Andante con moto. Allegro ma non troppo e grazioso. Adagio allegro giocoso ma non troppo presto. Nope, not a three-course Italian meal. But to those who know their Brahms from their Bach, they are movements from the Serenade For Strings In E Flat Major, composed by Josef Suk. To those who don't, it's just beautiful music. Or a wonderful concert. Or a passport to high society.

Whatever the inspiration, nearly a thousand people turned up for the Sangat Festival in January at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai to hear Suk's robust composition. It was a motley gathering of sophisticated memsahibs in cocktail dresses and kanjeevarams, youngsters in jeans and jackets, stuffy corporate types and respectable dowagers weaned on Mozart and Mendelssohn.

As the first movement died down, there was the usual restless shuffle: an appreciative murmur and a collective sigh of relief when no one clapped. As every aficionado knows, one never ever claps between movements at western music recitals. But until a couple of years ago, only connoisseurs knew the rules of concert etiquette. But thanks to Zubin Mehta and Luciano Pavarotti, things are changing, with Mumbai leading the way. "Today, more and more Indians are getting interested in western classical music," says Mehroo Jeejeebhoy, chairperson of the Time And Talents Club which invites Indian and foreign artistes to take part in its annual Sangat festival. This year, tickets for Sangat's three-day programme sold out in an hour. And over 90 people signed up for the workshops.

One of them, eight-year-old Sonata Mercy from Nagpur, said she wanted to be an opera star. "We were absolutely startled when she sang the entire Ave Verum Corpus in Latin," says British soprano Lisa Tyrrell. "I know trained artistes who wouldn't dare attempt such a heavy piece." Then there were two young Gujarati brothers from suburban Mumbai who gave a flawless rendition of Chopin's Preludes. The siblings confessed they were self-taught and couldn't afford a piano but had managed to "pick up a few pieces" on the family's electronic synthesiser.

Participants also came from Chennai, Bangalore and Pune to enjoy the lazy "Lunch Time Concerts" and glean tips from the gurus. "People here are so starved of musical training that we were conducting lessons in the corridors, dressing rooms, lawns-even the toilets," says Mumbai-born violinist Harvey De Souza, who won a scholarship to the Yehudi Menuhin School in England and is a member of the famous Vellinger String Quartet.

"Music is a great leveller." It is also something of a social statement. "A lot of people who come to these performances are probably more knowledgeable than audiences abroad," says Mumbai-born Eddie Khambata, a Harley Street laryngologist who treats some of the world's top opera stars-including Russian soprano Olga Borodina and Vladimir Chernov, a leading baritone at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. "But western classical music does have its share of snob value." Vera Choksey, a Mumbai piano teacher, agrees: "It has become the done thing to be seen at concerts." And if you can strum a few bars yourself, so much the better. Last year, Seema Mehta hired a piano and signed up for lessons with her seven-year-old son Rahul. Says the 36-year-old Mumbai hausfrau: "It's more cultured than banging out Hindi tunes on a synthesiser." But she avoids the "heavy duty stuff" on the concert circuit.

In Pune, nearly 600 students sit for the annual examinations conducted by the Trinity College of Music, London. In Calcutta, the local School of Music conducts piano and violin lessons for over 180 students and organises a Monsoon Concert Series. And in Delhi, many foreign embassies import their talent to perform at exclusive soirees for the capital's culturati.

But perhaps the most popular is Mumbai's "Winter Season", which features well-known international groups and world-class artistes. Early February saw a choice recital by cellist Matthew Sharp and Dominic Harlan on the piano at the NCPA. And last week, Fareed Curmally, a leading pianist of the city, accompanied Swiss vocalist Jean-Luc Drompt to present an eclectic mix of Mozart, Dvorak, Bizet and Tosti, among others.

Incidentally, Mumbai also has its own Chamber Orchestra which gives the odd performance, "but only the charitably inclined can be dragged to them", shudders one critic. The verdict: "a considerable latitude in matters of pitch, coupled with a musical ineptitude that verges on the disastrous". In plainer language, a crummy show. "That is unfair criticism," says Khushroo Suntook, president, Tata Services Ltd. "It's a valiant effort by a group of middle-class musicians who cannot afford to devote themselves to their art." However, last week the Chamber Orchestra featured artistes from abroad-Wolfgang Harrer conducting Thomas Schrott on the violin and Daniel Bosshard on piano and organ.

"With Sangat we hope to put Mumbai on the international music circuit," says Jeejeebhoy, also one of Mumbai's best pianists. There are thousands in Mumbai who would want nothing less.

--By Farah Baria