Candlelight concerts are based on a variety of themes to reach out to a larger audience. | Photo Credit: Courtesy: Fever

On a hot and humid evening, after battling Mumbai’s busiest traffic jams, you finally enter the Grand Hyatt in Bandra Kurla Complex, where thousands of lighted candles light up your mood. The setting of the venue for the first India show of the globally popular Candlelight Concert Series is magical.

Culture curators are trying hard to come up with different presentation ideas to let audiences experience the energy of live music in intimate and unique spaces. The larger aim is to make music, especially classical music, less intimidating. This is what happened with candlelight concerts.

In a dark room, dimly lit by candles, three accomplished musicians – saxophonist Shirish Malhotra, guitarist Nicholas Vaz and drummer Bihu Mukherjee – seem to subtly convey the message that concerts can be enjoyable even without vocals. After all, instruments rarely get the respect they deserve. No matter the genre, they are never given the same status as vocals.

When Shirish picks up the flute to play a few songs on a show titled ‘Best Movie Soundtracks’, Bihu points out his ease with different instruments. Both are associated with music director Pritam. They satisfy the diverse audience seated around them brilliantly with a mix of classics and current favourites, soothing melodies and pulsating tracks. So are compositions by composers AR Rahman, Vishal-Shekhar, Amit Trivedi and Anirudh Ravichander.

Recently, the first candlelight concert was held in Mumbai. | Photo Credit: Courtesy: Fever

But what was most impressive about the show was the dominance of the good old sax. Remember Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Stand Getz and our own Kadri Gopalnath. An integral part of the soundscape of the 1970s and 1980s, the instrument with its vast tonal range has never ceased to be popular in both the West and the East.

Launched in 2019 by an entertainment platform called Fever, Candlelight Concerts have been held in over 150 cities around the world and in stunning locations, including the Atomium (Brussels), the Eiffel Tower (Paris), the SEA Aquarium (Singapore), the Palau de la Musica Catalana (Barcelona) and the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah (Dubai).

“Though it was conceptualised as a classical music series featuring compositions by Vivaldi, Mozart and Chopin, we have constantly been adding to our themes and genres to reach out to more people. We have had concerts dedicated to The Beatles, ABBA, Coldplay, Frank Sinatra and Aretha Franklin. We also have performances celebrating new age sensations like Adele, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé,” says Sebastian Garcia, Regional Manager, Live Experiences at Fever.

Deepa Bajaj, country manager of Live Your City, which brings these concerts to India, says they have exciting plans for audiences here. “Imagine listening to ghazals and classical bandishes surrounded by LED candles. We also want to highlight our traditional arts,” she says.