A soprano performance is not heard of in Kerala and so, naturally, a soprano singer attracts a lot of curiosity. Soprano is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. Opera in India is gaining traction amongst music lovers and the art form now has both performers and audiences across cities and different social strata. Ashwati Parameshwar, a soprano from Delhi, is performing in Kerala at the concert of the Trivandrum Centre for Performing Arts on Saturday.
She will be performing arias from operas by Giacomo Puccini, Franz Lehar and a song by Franz Schubert, with the Cochin Chamber Orchestra. With a bachelor’s degree in music from the US, Ashwati has had intensive personal voice training. Although she lives in Delhi, her performances take her to various cities, recently to France, where she performed a production of Claudio Monteverdi’s Orfeo, one of the earliest operas ever.
Talking about her initiation into soprano singing, Ashwati says, “I started out with Carnatic music when I was young but found that I was not making too much progress. So I switched to Western music at 17. It so happened that I attended a Master class by a visiting soprano from America who sang and gave presentations. I realised that this is what I wanted to do; I got to use my muscles and improve my voice and kept following that even while I was in America completing my studies. When I started working, I could not sing soprano on a full-time basis. Finally in 2013, my husband suggested me to indulge in my passion full-time because soprano was where my heart was. And here I am.”
She has participated in several operas in Delhi, including Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. She was a soloist in the 2012 Mozart Magic concert and in the 2013 Verdi Gala in Delhi and Kolkata under Maestro Marco Balderi. Ashwati has given several solo recitals and is also a founder member of the Lyric Ensemble of Delhi with whom she will be performing in Menotti’s opera Amahl and the Night Visitors in December.
The operatic technique is physically taxing, requiring that the entire body be used as the instrument, in order to maintain correct intonation and achieve projection as opera is traditionally sung without amplification. Talking about the popularity of soprano in India, Ashwati, who is also a vocal coach, states, “There is not enough exposure to this stream of singing. Many people who come to my concert have expressed an avid interest in knowing more and learning soprano.”
