“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, played on the piano by the young and vivacious Mariam Merchant.
There was Shereen Marker with her Alloutte, a trademark tune of France. It, indeed, was a masterly rendition.
The most striking performance, however, was Ruxshin Cyrus Dinshaw’s Mozart variations. It was the kind of music that makes one’s soul waft over celestial meadows. There was another piano prodigy, Fareezeh Sidhwa, with Johann Strauss’s immortalised composition, Blue Danube. Fareezeh successfully preserved the highly vibrant tempo of the tune.
There was the really glamorous Sara Haider, a real nightingale, a treasure house of vocal talent who performed three pieces, the first one being Love Ballads with Rashna and Terence. She also sang Skyfall from the latest James Bond movie of the same name, accompanied on the piano by Russel Martins, a lad from St Patrick’s High School. Sara excels in singing in descant. Especially nostalgic was her rendition of a 1960s hit by the late Elvis Presley, “For I can’t help falling in love with you.”
Most touching was the vocal rendition, “My heart will go on”, by a visually impaired student of the Karachi University’s social work department. It indeed was a very touching juncture when, before the commencement of her number, she exhorted the audiences to thank God for the gift of sight. Her song was equally profound, something that makes tears well in the eyes of so many. Her voice was deep and conveyed the pangs of the physical handicap. Unfortunately, the space constraint does not permit one to write about the performers of all 26 items but suffice it to say that they were all quite brilliant on the night.
How one wished that Rashna could arrange more such performances in a city which otherwise has nothing but killings and robberies to report. This performance indeed was a breath of fresh air.
Moreover, the show was a fundraiser for the Layton-Rehmatullah Benevolent Trust (LRBT) which has, to date, restored the sight of 29 million patients free of charge, in some cases the operations otherwise costing Rs100,000. There were visuals of hopeless cases, financially challenged people, who had been restored the indispensable gift of sight by the LRBT. Proceeds will go to the LRBT for the real Yeoman’s service they are rendering society.