Masters of Indian Classical Music XXV.

2nd February, 2019
Trafó, Budapest

The curiosity of the evening will be two really rare Indian instruments played by two outstanding disciples of the 91-year-old sitar legend of Indian Classical Music, Pandit Arvind Parikh. One of the instruments is the rudra veena, which will be played in the Dhrupad style; the other one, the surbahar will be played in the Khyal style. Both instruments simulate the deepest range of the human voice – two rare instruments with a similar register in two different styles.

Pandit Rajeev Janardan – Surbahar
Sharada Mushti – Rudra Veena
Devashish Pathak – Pakhawaj

from 19:15 showing Pandit Arvid Parikh, the doyen of Imdadkhani Gharana
– a documentary in English

photo by Bihari András©

Pandit Rajeev Janardan
Surbahar

It will be the first time when the surbahar – the big brother of the sitar with a deep tonality – can be heard in Hungary. The instrument will be played in the rendering of a genius who will give his first solo concert at Trafó. The surbahar, quite like a huge sitar, is very similar in its tonality to the rudra veena of the Dhrupad style: both instruments are designed to make slow and long flexions. However, the former can also be played in the fast and virtuosic Khyal style.
Rajeev was only 15 years old when he became the soloist of the All India Radio. He follows the Imdad Khani Gharana (school, style), whose main characteristic of playing is the singing-like sounding on both the sitar and the surbahar, which thousand-year-old tradition he enriched with his own unique techniques and feelings. Pandit Rajeev Janardan is one of those few Indian musicians who can easily break through cultural barriers.
Another speciality of the concert is that Rajeev will play on a 100 (!)-year-old antique instrument, which was recently given to him as a present by his Master, who cherished this instrument as a family heritage for a long time and finally found its new worthy owner: Pandit Rajeev Janardan.
http://rajeevjanardan.com/

Sharada Mushti
Rudra Veena

Sharada is trained in Dhrupad style as a disciple of Pandit Arvind Parikh, the doyen of Imdadkhani gharana. She is a graded artist of All India Radio and was continuously engaged in many musical genres, in both vocal and instrumental. She is a trained architect and in retrospect sees her journey so far as a preparation in developing an attitude to naturally receive something as sophisticated and simple as the Rudra Veena and Dhrupad. “Architecture and Music, both volumetric and multidimensional crafts, take shape in the artist’s negotiation of rhythm and repetition, space and time, and order and chaos.”
http://sharadamushti.in/

Devashish Pathak
Pakhawaj

Devashish started as a discipline of his grandfather the late Pandit Ram Ashish Pathak of Amta Gharana. He is the winner of All India Radio Music Competition, also winner in five different states of Sangeet Natak Academy (Music Academy) competitions.