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Sparsh Bajpai: It’s a misconception that classical music is slow and boring
Catch soprano Sparsh Bajpai, and pianist Denai Rentta as part of the event, An Evening of Opera Arias and Art Songs.
For 23-year-old Sparsh Bajpai, a soprano from Delhi, being a performer means “opening your heart to other people”. “If you open yourself to all the emotions you feel on stage, everyone will gravitate towards you,” says Sparsh, who has essayed the roles of Stephano (Romeo and Juliet), Concha (The Jewish Boy), Papagena (The Magic Flute) and Amore (L’Egisto) among others in the past.
In an upcoming event by India International Centre and Delhi Music Society titled ‘An Evening of Opera Arias and Art Songs’, she’ll perform alongside pianist Dinai Rentta. Hear Let the bright seraphim by George Frideric Handel, and German songs such as Du bist die Ruh by Austrian composer, Franz Schubert, Glitter and Be Gay by Leonard Bernstein, among others.
She reminisces her first lesson with lyric/dramatic soprano Situ Singh Buehler, whom she left her mesmerized with her voice, post which there was no looking back. “She said she doesn’t teach kids before the age of 18, as they have undeveloped voices, but when she heard me she was like, ‘You know what I am going to take a chance on you’,” she says.
Trained in Western Classical music at the age of 15 with Buehler, she loves to listen to American soprano’s Maria Callas, Leontyne Price, and Australian music performer Joan Sutherland, and has been performing professionally in Delhi since then. She performed as a soloist for the first time in Neemrana Music Foundation’s Mozart Magic in India (2012).
“After school, I’d go to choir practices at the Austrian Culture Centre. It was the best time. That’s when I started falling in love with classical music and pursue it further. London happened by chance as I thought I’ll go there and audition and see what happens.In Delhi, we live in such a bubble. You can count the people who are doing Classical music on your fingers. Even though I was singing for a long time, I didn’t know what my level was before I went to London. There it’s very competitive and everyone’s trying to do their best,” says Sparsh, an LSR graduate, who’s currently pursuing a Master’s degree in music performance from the Royal College of Music in London.
Her music journey has also led her to perform in Cite de la Musique (Paris) in the opera “Orfeo” at the age of 16 under the tutelage of Françoise Lasserre, following which she gave her first solo performance in Seoul, South Korea. In 2018, Sparsh won a National Classical Singing competition held in the NCPA, Mumbai.
Performing for the Delhi crowd, she says, “I have got good reactions from the audience. There is so much depth in this, so even if anyone is new to it and tries to listen to it, they’ll enjoy a lot. People leave feeling content and happy. It’s a misconception that classical music is slow and boring, there is so much variety. You can literally dance to some of the music,” she says.
Catch it live
What: An Evening of Opera Arias and Art Songs
Where: India International Centre, 40, Max Mueller Marg
When: September 8
Timing: 6.30 pm
Nearest Metro Station: JLN Metro Station on Violet Line
(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.)
