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They were ably supported by Aruna Karki, Srijana Adhikari, Shanti Giri and Pashupati Rai as the female ensemble and Utpal Jha, Hemanta Chalise, Amrit Dahal and Hum BC as the male ensemble. Alize Biannicis exceptionally agile as always, in her personification of Gandiva or the bow of Arjuna. But it was Roy Stevens and Annalisa Winberg’s singing on stage, as they alternated between Arjuna’s and Krishna’s voices, which brought the production’s unique operatic elements to the fore. Both Stevens and Winberg belted out impressive solos on stage in Sanskrit, Hindi and English formally set to operatic vocal structures. Hearing familiar Sanskrit verses in Steven’s tenor (he usually sings in baritone otherwise) was an experience indeed, and somewhat unsettling for its defamiliarising effect. Interestingly, they both sang alternately for often the same character and the variations in mood, thanks to the shifts from soprano to tenor or vice versa, added unexpected aural depth. As did Gurudev Kamat, who lent his voice The opera came to Nepal. Structured along a modern, Western musical tradition, Arjuna’s Dilemma opened at the Patan Museum’s Bhitri Chowk on Sep 2, Friday. It will continue to play till September 11 with a short break in the middle. It is not often that we get to witness such a spectacular vision involving music, visuals and performance and One World Theatre deserves to be thanked for taking on the challenge of bringing such a production to Nepal, one that charts new territory for the arts. Arjuna’s Dilemma exploits its chamber opera format optimally by playing out on the smallish, open air stage in the inner courtyard of the Patan Museum and is accompanied by an ensemble orchestra of just nine musicians, including the music director, Jonathan Khuner, on the piano. Even the acoustics is very different from what you would expect in a full-sized opera hall. Created by Douglas J Cuomo (of Doubt fame) with the specific intention of exploring the connections between Western and Eastern musical idioms and philosophical nodes, Arjuna’s Dilemma adapts itself well to a Nepali ensemble comprising the cast, key singers and musicians. Deborah Merola (Founder -Director of One World Theatre), as the stage director, has contoured the performance part well through Salil Subedi’s Arjuna and Rajkumar Pudasaini’s Krishna.
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