Two maestros weave the sounds of the sitar and bansuri through Raag Nat Bhairav and its south Indian counterpart Ragam Sarasangi. Slowly narrating from the alaap to jor and gat, they build up an exciting musical conversation that is not just electric but also joyfully complementary. They are acco...

An inspired rendering of alap, jor and jhalla of mesmerising Raag Darbari is followed by a composition in dhamaar taal, a 14-beat cycle, by Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar on the sarod. Pandit Kumar Bose brings the magic of Benaras gharana with his midas touch. The masterful performance is savou...

Deshpande sings Raag Vibhavati in this concert, followed by Aliya Bilawal and a Kabir Bhajan. The meends of the upper-octave dominant Vibhavati are delivered with astounding clarity followed by a deeply soulful Aliya Bilawal. Her elaboration of the Ragas with bol-ang (lyric-centric) improvisation...

Recorded at Darbar Festival 2009, on 4th April, at the Purcell Room at London's Southbank Centre.

Musicians:
- Ganesh & Kumaresh Rajagopalan (violin)
- Patri Satish Kumar (mridangam)
- RN Prakash (ghatam)

Raag Abheri

In a captivating and soulful duet, the violin brothers perform Abheri wit...

Music can be an extension to one’s personality; Aruna Sairam’s gleeful performance of Shanmukhapriya is a clear projection of her endearing tone of voice and her instant ability to make you feel at ease in a conversation. In this concert, Sairam also points out the key differences between a Hindu...

Virdee is the son of Bhai Gurmit Singh Ji Virdee in who’s memory, his brother Sandeep Virdee OBE is the founder of the Darbar Festival. Virdee brings in a breath of fresh air with his choice of Ahiri, a Carnatic raga, which he plays in pure Hindustani style. He plays a heartfelt alap, skilfully e...

Kulkarni’s methodical exposition of Bhimpalasi is exceptional and haunting. He layers the alap, jod and jhala with intricate bends and finesse, concluding with Tilang which is packed with sweet microtonal nuances of the raga. In a short and sweet conversation, he also explains how the bamboo flut...

Dagar immerses himself in Khamboji, developing the jor and jhala with from delicate to monumental gamaks highlighting each note precisely and with profundity. In this episode, he also shares his experiences on guru-shishya parampara and dhrupad nuances in a short interview. This is followed by a ...

Dasgupta plays a 300-year-old dhrupadi rabaab which is part of his vast collection of Afghani musical instruments. He elaborates Kafi, creating a nostalgic mood. The gravelly undertones of the instrument is magical and transports one away to the rugged landscapes of the middle-east. Sukhvinder S...

A surprise is in store for you, for a group of six young UK-based musicians give the liveliest performance of Carnatic compositions. The melodic progressions are elaborated with vocal finesse mixing instrumentation from both North and South India, backed by a dynamic dual-drum line-up of tabla an...