Pro Musica – Experiencing Opera Live

La musique est la nourriture de l’âme…or as German novelist Berthold Auerbach said, music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. Music has been and will always be an integral part of a person’s life, and music will forever remain immortal even if its creator has passed on for a thousand years.

Of all forms of music, the opera is considered one of the most classic and purest, and UCSI University was lucky enough to be the host of the recent Pro Musica, an opera performance extraordinaire, which was held in the Blue Ocean Strategy Hall in the North Wing campus.

The superb performers, namely Inês Madeira from Portugal, Enrico Casari from Italy, Andrew Ashwin from United Kingdom and Sabine Conzen from Belgium, and their chorus hail from the world-renowned Flanders Opera Studio in Belgium, the OperaPlus, a Masterclass that mentors aspiring opera singers, and also Malaysia’s very own PESSOC choir.

This performance was the third and final round in their agenda, after Penang and Ipoh. They were accompanied by UCSI University’s brand new Steinway, played by renowned vocal accompanist Hein Boterberg of Belgium and UCSI University’s part-time lecturer and accompanist Geneviene Wong.

Among those who attended were His Excellencies Mr. Boyd McCleary, the British High Commissioner; Mr. Frank Van de Craen, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belgium; and En. Mohamed Juhari Shaarani, Director General of Istana Budaya.

As a student of UCSI University, I was pleased to see the public’s warm response to this concert. The audience was sizeable, considering that opera is not a form of music that is widely known or understood by the general Asian music audience. Or so I thought.

The arias and duets sung were taken from 19th-Century plays and operas. The singing was something I have not experienced listening to live on stage, therefore it was definitely a unique audio experience I enjoyed – as their voices rang in harmony with the accompanying piano notes.

Special guests Ramli Ibrahim, Guna, and the Sutra dancers gave us a special interlude after the interval, dancing with traditional moves to modern music and Sabine Conzen’s singing. Their fluid moves and unique interpretation of the music made for an interesting watch…plus the Asian touch was much appreciated.

All in all, the Pro Musica was a true success, and UCSI University will go down in history for hosting such a prestigious event. As the French phrase at the beginning of the article said, music is the food of the soul. Bravo!