single THE stage had a lone sitarist accompanied by a tabla player, but time meandered pleasurably through the recent three-hour-long Khayal recital at the Temple of Fine Arts in Brickfields.
Frankly, I thought I would be bored at this event as I am used to seeing Kumar Karthigesu and tablist Vick Ramakrishnan perform with six-member fusion band AkashA.
But the music that Sunday evening at the Shantanand Auditorium proved sublime in some parts, abetted by a simple stage with gauzy strips of cloth gently rippling from an indoor breeze.
Playing five ragas (compositions), Kumar began his solo classical sitar performance with an evening Raga Yaman. The raga had four parts and proved an appropriate appetiser for the rest of the recital.
Kumar began the raga’s alaap (introduction) slowly, allowing each note to fill the hall but before it died, he twanged another note, followed by another and another until the whole swelled into a sea of melody.
The following vilambit (slow) and drut (fast) compositions within the raga also showcased the skill of Vick on the tabla.
Kumar went on to play Raga Kalavathi, a lively dhun in Raga Mishra Khamaj, Raga Darbari Kanada and Raga Bhairavi. The latter featured a question and answer section where Kumar on sitar “asked” through a melody line, and Vick replicated that line and structure on his instrument.
I enjoyed Raga Darbari Kanada the most for its majestic melody, with micro and minor notes within the main scale.
There’s just something about the music from the sitar that bestirs the soul.
The Vilayat Khan sitar, played by Kumar, is a humble one, made from pumpkin gourd. A famous sitarist, Ravi Shankar, plays an instrument with an extra dried gourd at the top of its neck. And that type of sitar, by the way, is named after the maestro himself.
Whatever type, the sound is organic and memorable.
Throughout the show, Kumar showed a neat and expressive touch, impressing his own lifelong guru, Ustad Usman Khan of Pune, India. He said: “When Kumar first came to me to learn, I saw his hands were bandaged. Today, he showed the bandages are completely off!”
Kumar’s foray into the classical music arena proved a refreshing tangent in his musical journey.
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Showbiz: Melodic pleasure
2011/09/15
SUBHADRA DEVAN
sdevan@nstp.com.my
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THE stage had a lone sitarist accompanied by a tabla player, but time meandered pleasurably through the recent three-hour-long Khayal recital at the Temple of Fine Arts in Brickfields.
Frankly, I thought I would be bored at this event as I am used to seeing Kumar Karthigesu and tablist Vick Ramakrishnan perform with six-member fusion band AkashA.
But the music that Sunday evening at the Shantanand Auditorium proved sublime in some parts, abetted by a simple stage with gauzy strips of cloth gently rippling from an indoor breeze.
Playing five ragas (compositions), Kumar began his solo classical sitar performance with an evening Raga Yaman. The raga had four parts and proved an appropriate appetiser for the rest of the recital.
Kumar began the raga’s alaap (introduction) slowly, allowing each note to fill the hall but before it died, he twanged another note, followed by another and another until the whole swelled into a sea of melody.
The following vilambit (slow) and drut (fast) compositions within the raga also showcased the skill of Vick on the tabla.
Kumar went on to play Raga Kalavathi, a lively dhun in Raga Mishra Khamaj, Raga Darbari Kanada and Raga Bhairavi. The latter featured a question and answer section where Kumar on sitar “asked” through a melody line, and Vick replicated that line and structure on his instrument.
I enjoyed Raga Darbari Kanada the most for its majestic melody, with micro and minor notes within the main scale.
There’s just something about the music from the sitar that bestirs the soul.
The Vilayat Khan sitar, played by Kumar, is a humble one, made from pumpkin gourd. A famous sitarist, Ravi Shankar, plays an instrument with an extra dried gourd at the top of its neck. And that type of sitar, by the way, is named after the maestro himself.
Whatever type, the sound is organic and memorable.
Throughout the show, Kumar showed a neat and expressive touch, impressing his own lifelong guru, Ustad Usman Khan of Pune, India. He said: “When Kumar first came to me to learn, I saw his hands were bandaged. Today, he showed the bandages are completely off!”
Kumar’s foray into the classical music arena proved a refreshing tangent in his musical journey.
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