A Night at the Opera

About

A Night at the Opera is a musical journey through the history of Western vocal music, from the Renaissance to the Romantic era: sacred music, art songs, arias from the great operas and the Baroque.

Lyric soprano Vaibhavi Singh and guitarist Pranay Verma perform pieces first written for orchestra or piano in their own arrangements for voice and guitar. Between pieces they talk about each work, its story and its world, and translate the poetry of songs sung in Italian, German and Latin, so the evening works as well for someone new to opera as for a lifelong listener.

Vaibhavi Singh specialises in opera and Western classical singing and teaches voice at the Delhi School of Music. She trained for more than six years at the N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg Conservatory and the KM Music Conservatory in Chennai, and has performed with The Neemrana Music Foundation and the Delhi Chamber Choir.

Pranay Verma is a Delhi guitarist and composer who plays with The Revisit Project, Dastaan LIVE, Pragnya Wakhlu and Arinjoy Das, and in the jazz and neo-soul group Wet Volumes with saxophonist Agneya Singh. He studied at the Parikrama School of Music under the late Sonam Sherpa and holds an artist diploma from the Global Music Institute. His debut release is Voices.

At a glance

Form

Voice and guitar recital with spoken introductions

Repertoire

Renaissance and Baroque to the Romantic era: sacred music, art songs and opera arias

Languages

Italian, German and Latin, with translations

Performers

Vaibhavi Singh (soprano), Pranay Verma (guitar)

Credits

• Vaibhavi Singh, Lyric soprano
• Pranay Verma, Guitar

Technical needs

• Voice and guitar; amplification depends on the room
• A chair without arms for the guitarist and one music stand
• Full technical rider on request