Fateh Ali & Rustam Fateh – Megh
Mubarik Ali – sarangi
Ijaz (Jhajji) – tabla
Aftab Datta has kindly shared the video above and the recordings below:
Amanat Ali & Fateh Ali – Asavari (Radio Pakistan)
Moinuddin & Aminuddin Dagar – Abhogi Kanada
Azizuddin Mirza – Shuddh Sarang
Chote Ghulam Ali Khan – Mishra Bahar
Chitti Babu – Tilang (saraswati veena)
Fateh Ali & Amjad Amanat Ali – Ahir Bhairon
Girish Karyal – Chayyanat (alap)
Girish Karyal – Chayyanat (hori dhammar)
Mohammad Hafiz Khan – Chandani Kedara (alap)
Mohammad Hafiz Khan – Chandani Kedara (dhrupad)
Hamid Hussain – Jaijaivanti (sarangi)
Hamid Hussain – Shree (sarangi)
Indra Kishore – Shuddh Lalit (alap)
Indra Kishore – Shuddh Lalit (hori dhammar)
John Baily – Vijaynti Kalyan (rabab)
Mohammad Sayeed Khan – Maligaura (BBC 1987)
Munir Khan & Ghulam Hussain – Shankara (sarangi & sitar)
Nasir Aminuddin Dagar – Bhimpalasi
Niaz Ahmed Khan – Shahana Kanada
Rasik Lal Andharia – Gorakh Kalyan
Ravi Kitchlu – Bihag (teentaal)
Nazakat Ali & Salamat Ali – Kaushikdhuni (Live in Delhi)
Mohammad Hussain Sarahang – Bahar
Mohammad Hussain Sarahang – Nayaki Kanada
Vasantrao Deshpande – Marwa (live)
Ye Aftab,
As usual!
I found a second Madu Meikum of Maduria Sri Somasundaram.
Same song, completely different.
Both 3:03/3:06 long. Second half the laya of the first.
There should also be a Veena Dhannama(l) recording!
Your attention please.
yours Arie
We are all indebted to brother Aftab Datta for letting us view and hear these splendid items of our Classical music. Big up to Aftab, keep sharing!
Oh, by the way it was Ustad Fateh Ali Khan’s son Rustam Ali khan accompanying him and not Amjad Amanat Ali. What a beautiful item.
Nazakat Ali & Salamat Ali – Kaushikdhuni (Live in Delhi)
This is a poor rendering by Khan Sahiban, and should rather not be published. Salamat and Nazakat were great vocalists, and I believe only the best of their works should be presented on a public forum. It is okay to keep your collection, but kindly try to present the best of an artist.
In this particular rendering, Khan Sahib somehow couldn’t build the vilambat in the way it is required for a 45 minute raga rendering. I think they did great till the 26th/27th minute and after that, the whole rendering is a mess.
Kaushi Dhani is a raga of meendh like most other pentatonic raga’s, but Khan Sahiban seem to forget that throughout the rendering, overwhelming the whole mood of the raga with only their Lai-kari. I must admire the patience of Delhi audience for taking so many ‘Tihais’ from Khan Sahibans. And, as if that wasn’t enough, they dragged the durut and carpet bombed it with the strange tarana in the end.
A perfect rendering of the same raga by same Khan Sahibans is available for listening here:
>> http://www.sawf.org/audio/bhinnashadaj/naz_sal_kaushikdhwani.ram
A brief description of Kaushaikdhwani:
Raga Bhinna Shadaj
This old raga finds mention in the treatises of antiquity, among them Matanga’s Brhaddesi (9th C), Sarangdeva’s Sangeeta Ratnakara (13th C). Resolving the conflicting accounts in the commentaries and relating the lakshaNAs of the ancien régime with the practice of our time present considerable difficulties. “Bhinna (literally differentiated) is so called because it is differentiated with reference to four (factors) viz. sruti, jati, purity and tone (svara)” (Sangitaratnakara of Sarngdeva, Vol. II, English Translation and Text by R.K. Shringy and Prem Lata Sharma, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 1989). Bhinna Shadaj seems to refer to that grama-raga obtained by deviating from the shadja-grama-raga (likewise with Bhinna Pancham and the madhyama-grama). Sarangdeva is explicit in his description of Bhinna Shadaj: “Born of sadjodicyav (jati), bhinnasadja is devoid of rsabha and panchama, has dhaivata as its fundamental and initial note and madhyama for its final note?” (Ibid). This is seen to correspond to the present-day version of the Hindustani Raga Bhinna Shadaj at least in its broad outline (the Carnatic raga of the same name is very different).
Bhinna Shadaj is an auDav-jAti raga with the following swara profile: S G M D N. The rishab and pancham are varjit. It is known by several other names: Kaushikdhwani, Hindoli, Audav Bilawal, and Bhookosh/Bhavkosh/Bhavkauns. The lakshaNAs are straightforward: it is an M-centric (madhyam-pradhAna) raga, and allows for nyAsa on each of its swaras. This happy situation permits a large space for elaboration as well as varied points of swara emphasis. The avarohi (downward) contour is characterized by the meeNDs G->S, D->M and S”->D.
Thanks for sharing anyways.
😉
thanks for the detailed response.
And especially for allowing us to “keep your collection”.
you have a better version maybe you can send it to us.
actually, you should send it to us.
Dont have a collection of my own. If I had one, I would share it with you.
I put a link to a chunk of the same bandish by same artiste (from Rajan P. Parrikar’s website) in the previous comment, you may still find that. The purpose was not to prove that ‘my collection’ is better than yours, but just wanted to show that even a great artist may not perform equally well at all times and not all renderings are worth keeping. 🙂 Dont take it personal.
Everyone seems occupied with ‘collections’ and hardly anyone seems bothered about the actual fabric of any particular rendering. No one comments on the built of a the raga itself, the sangat, the quality of tonal balance, the intricate combinations of swar and lai, the crescendos of the rendering itself. And I am not talking about research on what’s mentioned in the shastras about ragas, I am talking about sharing how one sees any particular raga/bandish/rendering.
Perhaps it’s too much for a modern day average person.
Till next time
The following excerpt was taken from “Short takes on bhina Shadaj” by Rajan P. Parrikar. You can read the whole article at http://www.parrikar.org
Raga Bhinna Shadaj
This old raga finds mention in the treatises of antiquity, among them Matanga’s Brhaddesi (9th C), Sarangdeva’s Sangeeta Ratnakara (13th C). Resolving the conflicting accounts in the commentaries and relating the lakshaNAs of the ancien régime with the practice of our time present considerable difficulties. “Bhinna (literally differentiated) is so called because it is differentiated with reference to four (factors) viz. sruti, jati, purity and tone (svara)” (Sangitaratnakara of Sarngdeva, Vol. II, English Translation and Text by R.K. Shringy and Prem Lata Sharma, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 1989). Bhinna Shadaj seems to refer to that grama-raga obtained by deviating from the shadja-grama-raga (likewise with Bhinna Pancham and the madhyama-grama). Sarangdeva is explicit in his description of Bhinna Shadaj: “Born of sadjodicyav (jati), bhinnasadja is devoid of rsabha and panchama, has dhaivata as its fundamental and initial note and madhyama for its final note?” (Ibid). This is seen to correspond to the present-day version of the Hindustani Raga Bhinna Shadaj at least in its broad outline (the Carnatic raga of the same name is very different).
Bhinna Shadaj is an auDav-jAti raga with the following swara profile: S G M D N. The rishab and pancham are varjit. It is known by several other names: Kaushikdhwani, Hindoli, Audav Bilawal, and Bhookosh/Bhavkosh/Bhavkauns. The lakshaNAs are straightforward: it is an M-centric (madhyam-pradhAna) raga, and allows for nyAsa on each of its swaras. This happy situation permits a large space for elaboration as well as varied points of swara emphasis. The avarohi (downward) contour is characterized by the meeNDs G->S, D->M and S”->D.
Oh my goodness!
That is a batch of music. Thank you again and again for this site. And for the previous Amir Khan updates.
I have not had the chance to listen to all of the tracks, that will take days, but I did listen a few but to A.Mirza’s Shudh Sarang really stands out. Who was he? Thank you so much for posting this.
I didn’t know he even existed. I wish I could have been around to hear them when they were around. I am an amateur listener and admirer.
Keep up the good work!
Scott
Dear Mr. Arthur Miller,
‘Taj Mahel’ has been appreciated & assessed long back. Today it does
not need any assessment by any tom dick & harry. On the contraray any body who passes comment about ‘Taj Mahel’ is indirectly assessed. So is the case with Ustad salamat ali khan & Ustad nazakat ali khan duo. They
have proved themselves adequately.We are probably too dwarf to assess
their height.
I have heard both the versions from different sources & find no major
offensive difference between the two. May by parrikar’s site depicts only
the part of it, so you have a partial picture. Indian classical music is
created during performance unlike western music which is created before
its performance. So no two performances of the same raag & same artist
can be same. Things which are not mechanical or mugged up can not be predicted. You did not like the track in question, its O.K. Switch over to other artists or other forms of music. They are endless. You should have guts to find your own choice. Probably you are striking at wrong point.
Rather than over reacting in a criticising tone, you should appreciate the
herculian task the sarangi.info team has been busy with. Probably you
have no idea about how difficult it is to collect the scattered recording
& distribute it freely without any commercial benifit. I can not imagine
the degree of your over reaction, had it been a paid service.Because it
is freely accessible you do not have its value.
Yes you can definitely suggest error in labelling which is quite likely in
such a big venture. So far as performance of the artist in the track is
concerned, it is beyond the control of Mr.Aftab or Dr.Taimur. They
deserve real appreciation under all the circumstances.
So, Mr. Arthur, please be a balanced writer at least in a public forum.
I am sure you can always do that as I think you have passed comments
in a bad phase of your mood variation.
With due humbleness.
I saw a ptv khiraj-e-tehseen programme where mussarat nazir talked about khawaja khurshid anwar and a song clip was played with lyrics “dharak dharak hi bolay mera jiaara, tera bin chayan na aaye ray” kindly tell me the title of the song if some one knows it I will be really thankful. I am a visitor of this site but am posting something for the first time dont be offended and help me. the site is great. thanks in advance.
The posts by Arthur Miller and Dr. Kashyap raise an important point. There is no tradition of musical criticism in ICM, at least for ordinary listeners. This is a big gap because there is no way to distinguish one performance from another. If you look at the New Yorker, for example, every issue has a review on the subject – and yes, a Pavarotti can miss the high C at times or his performance can lack emotional resonance. Even great artists can have off days. How does one discern that? How does one rate the quality of a particular rendering? What criteria are to be used? An educated listener is also an important motivation for the performer to perform well.
I felt Arthur Miller’s points were well taken. I haven’t listened to the recording so I can’t say whether he is right or wrong but he has been fairly meticulous in his critique. He has identified the point in the performance where the quality deteriorates, he has mentioned the technical limitations, and he has offered another rendering to compare with. One can discuss these and agree or disagree. I don’t think the appropriate repsonse is to bring in the Taj Mahal which is unchanging or to say that ICM is improvised. There can be inspired improvisation and there can be so-so improvisation. We need a way to figure that out.
This is music not a sacred object of worship. It touches us in emotional ways and we should be free to express our emotional responses without fear of disapproval.
In the spirit of being positive, I can request Taimur to send both renderings to Ustad Mubarik Ali Khan who belongs to the Sham Chaurasi gharana and ask him for his comparative analysis. That would be of immense value to all of us.
THE DEBATE HAS TAKEN ITS TOLL SO HERE IS WHERE I AM INTERVENING.
I THINK ALL OF US HERE ARE MERRY LISTENERS OR ELSE AMATEUR PERFORMERS.WE SING JUST FOR OURSELVES.NAMES LIKE USTAD SALAMAT ALI AND USTAD AMIR KHAN ARE ASSETS OF CLASSICAL MUSIC.I AM A DIEHARD FAN OF ROSHAN ARA BUT SOME OF HER RENDERINGS ARE MY PERSONAL FAVOURITES WHILE SOME ARE A BIT LESS FAVOURITE.THAT DOES NOT MEANS THAT I START CRITICIZING HER THOUGH I TO UNDERSTAND CLASSICAL MUSIC A LITTLE BIT BUT STILL WHY SHOULD I START A FIGHT ON A PUBLIC FORUM THOSE OF YOU WHO CONSIDER THEMSELVES MUSICOLOGIST SHOULD DISCUSS LIKES AND DISLIKES ON PERSONAL LEVEL BY EXCHANGING E MAILS.THE ARTISTS MENTIONED IN THE DEBATE HAVE ENDURED THE TEST OF TIME WHICH IS FAR MORE CRUCIAL A CRITIQUE THAN ANY LISTENER COULD OFFER.RECORDINGS CAN BE GOOD AND BAD DUE TO THE RECORDING ENVIORONMENT ALSO.A STUDIO RECORDING IS MORE PROFOUND AND LIKEABLE THAN A LIVE PERFORMENCE BECAUSE IT IS RECORDED BY RECORDING ARTISTS AND NOT BY AMATEURS.ANY HOW ITS JUST ME ND MY MUSINGS I DONT MEAN TO SHUN ANY ONE ITS JUST WHAT I THINK IS THE CORRECT WAY OF DEALING WITH THIS DILEMMA.I AM SORRY IF I BROKE SOME BODY’S HEART.TAKE CARE GOOD BYE.
With regards to the views raised by Arthur Miller and Dr. Kashyap, I would like to say that indeed we are nowhere in criticising the greats like Ustad Salamat Ali kHan. And also, I would say that before criticising a performance, we should always try to know under what circumstances, the artist made this recording.
With regards to the views raised by Arthur Miller and Dr. Kashyap, I would like to say that indeed we are nowhere in criticising the greats like Ustad Salamat Ali kHan. And also, I would say that before criticising a performance, we should always try to know under what circumstances, the artist made this recording.
I don’t think that critical appreciation of a performance can be equated with criticism of a person. Nor can a discussion be equated with a fight that has to be relegated to private emails. Nor should disagreement take an emotional toll and lead to the breaking of hearts.
Let me try to explain myself with an analogy. Miandad was one of the cricketing greats. Yet, we were never averse to pointing out when he lost his wicket to an irresponsible stroke. What is the difference between cricket and music? There is artistry and skill and training involved in both. Nobody ever said we were too small to criticize Miandad. I suppose it is because we know more about cricket than about music.
I see that my comments have made many a guys pretty angry. I can only sympathise with them. When you guys are done criticising my post, kindly also comment some on music itself.
Kaushik Dhwani is one of the most beautiful and richest of pentatonic ragas. Pentatonic ragas have their origin more towards the religeous music of early brahmins (their temple ragas were composed of only three notes) compared to the majority of sampooran (seven note) ragas that originated from folk music. So, the pentatonic raga’s are more philosophical in their manifest/rendering, unlike most other ragas that represent one or more of the classical nine ‘ras’ (emotions) and a more emotionally overtoned rendering rather becomes those.
Kaushik Dhwani is distinguished among other pentatonic ragas. I find that it’s beauty lies more in the purity of the swar. Lai has an important role to play but it necessarily obeys the swar like an obedient disciple, or else the whole philosophical ambience of the raga may be lost.
One may compare a raga rendering to the invention of a bicycle, but that is not my place to comment. 🙂
till next time
Sir Arthur Miller
Before it turns into one of those sites with exchanges becoming angrier and nastier, it isn’t your criticism of the performance which got people going, it was your approach. We carefully decide what is uploaded so we represent the artist in the best way. I don’t like everything Nazakat/Salamat performed, but I just skip over it. I have a spine and my own tastes. It was assumed “people” like everything and are afraid to show disfavor to a raag because of some hero-worshiping characteristics of the listener. I’m not like that, many people are not like that. Many express their liking for this version of Bhinna Shadaj, some don’t – I respect that, actually. It shows that you have a very refined approach to music appreciation. But it isn’t a performance by any amateur singer.
When you say “Perhaps it’s too much for a modern day average person” you are putting yourself on a pedestal without knowing anything about us. Most probably it wasn’t deliberate, I’m sure. But, that is a huge assumption. That is why this discussion has taken such an unfavorable turn.
What about something good on the site which you appreciate?
It isn’t about “collections”, sir. It is about sharing treasures which have remained hidden for years. It is about revitalizing artists and raags which have been neglected, especially in Pakistan and not only paying them tribute but exposing their talents to the entire world. This is not http://www.musicindiaonline.com.
Lots and lots of people, such as myself who grew up in the US, have not had the opportunity to hear these artists perform, or had access to music of theirs. Even a mediocre performance is enough to satisfy some because we are in a different environment where exposure is limited.
So, criticism accepted, no problem, I genuinely mean that. This shouldn’t be a battleground. That is way out of scope for sarangi.info’s mission. There are plenty of other sites for that.
By the way, loved the “The Crucible”
Gentlemen,
I feel obliged to post a response to some of the things I have read here, as I feel that there is great potential here for well wishing listeners to be confused and off-tracked by this rather peculiar dialogue. Firstly, I would like to clarify that personally, I am not a big fan of Ustads Salamat – Nazakat and do not believe that any Ustad is beyond criticism. Secondly, my understanding of music is limited to what I have understood and assimilated to date and I reserve the right to change my opinion about anything if a greater reality dawns upon me tomorrow. Having said that:
1. I believe it was Pandit Ramrang who said during a live performance something along the lines: “When gunee log (learned people) are sitting in the audience one feels comfortable that even if there is a small mistake here or there, they will forgive it”. The level and extent of criticism in the current context hence is but perhaps representative of the level of the listener/critic.
2. If only the best of people’s works should be presented on a public forum then a large percentage of the ICM on the internet would need to be taken off. From a purely technical viewpoint there are mistakes / weaknesses / shortcomings in many a great performance by many of the Gurus (most of whom were past their prime when the mic and tape got to them). Nevertheless, these performances remain enjoyable to easy listeners, informative to discreet ones and supposedly bring faiz/baraka to the enlightened ones.
3. On comments on the nature of the performance and all the rest, unfortunately the problem is that invariably its very difficult to judge/rate a live performance based on a single listening of the recording alone. In certain cases it even takes one a few years to understand what an artists is trying to or achieve, or may even have actually achieved as far as the listeners present are concerned. In other cases it perhaps takes people a few light years….
4. On the certain rendering by Khan Sahiban, being poor and not worthy of being published while the other one being perfect – that quite honestly and with all due respect is simply a load-a-crap and should be taken back….. fullstop.
Best Regards,
Suhaib Kiani
This is not a dialogue, make it clear. Some people may choose to respond irrationally, they are not my responsibility.
After going through the responses, I have come to believe that none of you have a clear picture of Salamat Ali’s true artistic potentials, though in your responses you try to accuse Arthur Miller of some serious blasphemy against Salamat Ali/Nazakat Ali.
Still, I forgive all of you for your ignorance. 🙂
Mr Datta and all other contributors deserve appreciation for their contribution and I do appreciate them as contributors.
Since you are not mature enough for criticism, I will discontinue commenting here.
Sir Arthur Miller
thank you so much
Dear Suhaib,
You have mentioned Pandit Ramrang in your post. It would be a great service if sarangi.info could leverage its relationship with Rajan Parrikar to get Pandit Ramrang to give his scholarly opinion on the recording being discussed. The objective of sarangi.info could expand beyond being a great archive to a source of education as well.
The point is not to look for mistakes. You are quite right that the really learned people don’t give much weight to that. What is useful to know is how good that particular Kaushikdhani is – is it an inspired performance or a so-so one? If someone were to ask me to direct him or her to a truly great Kaushikdhani would I direct that person to this recording? I don’t know and it does bother me.
There are some pieces that do leave a profound emotional impact on me but I am unable to communicate that experience to another person beyond saying that it was awesome. I am unable to explain what distinguishes it from another performance of the same raga. When I think of this I imagine a thought experiment: suppose I had twenty recordings of Kaushikdhani by Ustads Nazakat-Salamat recorded at two year intervals throughout their long career. How would I describe how their exposition changed and developed as they matured and aged? Once again, I don’t quite know and it bothers me.
I can try and explain my meaning with reference to cricket because I know more about it than about music. If I think of a great innings by Miandad, I can describe its attributes to another to a reasonable extent: the ability to see the ball early, the ability to read the turn, the strength on the off-side, etc. And I can also distinguish it from some other inning that might have been great for other reasons, say, dexterity to negotiate the rising ball on a bouncy wicket or finding the gaps in the fielding. But this is simply because I know more about cricket than about music. I am dismayed by the proposition that music is something that one cannot know more about – it either moves you or it does not. And, if it doesn’t move me, the fault is always with me.
The ability to appreciate and understand the fine nuances is different from having personal preferences. As you said, you prefer other gharanas to Sham Chaurasi, and as Gohar said she prefers some ragas by Roshan Ara begum more than others. That is a personal preference and does not help in understanding. Nor, as you rightly point out, does it form the basis for an evaluation of the quality of a particular performance.
Once again, I can think of an example to explain what is in my mind. You may prefer white wine while I prefer red. But my knowledge of wines is so limited that I cannot say anything about a particular red beyond the fact that I liked it or I did not. But if you take the same wine to a wine tasting expert, he or she would be able to describe a number of its attributes and compare them intelligently with other reds or other vintages of the same red. So, knowledge does make a consumer, whether of wine or cricket or music, more educated and more discriminating. And a discriminating listener has a positive feedback effect on a performer.
I am not fully convinced that it is impossible to rate a live performance. The nawabs of the princely states used to have live performances and rewarded what they considered the best based on their deep knowledge – there are so many interesting stories in this regard including some narrated by Fateh Ali Khan sahib about the Patiala court. Modern competitions in India also do the same. All the great live opera performances in the West are regularly reviewed by professional music critics. So we should not close this door without some additional effort to see if we can move at least a little bit forward.
The bottom line is that I want to believe it is possible to acquire a critical appreciation of music and hope that sarangi.info would continue its great contribution by adding this dimension to its portfolio.
And I want to thank Arthur Miller for opening up this debate whatever his intention. Personally, I would want him to stay engaged.
With regards,
Anjum Altaf
I do not find anything wrong in the criticism of Arthur Miller. Criticism can only help younger artists to avoid the mistakes of their seniors.
Dr Anjum Altaf has raised very important points regarding ICM. Indeed, there is no tradition in ICM of music criticism or writing in English on music by professionals. The main reason is that those who know about music have a very limited knowledge of English and those writing on music in English , by and large, have had no training in the basics of music appreciation. I guess the reason why most of us are able to discuss sports at an intelligent level is that we have all played our favourite sports while growing up and relate to them not just vicariously. I think that to appreciate and discuss music at the level proposed by Dr.Anjum, one must learn to sing or play an instrument. And then one should have listened to an immense amount of music to separate an outstanding from a mundane performance. Once a certain level is achieved, one starts to appreciate new ideas and their development, but to say to someone that e.g Murad Ali has approached Nikhad in a new way in his Rageshri – available at sarangi.info- would be meaningless unless that person knew the basics of note recognition. In that respect, sarangi.info has informative articles in its Text Section and Updates. I have myself contributed there and have also written out sargams of some music available on sarangi.info .
I have a fond hope that music will once again become part of the curriculum in Pakistan. In the words of Dr Salman Ansari-(http://sitarplayer.net/Reflections_On_Ustad_Shahid_Parvez>)- it is indeed a deficiency of our culture that not every one is given the chance to sing or to play an instrument, to refine the soul and maybe for seconds catch a glimpse of infinity and eternity.
GOOD KAUSHIKDHUNIS INCLUDED:
BADE GHULAM ALI : YAAD PIYA KI AAYE.
LATA MANGESHKAR : UD JAA RAY KAGAA.
KISHORI AMONKAR : UD JAA RAY KAGAA.
ALL AVAILABLE ON RAJAN’S SAWF PAGE.
THEY WILL QUENCH ANY BODY’S THRUST FOR KAUSHIKDHUNI.
AS FAR AS SHARING OF MUSIC GOES THAN GOOD OR BAD RECORDINGS BOTH WILL BE SHARED AND ONE CAN CHOOSE WHICH TO LISTEN AND KEEP AND WHICH TO JUST LISTEN.WARM FEELINGS FOR THE SITE OWNERS FOR ATLEAST SHARING THEIR RECORDINGS.
another rendition by bade ghulam ali khan sahib in kaushidhwani is “aja hun aye balamwa”.
rashid khan.pt.jasraj,sharafat hussain khan ——->there kaushidhwani is also awesome.
As a student of both Indian Classical and Western Classical Music, I feel that music is something that can definitely be criticized and discussed intellectually. In this respect, it is similar to other artforms. For example, the Arts page of the New York Times regularly reviews new plays (or new productions of old ones) where theatre critics discuss the pros and cons of particular performances. In painting, one discusses different periods of Picasso’s work and the characteristics of each. In Western Music degree programs, all students have to take courses in basic Music Theory where pieces are analysed in terms of their structure and different performances are critiqued.
To treat musicians as if they are gods that one absolutely cannot criticize is to do a great disservice to them. As someone who has performed in front of live audiences, I can tell you that it is very rewarding for the performer to recieve feeback from the audience. How else can one learn what has worked and what has not? How else can one improve? It is all in the spirit in which comment is given. For example, if someone were to say “You were consistently flat, the notes didn’t sound good…” one would be pretty upset. But if the same person were to say “I really liked this part when you did such and such, perhaps you could focus more on this part….” that would be constructive.
Finally, film songs certainly have their place, but they are a different genre than classical music. With no offense to Lata Mangeshkar, who is certainly a great singer, it would be inaccurate and unfair to her to compare her to people like RoshanAra Begum and Ustaad Salamat Ali Khan. Performances need to be analysed within the appropriate context.
Sincerely,
Kabir Altaf
Mani Prasad
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bhinnashadaj/maniprasad_kaushikdhwani.ram
😐
Kabir brought this to my attention as an example of good and typical professional criticism (of a performance he attended). The reviewer has even critiqued the great Placido Domingo. This will be of general interest. Note how different aspects of voice culture are identified and evaluated.
Young Voices in ‘Don Giovanni’
By Robert Battey
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, November 12, 2007; C05
Washington National Opera has made good use of its current “Don Giovanni” production, platooning three separate casts and two conductors. On Friday, members of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program took the principal roles, with Trevor Scheunemann, Masetto in the main stage cast, assuming the title role. For the most part these apprentice singers did admirable jobs.
In February, I wrote of soprano Aundi Moore that while her “lower register is still developing, her high notes are going to take her places.” Well, they have taken her to center stage of the Kennedy Center Opera House as a standout Donna Elvira in a strong cast. While Mozart’s nasty register leaps in “Ah! chi mi ice mai” showed what is still missing, hers was the only voice that otherwise filled the hall without strain. “Ah! fuggi il traditor” displayed clarion beauty, though conductor Placido Domingo completely missed the Handelian grandeur of the piece. “Mi tradi” was exceptionally effective, too, even though Moore seemed to tire at the end, with pitch problems.
Claudia Huckle relished all the juicy acting opportunities for Zerlina — from the halfhearted squirming in Don Giovanni’s embraces in Act 1 to her lascivious ministrations to Masetto in “Vedrai, carino” — and sang cleanly.
As Donna Anna, Elizabeth Roberts overcame a shaky start in her two opening ensembles to produce a riveting recitative in “Don Ottavio, son morta!” When she didn’t have to force her voice (due to carelessness in the pit), she showed a lovely range of color.
The men were less impressive. Grigory Soloviov’s inexperience on a big stage was palpable in every scene. In both the Catalogue Aria and “O statua gentilissima” he spent more time looking at the conductor than at his colleagues, and his voice faded whenever he felt insecure. His vocal imitation of his master in the second act was good, but his own singing, while accurate, was rather dry. Scheunemann, on the other hand, seemed to relish his ascension from cuckold to libertine a bit too much. His stage swagger quickly became tiresome, and it was unclear when, or if, it was supposed to be alcohol-induced. His youthful voice is fresh and unmannered, but lacks the range and power the role demands. “Finch’han dal vino” was virtually barked, while the Serenade refused to relax or bloom. Rather than dominate the many ensembles with three low voices, he often receded into vocal anonymity.
Yingxi Zhang’s one-dimensional acting in the two-dimensional role of Don Ottavio was a weak spot, but his mellifluous singing was perhaps most satisfying of all the men’s. When his acting catches up to his singing, he will be an impressive performer. As Masetto, Nathan Herfindahl made the most of his hapless role and sang with good diction and clarity. Morris Robinson (from the main stage cast) brought heft and stamina to the deceptively difficult part of the Commendatore.
As experienced a singer and as devoted a mentor of young voices as Domingo clearly is, it is surprising (not to say appalling) that he would allow the orchestra to swamp the oft-struggling singers as frequently as happened Friday. Carping aside, both the intent and overall execution of the performance were laudable and enjoyable. These young artists rose to an immense challenge, and the future of opera appears bright indeed.
‘Hitting head for aching abdomen’
Mr. Arthur,
As we fail to understand your expert criticism, please allow us to get impressed by your musical depth by posting some of the unpublished recordings of Ustad Salamatali / Ustad Nazakatali where you think full potential of the ustads have been elaborated. This will also help we ignorant people feel more proud of our music & musicians.
There is a gross confusion in your thinking. You seem to be in dilemma where to focus; on emotions or on rationality or some convenient place between the two.
Being an expert pilot cannot automatically make you an expert swimmer. Please remain confined to your field of knowledge. This will help us respect you in a better way.
This is neither a commercial site nor a promotional site for a particular artist. Just pick up that interests you. You have no right to criticize anybody’s collection in a public forum, who is working very hard to provide good recordings to the world. Please keep your valued criticism in the inner pocket rather than striking it every hour like a night watchman.
In a public forum, commenting on music itself (with of couuse, proper knowledge of the same segment) is a different thing & criticizing somebody’s collection or criticizing on a particular group of audience is different thing.
You should admire Indian classical music lover’s patience for tolerating you rather than criticizing the Delhi audience sincerely listening to our respected ustads.
When you believe nobody is beyond criticism, at least you will surely love to be criticized.
With due respect
‘Hitting head for aching abdomen’
Mr. Arthur,
As we fail to understand your expert criticism, please allow us to get impressed by your musical depth by posting some of the unpublished recordings of Ustad Salamatali / Ustad Nazakatali where you think full potential of the ustads have been elaborated. This will also help we ignorant people feel more proud of our music & musicians.
There is a gross confusion in your thinking. You seem to be in dilemma where to focus; on emotions or on rationality or some convenient place between the two.
Being an expert pilot cannot automatically make you an expert swimmer. Please remain confined to your field of knowledge. This will help us respect you in a better way.
This is neither a commercial site nor a promotional site for a particular artist. Just pick up that interests you. You have no right to criticize anybody’s collection in a public forum, who is working very hard to provide good recordings to the world. Please keep your valued criticism in the inner pocket rather than striking it every hour like a night watchman.
In a public forum, commenting on music itself (with of couuse, proper knowledge of the same segment) is a different thing & criticizing somebody’s collection or criticizing on a particular group of audience is different thing.
You should admire Indian classical music lover’s patience for tolerating you rather than criticizing the Delhi audience sincerely listening to our respected ustads.
When you believe nobody is beyond criticism, at least you will surely love to be criticized.
With due respect
Dr Kashyap,
One must always first understand what a person is trying to communicate. You are being the most irrational and impatient one here. I am quite sure that you do not at all have the patience to read one whole response, by myself or from anyone else in this thread. I have not commented at all on anyone’s collection. Perhaps you have some sort of a complex with collections.
I am a man of very precisely chosen interests and words. I picked up one fine Raga and stick to that. The rendering didn’t turnout quite as much as I expect of Nazakat/Salamat because I have listened to Salamat more in person than in recordings.
On the other hand, by your non-serious attitude, you try to present this great portal as a childish ‘meena-bazaar’. Look at your own words:
“This is neither a commercial site nor a promotional site for a particular artist. Just pick up that interests you.”
I think music is not for you because you dont draw any grace from it. Rather you take pride in just collections and collections and collections.
Kindly choose your words more gracefully next time. If you have trouble doing that, please consult other serious visitors of sarangi.info, they can definitely guide you in choosing what to say and how to say it.
To all others who can see beyond the ordinary in music, my best regards.
Arthur S. Miller
sir;
i can understand your words.actually classic music do not means collections of beutiful recordings but to express one’s feelings through rendering of various ragas.bade ghulam ali khan sahib was one of the greatest artist of the era ,but i am god damn sure that he didn’t collected recodings of other maestroes ;if he did that, i am sure he would never flourish in future.thanks
bhaiahir@rocketmail.com
As I hinted earlier about Amir Khan’s Aiman record, there are a few distinct sangeet recordings which have had a profound impact on my musical consciousness and redirected the direction of my development (I would compare it with an asteroid hitting a planet and altering the orbit of revolution).
One such recording was Ustad Fayyaz Khan’s Jaunpuri epic “Phulwan ke ga[gg]an mein ka na maar o rey”. And it was a brilliant surprise to hear Ravi Kitclu Jee break into the same bandish in Khan Sahib’s Agra style.
Aftab, once again, Many Thanks.
Suhaib Kiani
Thanks Mr. Miller for sparing time.
It will give me immense pleasure responding to your comment.
But I think if you go carefully thro’ all the previous comments with the same eye, much of the space of sarangi.info can be saved without violating the very humble purpose of this site.
With best regards to honest music lovers.
Dear Aftabji,
shahana kanada by Ustad Niaz Ahmed khan is very good.Sarangi saath is very sureli. I wonder who this unique artiste is!.Thanks for providing such a good music.
happy that this debate resolved with few casualties.
phulvan ki gaindan maika na maro re
na maro more meet piharva
naam na jaanoon dhaam na jaanoon
ab kaasan kariye ri pukar
Niaz Ahmed Khan Sahib’s recording is from the BBC Proms all night concert in the Royal Albert Hall in London. I think it was in 1980 or 1981 and it was transmitted live on BBC Radio 3. My Ustad, Ustad Sultan Khan Sahib accompanied him on Sarangi and the late Avtar Singh – disciple of Pandit Samta Prasad – accompanied him on tabla. Other artists who performed on that night were Ustad Vilayat Khan Sahib on sitar and Zakir Hussain on tabla. The other items I remember from that concert was that Ustad Vilayat Khan Sahib played Raga Vilayatkhani Kanada (his own creation), Ustad Sultan Khan Sahib played a solo on sarangi in Raga Bageshree with Zakir Bhai and then Zakir Bhai played a tabla solo in taal Rupak. Niaz Ahmed Khan Sahib also sang Raga Lalit and Ustad Vilayat Khan Sahib played another raga which I don’t remember. It was an excellent concert.
Apologies, the earlier post was meant to be on this page……
___________________________________
Although well known and very well respected, particularly amongst the Afghans, Ustad Mohammad Hussain Sarahang is perhaps one of the under-rated singers of Indian Classical Music.
My association with his music started with his brilliant Aiman Farsi Bandish cum tarana we found on an Afghanistan Music website. It was a long wait thereafter until we got a hold of the treasure trove of music now available on his page. Over the years I have come to regard him as one the most versatile singers, not only by virtue of the ease which which his voice surfs through three octaves but also in terms of his command and delight in performing almost various genres from khayal, tarana, thumri, ghazal, in urdu, farsi, pushto, darri, right upto what appears to be a something like a folk tappa/mahiyaa in saraiki/Punjabi (available somewhere on youtube). By the way, hats off to the people uploading large volumes of his work onto youtube of late, I understand that that some of his recordings from sarangi.info have also been made onto videos…more of such dedication please….
After listening to the thoroughly enjoyable Bahar recording kindly shared by Aftab Datta here, I feel that Ustad Sarahang was also very adept in number of gaiki styles. In this recording, it seems that he is deliberately singing in the style of his guru Ashiq Ali Khan (particularly note double staccato sargam hits around 14.10 / 14.36). The gamak laden drut bandish for me emphasizes the overlap between Gwalior and Patiala gaiki (also seem in Ashiq Ali Khan’s recordings with Umeed Ali Khan).
Anyways, I may be completely off here and I would welcome comments by more discerning listeners but I would like to narrate the anecdote about Ustad Sarahang’s live Bhairvi recording (available on the site) to highlight the earlier point. It is said that Roshan Ara Begum was in the audience at the time of that particular performance and had requested Sarahang sahib to sing the Jamuna ke teer thumri in the style of her guru Abdul Karim Khan as she had heard that Sarahang Sahib at times used to sing it in that manner…..
In the end, I have an obnoxious request to anybody who is reading this in Kabul. Please borrow a set of loud speakers from the local mosque, kindly connect them to your sound unit and play the bhairvi recording if its daytime and the Bahar one if its night-time……………all in memory of Zahir Shah, the Last King of Afghanistan….who as Robert Fisk independently tells us was not really interested in politics (http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2795821.ece) …I think after listening to Ustad Sarahang one can perhaps conclude that he had good reason not to be….
Dear Aftab Bai,
Thanks for showing and dispersing classical music for all
Regards
Aamir
Dear brother FATEH ALI & RUSHTAM FATEH Raag megh vedeo CAN I DOWN LOAD IT, KYAA KHAAKAR GAAYEGA KOI ITNA KHOOBSURAT.
Aftab bhaiya, Fateh ali & Rushtam fateh Raag MEGH lajaabab. suron ki itni baariki koi down loading kaa tarikaa chaahiye.
Mere pyaare Aftaab bhaiya aapka collection laajabaab hai.
Dear Brother] Some distrubence in playing of raag MEGH by Fatehali & Rushtam fateh Please remove it.
Salam to all and Eid Mubarik!
With respect to earlier post about Ustad Mohammad Hussain Sarahang please note that there are some excellent videos of him that have recently been posted by a few dedicated listeners. The following ones, I find particularly noteworthy:
The Asavari Tarana is perhaps amongst his most noteworthy performances:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_L4lUMdeFV4&feature=related
Here we have him transposing the kinare kinare badish into from aiman to hem kalyan in two parts:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt6Q6kc2J1s&feature=related
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=obqfs_z6vVc&feature=related
A darbari demo and interview:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-eb9b0WHnDE&feature=related
Interesting very old video with a very young Mr. Sarahang :
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_L4lUMdeFV4&feature=related
And generally speaking, as a medium for dissemation of classical music youtube has outdone everything with the exponential growth in content just in the last year or so alone. For those blessed with broadband it is a worthwhile exploration which will invariably result in rich rewards.
warm regards,
Suhaib Kiani
Thanks Suhaib:
This is an interesting clip, too.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KRKOk_vuLlM
Dear Aftabji,
Wholehearted thanks and eternal gratitude for this great effort!
I have several files with me, which I have download from the net or recorded from CDs. Would you be interested in adding them to your collection?
Regards,
Ankur
PS: The video of Fateh Ali & Rustam Fateh in Raga Megh is not functioning.
aftab ji
assalamu alaikum wa rahamat ullah, pls do me a favour by relesing yaman kalayan of great ustad FATEH ALI KHAN.
THANKS
AKBAR
Dear Aftab Saheb,
the link to Ustad Sarahang’s Nayaki Kanada is broken. I’d be grateful if this could be restored. I also noticed that some of the artists pages have broken links to recordings in them since the site was restored, e.g. Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan. I’m not sure if you are aware of this.
Thank you for your generosity and time in sharing these wonderful gems with us, your efforts are greatly appreciated.
best regards
Abubakr
Anant Manohar Joshi’s Shree is great ! Takes us into the Agra fort & Somehow Reminds me the Nat-ke-prakad of Ustad sharafat Hussain khan, though they don’t have any relationships any how.
Dear Aftab,
first of all I want to thank you for your excellent service to music. In your collection I saw the Jugalbandi by Munir Khan & Ghulam Hussain Khan. The track is – I think – from a LP published in the US, I guess in the 70ies. Do you have the complete LP? I’m looking for it for quite some time without any success.
Thanks again
Axel
dear aftab, thanks a lot for the shahana by niaz khan. sarangi maestro sultan khan (rip) is accompanying him. in his own words (ustand sultan khan’s), this is the best concert he ever has accompanied. this shahana should be more prominent on this website. it took me some time to search it out (rather re–search it).
The right to criticise cannot be denied. Those who disagree have the right to rebut such criticism. Our appreciation of music will remain dynamic and progressive thereby. However, in taking up an issue with any critic, the essence is to concentrate on the arguments and counter-arguments and not on the characteristics of the individual in any way.
The fact that even a well known artiste could be off colour on a given day and his performance may be below par cannot be be ruled out though I do not remember hearing the truly great do so. But to attribute to qualities of incompetency, general lack of knowledge or awareness to Arthur Miller is to attack his personal qualities and not the point he has made. For instance one issue is whether or not it is possible for a good artiste to perform below par on any occasion raised by Arthur. Another issue is whether or not, there are some listeners who take greater pride in collections than in the inherent worth of the music contained therein? I take pride in both but more in the quality of the music I have. There is a philosophical aspect to be considered pertaining to material position as opposed to spiritual attitude. What is wrong in raising such issues? We could rebut it without saying in a general way that Arthur is wasting our time or taking up too much space.
My father who was a connoisseur who once related to me about the celebrated Ustad Manji Khan’s performance at a particular concert at Dharwad, India, perhaps in the 1950s. Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur, my father’s lifelong friend was also present. As you know the Ustad was Panditji’s Guru. After one raga was over, the Ustad asked my father, “Iyengar Sahab, pasand aaya?” (Did you like it, Iyengar Sahab?). To the consternation of the Ustad and his famous disciple, my Dad replied, “Ustad maza nahi aaya.” (I did not enjoy it). The Ustad calmly replied, “Ab dekhiye.” (See now). My Dad says that the Ustad then sang a raga for one hour and my Dad wept copiously in tears of joy declaring that he had never ever heard such divine music. What should one make of this?
I for one welcome criticism of the most cherished music I own.
Ramesh