The Capital City Minstrels (CCM) is Delhi’s oldest and most famous choir group. They have performed extensively in India and Europe. They are back in Delhi with their summer concert “With Love From India”. We watched their first performance in Delhi at IHC last Sunday. The compilation of songs included choral music by Indian composers inspired by classical Hindustani and Carnatic traditions, choir versions of Bollywood tracks, and traditional Indian folk music.

The evening started with Yaman – Aalaap – Dhrupad – Tarana a small piece that set the tone for rest of the evening. Another very memorable track from the evening was TaReKiTa by Reena Esmail. The mixed flavor from various Indian states and songs from various eras created an extremely melodious cocktail of music. Listening to Purano Sei (Rabindranath Tagore) and Balleilakka (from Rajnikanth Starer’s Tamil film Shivaji) in the same programme well blended with several other songs is a feat only CCM can achieve.

Rooh Ah (Urdu spiritual) and A R Rehman’s Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire) are CCM’s popular number and we keep listening to them in almost all of their programmes. While we believe Jai Ho should be taken out now, Rooh Ah is always welcome and we look forward to hearing it.

Not just Indian numbers but International songs inspired by India were also a part of the concert. For example, Bohemian Rhapsody by India-born Freddie Mercury (Queen) and Beatles’ most India-inspired song Here Comes the Sun added that much-needed international flavor to the event.

For folks who missed this event, there is another chance and we are watching the encore again. The Capital City Minstrels are performing With Love From India again at India International Center on 25th May at 6.30 pm and entry is free.

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