Jamshedpur: Music lovers here on Tuesday got a rare treat - extracts from Les Misérables, the longest-running musical in the West End, London, which is based on French writer Victor Hugo's 1962 novel of the same name.
Camille Van de Weghe from Paris and Ashwin Sahay, who has his roots in Jamshedpur, but is now an opera singer in Paris, regaled the select audience at Oak Hall, The Boulevard Hotel in Bistupur, with their stunning vocals.
Les Misérables apart, Camille performed pieces from The Phantom of the Opera, Jekyll and Hyde, Aspects of Love, Evita and the ever popular My Fair Lady.
Ashwin performed an extract from the three-act Tosca, an opera by Giacomo Puccini, the Italian composer.
Hosted by the Jamshedpur School of Music, which organises courses in piano and violin and their exams through the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music, the evening was a window to western musicals for Jamshedpur.
Camille, who sings professionally on the Broadway and is a ballet dancer, is in India for a six-month sabbatical, where she will explore Indian music and dance forms, and teach western classical vocals and ballet in the form of workshops.
Ashwin, 40, who is hosting her at his CH Area family home in Jamshedpur, hails from an industrialist's family. But, why he decided to go to Paris in his mid-30s to learn music is an interesting story in itself.
"Beethoven and Mozart are a part of my mother Shobha's life," Ashwin said. "Somewhere along the way, I started sharing her passion," he said, adding he trained in piano and violin in Calcutta and underwent voice training from a German teacher in Delhi before going to Paris four years ago where he met Camille at the Conservatoire de Paris.
Camille studied singing, dancing and drama in prestigious schools such as Conservatoire de Paris, Cours Florent (Paris); Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts (London); Steps on Broadway and Alvin Ailey School in New York and studied musicology in La Sorbonne University in Paris.
Camille said she hoped her Indian journey would be memorable. "India has a rich musical heritage. So does the West. I wanted to share my passion with people who may not know what western musical theatre is. Art and music are such rich forms and give so much joy that they are important to share with others," she said. "In fact, I dream of opening a ballet school in India."
"If we don't share this, we would not know the treasures human civilisation has in store for us," Ashwin said.
Social worker and businessman Ronald D'Costa, who runs both The Boulevard Hotel and Jamshedpur School of Music, said the evening was a treat for the ears. "When gems like these come to Jamshedpur, we should learn the maximum possible from them. I hope youngsters show interest in western classical music and ballet," he said.
