Indian Classical Music Thread

Discussion in 'Music and Recordings' started by shaizada, Feb 7, 2016.

  1. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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  2. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Thank you Kunlun.

    Dhrupad is wonderful music; just amazing. It is as heavyweight as Indian classical music gets. Enjoy!

    I went to a Hindustani concert given by Mr Warren Senders a few weeks ago. I knew him from USENET r.m.i.c [? rec.music.indian.classical] days, and had spent an afternoon talking to him in London a long time back. Great concert --- and he is a very interesting man to talk with.

    R. Vedavalli, as I might have mentioned [often!] is my favourite musician. I find her concerts incredibly special and they touch me deeply from the first note to the end. The two ladies on stage with her are senior students: I never miss their concerts either. Sriramkumar provides perfect violin accompaniment, and Arunprakash has a unique gentle touch on the mridangam
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2016
  3. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    Last night I saw the Gundecha brothers in concert. They sing Dhrupad, the oldest living style of North Indian classical music. It's beautiful and starts slow and builds. They won the Padmasri, India's highest cultural award in 2012 and they really do justice to dhrupad--a musical form associated with nad yog, the yoga of sound.

    The youngest brother plays pakhawaj, the old barrel drum with a thunderous resonance.

    Overall, the concert was great and I picked up two more of their CDs.
     

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  4. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I meant to warn you, but suspected that you already knew what was coming. Dhrupad has no "warm-up." It drops one in right at the very, very deep end with those oh-so-low oh-so-slow notes at the beginning of the alap. A beginner might wonder if the concert has even started yet --- and, at the last rudra veena concert I attended (far from my first) i was still outside-world-twitchy for several minutes. Made note to self: next time, relax and still mind before concert starts: it is a shame to miss the appreciation of even a single note.

    I'm glad you enjoyed. It's a rare treat! The pakawaj has a very special sound.

    In the last ten days I have managed to see (rough count) 1 flute, 4 veena and 2 vocal concerts of the carnatic kind :cool:
     
  5. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I don't listen to much music at home these days, and anyway only rarely revisit recent live concerts, but here's one that I saw last weekend that I just had to hear again yesterday

     
  6. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    A controversial aspect in which some would say that the North is ahead of the South is in some of the technical aspects of singing. To put it bluntly, Hindustani vocalists are expected to be able to use their lungs and throats, project their voices, and cover the full range without stress or peculiar physical contortions. The young woman in my previous post has no such difficulty (or peculiar mannerisms) and I have seen her sing without a microphone.

    Of course, I am a carnatic fan: some of my favourites may not score highly on those aspects --- but it is nice when they do.
     
  7. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    Just saw Zakir Hussain (tabla)and Nilandri Kumar (sitar) live in concert.

    Very nice performance, both were stretching the classical grammar of their instruments and having a lot of fun.
     

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  8. Abhishek Chowdhary

    Abhishek Chowdhary Friend

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    Laya Project - Doesn't really qualify as classical music. But i think the entire album is brilliant. One of the tracks:

     
  9. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I was at this one this evening. My listening didn't do it justice: she is one of my favourite young women in the music here, and I was tired and had a headache. Oh... I'll be attending her wedding next February.

     
  10. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    I saw a very nice sitarist, Roopa Panesar over the weekend.

    It was really great, she's gotten better and better.
     

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  11. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Thanks to Youtube, rediscovering the music of Ustad Bismallah Khan:

     
  12. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I mentioned this elsewhere, but hey, it was a big day and there could be no more wonderful way to celebrate it than to help get this concert on the stage. Yes, it was on the occasion of my birthday :)

     
  13. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    You are a regular at Indian concerts. Nice!

    With regards to the Bismillah Khan recording, I had completely forgotten the sound of this man and his instrument. Forgotten the Shennai itself, in fact. A very happy reminder from Youtube. So different from the strings that we usually listen to when we listen to Hindustani music.
     
  14. sacredgates

    sacredgates Audio-Technica's high priest

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    Looking for easy to obtain Bismillah Khan and N. Rajam recordings I ordered this compilation with various artists.
    This is a good place to start if you want an introduction to Indian classical music and Indian classical music lovers will also enjoy; recording/mixing quality is quite good for most tracks for this kind of music (some of you surely know what I mean...)

    Link to samples: http://www.allmusic.com/album/masters-of-indian-classical-music-mw0000433650
     
  15. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    @Thad E Ginathom Had a chance to see a South Indian singer in concert at the Metropolitan Musuem.

    Carnatic Vocalist Abishek Raghuram (or, as my phone spell check prefers, A Bushel [of?] Rabbits), with violinist Mysore H.N. Bhaskar and Patri Satish Kumar on mridangam.

    It was all good, the long centerpiece (which I'm assuming was a ragam-tanam-pallavi) was excellent.
     

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  16. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Well, I'm glad you enjoyed, but he is not very typical. He is one of those musicians that goes in for a great show of virtuosity just because he can. Heaps of fast and furious stuff. Saw him once and walked out.

    However, whilst there are those that agree with me, there are thousands that don't, and his concerts are always packed out. You could see at a glance that he is the very opposite of my favourite lady in my birthday-concert video above.

    It is not that I demand absolute orthodoxy. Another controversial singer is T M Krishna. His "trademark" is that he completely discards the basic concert format/roadmark system that has been in vogue for a hundred years or so and sings what and how he feels like. You never know where you are in a TMK concert, or what is going to happen next. But his music is magnificent. Get to see him if you can. But don't bother with his writing. Great musician; writer not so much.

    Abishek used to play Kanjira. His grandfather was one of the great mridangists. I wish he had stuck to kanjira, instead of bringing his percussion style into singing. But... he does have a really nice voice. Maybe in 20 years he will mellow down enough for me, but I may not live long enough to see it. :)
     
  17. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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  18. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I was vaguely aware that Ravi Shankar's personal life was not exactly spotless and that he screwed his way around the world in true rock-star style. I don't think I ever heard of this lady until I read reports of her death, this last week. Here are a couple of articles from the arts section of my local newspaper for you:-


    Annapurna Devi, reclusive genius
    .
    A life away from limelight.

    .
     
  19. bobboxbody

    bobboxbody Friend

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  20. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I remember him as a young guy with all-black hair, giving concerts in London (UK). The story goes that a visitor from Europe left a guitar at his house in India, and he decided to see what he could turn it into. Thus: the Mohan Veena

    :)
     

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