Rafi Re-visited: Sonu's Tribute to Rafi

London, June 18: Western classically trained musicians from the famed City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) will provide the backing in a challenging collaboration with Sonu Niigaam who will sing some of Mohammed Rafi's best-loved songs in three concerts, Rafi Resurrected, in Birmingham, Manchester and London.

The project, which has been two years in the making, has been funded to the tune of 250,000 by Saregama, whose head of operations in Europe, Amarpal Gaind, said yesterday: "People will be taking a trip down memory lane with Sonu Niigaam, who is known as the voice of Rafi."

Niigaam will be supported by a 75-piece CBSO, which has been practising from the score sheets written by its former librarian, Tim Pottier, who took the idea of the east-west collaboration to Saregama and was promptly recruited to be the arts producer for the ambitious project.

The CBSO's association with the Indian film industry began in 2004 when it gave a joint concert with A.R. Rahman. Two years ago, it gave a Rafi concert but the singers were hired locally, mostly in Birmingham.

Having listened to several hundred Rafi songs (from the 26,000 the singer is said to have recorded), Pottier has whittled down the list to about 20 that Niigaam will sing — though many Indians will be distressed because he has not included Chaudhvin Ka Chand.

"Sonu Niigaam, who is a very busy man, will arrive in Birmingham on July 13 and will then rehearse with the CBSO for the first concert," said Pottier.

He added that the CBSO would strive to recreate Indian sitar and flute sounds. However, when he had listened to the underlying scores to Rafi's music, he had been impressed with how classically western so much of it had sounded.

Three halls with possibly the best acoustics in Britain have been selected and laser technology included to enhance sound quality to near perfection. The opening concert in the Symphony Hall in Birmingham on July 15 will be followed by the second in the Manchester Apollo on July 17 and the "grand finale" at the London Coliseum on July 20.

Sony TV is recording the last concert with the aim of broadcasting it to India on July 31, which will be the 28th anniversary of Rafi's death.

Asked whether two days were sufficient for rehearsals, Pottier, who has travelled to India and worked with musicians from the Hindi film industry, said: "Sonu Niigaam knows the songs backwards."

One of the musicians from the CBSO, Charles Wall, who plays the double bass, expressed confidence that Rafi's magic would not be lost in translation. "If I had looked at just the notation, I would not have known it was from Bollywood," Wall said.

Saregama is also issuing a double CD to mark its remarkable collaboration with the CBSO.