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lobe damage to her brain when she fell down an elevator shaft. At the time it wasn’t diagnosed. She was the icon of her time. At the end, she’s destitute. She had the inability to comprehend the results of her actions. The opera explores what happens to this person when she’s no longer in the limelight. It’s famous for being a very racy opera, though we focused more on her as a character,” says Viswa. Opera Vista did a world premier of The Silent Prince, which was based on a Jataka tale. It was billed as a Bollywood opera. “It was a great crossover piece by a Thai composer, Somtow Sucharitkul, the director of Bangkok Opera. He was very interested in incorporating Carnatic music. And there was a blend of western and eastern elements,” Viswa adds. Opera Vista will present Ainadamar (Arabic for fountain of tears) based on the life of Spanish poet Federico García Lorca who was, as it is surmised, assassinated for his seditious writings against the Franco regime. The piece, emboldened with vibrant Flamenco music and dance, and heavy Latin percussion, will show at the Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center on November 16 – 17. (Tickets – www.thehobbycenter.org) On Success and Money “You have to find something you’re passionate about and as you keep growing in the field the income gets better. But primarily I don’t think you enter the field thinking I’m going to just make money. You have to have a sense of joy in your life. I wake up in the morning enjoying what I do. There’s nothing to compare with looking at an audience once I finish a concert or production. Those are the joys and peace I get that cannot be equated monetarily. Those with money aren’t always happy or successful. It helps, that sense of security is very helpful,” says Viswa. “What Bill Gates and Warren Buffet did was great, the idea of using money to do some good. Money is there to do things, to create things, a means. Success in my book is to use money to create great things.” The Future Viswa will move to Milwaukee in June next year but will continue to be involved in Opera Vista. He says that he will miss the many friends he has in Houston. He still hopes, with his busy schedule, to find time to indulge his hobbies. He enjoys reading, all genres. He cooks European food; he doesn’t attempt Indian food because he can’t rival his mom’s cooking, he admits with a smile. He’s an avid fan of college basketball. And he harbors a longing to return to Paris, a city he loves. But Skylight Music Theatre beckons him to his future, one that glows with promise. “Five years from now, I’m hoping we’d have built Skylight into a major player nationally and internationally. All arts organizations really are at the stage where we have to go to the next level. It’s no longer sufficient to be just an opera company. We’re in a different age of the arts and we have to look at how to serve our community better,” he says.
Skylightmusictheatre.org Operavista.org www.viswasubbaraman.com