A dreamworld of stirring music

The performance lasted two hours, yet every moment of it was simply gripping, engrossing, and one wished that the performance just wouldn’t come to an end.

It was the musical extravaganza arranged by Rashna Gazder and her piano pupils in aid of the children’s cancer ward of the Indus Hospital. The event featured a large number of children, some as young as six, but with reservoirs of musical talent. It was so heartening to know that our country, which gets an unduly bad press, is just teeming with the most sublime of attributes like musical talent.

Rashna’s management of the event was flawless. Besides the fact that she is a pack of musical talent, she’s also imbued with the most innovative and imaginative of ideas. The confidence the participating children exuded and their mastery over the piano was spectacular. Feroz Marker, 6, had to be helped on to the stool, but it was a different story when he began to play.

His item was ‘Sweet Tunes for the Indus Hospital’. One could little imagine this tiny little fellow with a shy but lovely smile being a pack of potential for music. It was a pleasure to see this budding pianist. The cutest part of it was when he took the bow to acknowledge the appreciation from the audience.

Then there was Zeeva Gollwala, also 6, who played a medley of nursery rhymes, including ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ and ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’. Two of the youngsters played pieces from Ludwig van Beethoven. Kekobad Marker, 12, played the opening strains of the ‘Fifth Symphony’. It was a highly masterly rendition. Mikail Faraz played ‘Ode to Joy’. It was highly laudable.

Mariam Merchant rendered Johann Strauss Jr’s immortalised waltz ‘The Blue Danube’, a piece that simply gets you and you don’t grow tired of listening to it even if you play it 10 times a day.

Mariam’s rendition of the toe-tapping melody was just like being catapulted back in time into the Vienna of Strauss with its enchanting woods and the beauty of nature along the banks of the river.

Farisa Dar rendered Beethoven’s trademark ‘Fur Elise’ with equal perfection. Beethoven, even though a composer of the early Romantic era, composed in the classical style and was thus referred to as the old guard by his contemporaries.

However, the event did not feature just the classics but it was a potpourri of music from the two ends of the spectrum and everything in between. Brothers Abdullah and Ibrahim Khan gave a piano duet with the lively light tune ‘Chopsticks’. It was highly admirable. Afshad Sidhwa performed excerpts from Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’.

Another highly talented vocalist was Janelle Dias. She sang Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Memory’. Even though Webber’s avante-garde music doesn’t quite sit well with those with conservative tastes in music, Rashna’s masterly piano accompaniment made it equally attractive to the oldies. Janelle has been a director of the Junior Choir of St Lawrence’s Church and is highly talented. She has the potential of an adept mezzo-soprano.

Terence Joseph on the keyboard and Farrukh Suleiman on the guitar performed suspense movie themes accompanied by very apt visuals. They were accompanied by Rashna on the piano.

However, the most touching and profound performance was that of Saifullah Khan, a child from the Indus Hospital who had now been cured of cancer through chemotherapy. He sang the 1979-80 hit ‘I Have a Dream’.

One could see the joy, the melody that reflects the beauty of nature at the miracle he had undergone. His rendition was masterly and touching, made all the more so by Rashna’s adept piano accompaniment and Khan’s gratitude before performing the number.

“Life is beautiful and we must thank God for it,” he said. This was a manifestation of his gratitude to the Almighty for being cured of the killer disease.

The programme had opened with a presentation by Dina Patel and Ria Martins on the piano with visuals of Pakistan, its various aspects and certain vital statistics. The visual also showed the phenomenal success of the Indus Hospitals from a single hospital in Korangi to hospitals now being built in Lahore, Badin, Muzaffargarh and Bhong.

However, the most attractive aspect of the performance was the visuals that accompanied each item, and Rashna gets due credit for this innovative idea. However, all the visuals for this performance were designed by her son Darayus. What made the programme even more entertaining was the highly light-hearted and witty compering by Pouruchisty Sidhwa.

There were vocal numbers by Brendon Emmanuel, a known figure in the music circles of the town. In concert with Terence Joseph on the keyboard, Farrukh Suleiman on the guitar and Janelle Dias, the group rendered a medley of favourite hits, with the audience singing and clapping in rhythm.