates at Mumbai’
Music Education
Ahead of the world premiere of Zakir Hussain’s triple concerto for tabla, sitar and bansuri with the Symphony Orchestra of India, Suddhaseel Sen explores what emerges from the dialogue between two musical languages. It is always a pleasure to find a symphony orchestra departing from tried-and-tested canonical repertoire and,
News
Even as marquee concerts and a full season unfold, the young brigade of the SOI and other initiatives by the orchestra continue to leave a mark. Encore in Pune In early August, 31 students from the SOI Academy Orchestra performed under the baton of SOI Music Director and violin virtuoso
News
The SOI Autumn 2023 Season brings the promise of musicianship at its best. From the India debut of celebrated British cellist Steven Isserlis with the Symphony Orchestra of India to the anticipated return of pianist Pavel Kolesnikov and conductors Richard Farnes and Alpesh Chauhan, the season’s programme presents a
Know Your Composer
Don Pasquale is a comic opera in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti which premiered in Paris in 1843 and had its Italian premiere later that year in Milan. It is a ‘romantic comedy’ with 19th-century values. The plot, set in Rome, revolves around Don Pasquale, who wants his nephew Ernesto
Throwback Thursday
Zane Dalal shares personal reflections on the repertoire and his 46-year association with Zubin Mehta, ahead of the Maestro’s eagerly awaited concerts with the Symphony Orchestra of India on 19th and 21st August. It is my great pleasure to write once more for the readership of ON Stage, this
Features
In January 2020, the gorgeous façade of Jacksons Lane Art Centre was faced with a completely overturned reality on the inside. As severe winter flooding across the U.K., and an exploding boiler that bled hot brown liquid down the office walls painted a grim picture, a sold-out edition of
