In 1989, I had just begun to play in the ranks of the violins of the Bombay Chamber Orchestra (BCO). A group of us, the ‘Goan contingent’ (usually violins, cello, double bass), would travel from Goa to Mumbai (then Bombay) for the final week of rehearsal and the concert. Although we were offered accommodation nearby, I generally preferred to stay with my relatives in Chembur. 

One BCO concert that year featured two soprano arias, sung by Celia Lobo, from the golden era of Italian opera—‘Pace pace mio Dio’ (‘Peace, Peace, my God’) from Verdi’s La Forza del destino and ‘Un bel dì’ (‘One fine day’) from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly under the baton of American conductor Dr. George Trautwein.

Thinking back on it, that was the first time I heard opera sung live on such a high level, with orchestral accompaniment. It was quite a privilege to sit among the violins in the orchestra, to watch and hear those arias take shape at rehearsal.

Thirty-five years have now elapsed since Lobo sang those arias with such dramatic flair and emotional range, admirable breath control and a divine timbre of voice, but they still stand out in my memory. She conveyed the urgency of her character Leonora’s desperate situation in ‘Pace pace mio Dio’ with a lustrous, dark timbre. Her portrayal of Cio-Cio-San in ‘Un bel dì’ was touching and finely detailed, giving light and shade to her phrasing that brought out Butterfly’s vulnerability. 

Another fond memory I have of those early-morning rehearsals is getting a ride in Lobo’s chauffeur-driven, air-conditioned car (as she also lived in Chembur) to the Max Mueller Bhavan in ‘town’.

I unfortunately wasn’t even born when Lobo reigned supreme as opera diva in the many staged productions of the Bombay Madrigal Singers Organisation (BMSO) in the 1960s. But I got a fair idea of those times when speaking many decades later to Mr. Khushroo N. Suntook. He fondly recalled the spell she cast over that entire generation of concertgoers.

By a stroke of luck, I connected with Lobo again. In January 2017, I was invited to be a panelist at an international conference on Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) in Goa. An Australian delegate, Carolyn Vincent, happened to mention in a discussion that her mother was none other than Lobo.

I learned that Lobo had recently had a stroke but had recovered well. I was going the next month to Mumbai for the NCPA production of Puccini’s La Bohème, so I offered to take her to the performance. It was the last time I met her, but it was a pleasant evening spent in her company, full of insights about the nuances involved in singing at a live opera performance.

The death of Celia Lobo truly marks the end of an era for music not only in Mumbai, but for the whole country.

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Box:

Mr. Khushroo N. Suntook, Chairman, NCPA, and a connoisseur of opera, shares his remembrance of the soprano and Western classical music in the Bombay of the ’60s: 

“Celia Lobo is probably the finest operatic singer India has produced within living memory. She had remarkable control over her singing line and coloratura technique. In the 1960s, a series of performances of complete operas such as Tosca, La traviata, Lucia de Lammermoor, etc. with local stars Lobo and Fay Ferreira, and international artistes such as Luigi Infantino and Paolo Silveri was a pathbreaking initiative by local forces led by the wonderfully multifaceted members of the Bombay Madrigal Singers Organisation. These performances, held at the Tejpal Auditorium near August Kranti Maidan, with Lobo often in the lead female role, were truly a highlight of the city’s music season. What is also remarkable is that they were scantily supported by the local authorities or any influential bodies.”

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This article was originally published in the August 2024 issue of ON Stage.

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