Summer Songs

The Capital City Minstrels left Schubert’s symphonies and Mozart’s operatic pieces for some light summer pop with The Beatles’ Michelle and Elvis Presley’s Can’t help falling in love at the concert “How Deep Is Your Love” at the Hungarian Cultural Centre on Monday. “We changed our repertoire from the usual classical pieces to popular songs so that more people can enjoy,” says Usha Shrivastava,a retired music teacher,who has been a part of the choir since its inception 15 years ago. The 60-member choir,which has singers from 16 to 70 years,and French,German,and American nationalities,was directed by Gabriella Boda Rechner,a music conductor from Hungary. While the set list consisted of 16 songs including Killing me softly,there were also love songs from the Renaissance period. “The songs are interwoven with poetry readings in the light-hearted spirit of romance,” says Shrivastava. While there were solo and quartet acts,the ensemble performance also sang a few a capella compositions. The Capital City Minstrels will perform again today at The India Habitat Centre at 7.30 pm.