Madras Musical Association Choir is bringing Baroque to Chennai

At the Museum Theatre in Egmore, an old story of love and loss will unfold beneath the music of a live chamber orchestra.

Key points

• Available at: BookMyShow, MMA Choristers, Aspire Music Conservatory, Etude School of Music and Musee Musicals.
• Written in the Baroque period, Dido and Aeneas follows love, duty, betrayal, and loss.
• Augustine traces the association's beginnings to European musicians who performed Western music in Chennai for their own communities.
• The production additionally asks the musicians to enter the sound world in which Henry Purcell wrote the opera.
• The opera will bring together the choir, principal soloists, Chamber Orchestra, and members of the MMA Choir in a production directed and choreographed by Deepa Nambiar.

For conductor Augustine Paul, the story needs little introduction. He notes, "The same theme is there from olden days. Shakespeare has been using it over and over again. And at one point of time, individuals preferred only tragedies. They thought comedies are particularly flippant, so they didn't appreciate comedies. They wanted what you call 'stories which can evoke heavy passions of emotions and sadness', so Purcell rightly chose this one."

Written in the Baroque period, Dido and Aeneas follows love, duty, betrayal, and loss. The MMA production marks the first fully staged opera in Chennai in regarding 50 years, according to the association.

Meanwhile, the production additionally asks the musicians to enter the sound world in which Henry Purcell wrote the opera. While the singers will perform in a Baroque style, the orchestra will employ a harpsichord instead of a piano. Augustine notes, "The interpretation part comes from the trying to bring alive the style which was prevalent in that time. The singing, the playing of the instruments is in the Baroque style." For MMA, the production additionally continues a much older relationship with Western classical music.

Augustine traces the association's beginnings to European musicians who performed Western music in Chennai for their own communities. Indian musicians afterwards learnt the form and continued the work after the Europeans left in the 1950s.

Today, the MMA is attempting an opera with its own musicians and singers. "We try to produce music with our own individuals, for our own residents. Music for the community, by the community, " Augustine notes.

In practice, the opera will bring together the choir, principal soloists, Chamber Orchestra, and members of the MMA Choir in a production directed and choreographed by Deepa Nambiar. For Augustine, it is additionally an experiment. "We thought we'll start with an English opera. Let's see how it goes with the public. We may think regarding doing something bigger." Where: Museum Theatre, Egmore. When: September 10 and 11, at 7 pm. Duration: Approximately 90 minutes. Direction and choreography: Deepa Nambiar. Tickets: Rs 500, `1, 000 and `2, 000.

For now, madras Musical Association Choir is bringing Baroque to Chennai remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.