KARACHI: Poets and writers have used the moon as a powerful metaphor for beauty. It has also been employed as a symbol of romantic forlornness. The fact remains that the moon has been, still is and will always inspire creative individuals to interpret it in their works in pursuit of truth.

This was perhaps the idea that brought together the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) ensemble to present Italian songs and poems on the moon on Saturday evening at an event titled Dedicato alla Luna organised at Napa’s in-house theatre by the academy and the Consul of Italy Gianluca Rubagotti.

The concert had a befitting start with the song ‘Figlio della Luna’, sung by Areeba and Rabia. It was a soft rendition nicely presented by the two young women and ably complemented by backup vocalists who did justice to the harmony part of the track. It was followed by ‘Luna per Te’ by Shehzad. The singer looked and sounded a little overawed by the occasion but did his best. Then came a small dance act performed to a poem whose first line in Urdu translation was ‘Chand to chand he rahey ga’. The narrator in the act read out the lines in Italian and Urdu which helped the audience get the drift of the poem.

Perhaps the best performance of the show came from two young vocalist, Joel and Nigel’s singing of ‘Lacrime dalla Luna’ and ‘Mare Luna’, respectively. Both singers put their heart and soul into the compositions. The former’s melodious lilt and pitch-perfect high notes were a delight to listen to, and the latter’s vocal range was a pleasant surprise. The audience thoroughly enjoyed their time on stage.

To change the mood of the gig, renowned flute player Ustad Salamat Hussain made an appearance. He played the famous Noor Jehan song ‘Chandni raatein’ on the flute. Since the audience was familiar with the tune, his performance was received with loud applause during the performance as well as at the end of it.

The variety in the concert continued with a tiny dance recital followed by ‘Guard che Luna’ sung by Chao. In total there were more than a dozen items on the programme list.

Earlier, speaking to the audience Mr Rubagotti said they (organisers) wanted to incorporate all the different sectors of art (music, dance, songs, poetry) into the event. He said he didn’t know whether there were particular rituals related to the moon in Italian culture, but his was a country of poets and lovers, so the moon had always been a fascinating subject for the artist community.

Published in Dawn September 18th, 2016