Down the chaotic, bustling corner of Kalbadevi Road and JSS Road, Jer Mahal has stood watch for aeons. It is also home to Furtados. An institution that is familiar to anyone in the city who has ever dreamed of buying a musical instrument.
A dated photograph of the Jer Mahal building at Kalbadevi. Pics Courtesy/Furtados and Co
The Goan connection
It was in 1865 that Bernard Xavier Furtado first opened doors to BX Furtado and Sons in the Dhobi Talao neighbourhood. Then, a centre for the Goan community in the city, the store offered religious goods, books and pamphlets; while down the corner his brother, Luis Manoel Furtado began selling sheet music to Western Classical scores.
John Gomes (right) being conferred honorary membership at Trinity College of Music, 1967
“In 1953, BX Furtado and Sons was auctioned, my dad [John Gomes] bid for it,” shares Anthony Gomes, current director of the chain who helms the ship alongside siblings, Joseph, Christopher and Nonobel.
A visitor tries a keyboard at the store. Pics/Kirti Surve Parade
John Gomes was a 26-year-old local resident. “He did not have the money to pay for what he bid. But he had a lot of goodwill. The Goan tailors of Dhobi Talao was an institution then, because a lot of sailors would pass through the city. So, a community of tailors grew around them. They loaned dad the money,” Gomes shares.
The defining moment, as Anthony calls it, arrived in 1959 when the then owner of LM Furtado, opted to close down his music business to move abroad. “He had already agreed a deal with Bhargava [of Bhargava’s Musik]. The only provision was that Mr Bhargava was not interested in continuing the Christian goods counter at the store,” he shares. The two shop assistants approached John Gomes around the corner. Gomes loved music, grew up with it, but never played. But his spontaneous decision would reshape the city’s music culture.
The decision to let musicians or enthusiasts walk in to the showroom try the instruments for free skyrocketed the store’s popularity among musicians and bands in the city, shares Anthony Gomes
Evolution of the fittest
It was not smooth sailing. Funding was limited, imports were banned, and the economic situation did not help. John Gomes stuck upon the idea of selling sheets of Western Classical music in addition to domestically made instruments. Furtados became the sole supplier of sheet music across India, till the 1994 economic liberalisation opened doors to exponential growth.
The LM Furtados store
Legends like Micky Correa and Louiz Banks would drop in. Anthony adds, “Worldwide, music stores are often mom-and-pop outlets. Furtados took the lead in formalising the industry, even training our own rivals and competitors sometimes.”
Blend the old and new
This certainly shows in the presence of the name in cities across the country, and the Furtados Music School that is a centre for students applying for the Trinity Guild Hall Music exams.
The current showroom in situ
On July 24, another aspect of this diversification, the annual Con Brio festival — a part of the Furtados Con Brio Foundation aimed at supporting the study and performance of Western Classical music — will commence. Started in 2010, in honour of John Gomes contribution to music, it is now in its 15th year. Director of the festival, and former winner, Smit Shah reveals, “This is also a significant 500th birth anniversary of Giovanni Palestrina, one of the founding fathers of Western Classical music. The competition and the festival, therefore celebrate Italian music, and its creators.”
Sheet music books continue to be a bestseller at the venue
The four-day festival will feature 20 to 30 musicians including the Neumann choir giving an a capella choral tribute to the Sistine Chapel, the Paranjoti Choir performing Nessun Dorma. Shah will join former director Parvesh Java in a Vivaldi concerto of four pianos, arranged by Bach. In addition to the performances, 21 musicians from across the country will participate in the vocal, violin and piano competitions on the semi-finals, starting Thursday.
Anthony Gomes and Smit Shah
The legacy continues to be in good hands.
FROM July 24 to 27; 6.30 pm
AT Experimental Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point.
LOG ON TO ncpamumbai.com, in.bookmyshow.com
COST Rs 900 onwards
