Darbar Festival returns to the Southbank
The Darbar Festival, a celebration of India’s rich cultural heritage returns to the Southbank this September, bringing with it a veritable bounty of sensory experiences – from food to music.
In keeping with the Darbar’s of the days of lore, the Festival brings together creative talent from India and UK, particularly in the Hindustani and Carnatic musical traditions.
Some of the highlights of the 4-day Festival which starts 27th September, include renowned Karnatic violin duo The Mysore Brothers, classical Pakhawaj soloist Chitrangana Agle-Reshwal, Sitar maestro Ustad Shujaat Khan and Tabla player Pandit Swapan Chaudhary.
Some Highlights:
Pulsating Surshingar and Violin maestros
Featuring: Joydeep Ghosh on sursingar; Shubh Maharaj on tabla; Mysore Nagraj, violin; Mysore Manjunath, violin; Srimushnam Raja Rao, mridangam; N. Venkatesh, kanjira; R.N Prakash, ghatam
An evening featuring rarely heard music by Joydeep Ghosh on the surshingar and India’s greatest violin duo, the Mysore Brothers. The surshingar, a lute instrument larger and with a deeper resonance than the Sarod, is derived from the saraswati veena. The Mysore Brothers, performing in the UK for the first time, will treat the audience to a roster of rarely heard works by the classical trinity of Carnatic music - Thyagaraja, Dikshitar and Sastri.
27th September 2012
6.00 pm, Purcell Room, Southbank Centre
Tickets: £25, £20
Fingers that Roar: Pakhawaj Solo
A rare chance to listen to the only female pakwaj (double sided drum) player, Chitrangana Agle-Reshwal, who performs a solo followed by a talk with the audience. The keeper of the pakhawaj is Lord Ganesh, making the instrument one of the oldest percussion instruments in the world.
28th September 2012
1.00pm, Purcell Room, Southbank Centre
Tickets: £20, £15
Double bill: Rare ragas and dhrupad
Manjiri Asnare-Kelkar, khyal vocal; Vishwanath Shirodkar, tabla; Tanmay Deochake, harmonium; Murad Ali, sarangi; Pushparaj Koshti, surbahar; Shrikanth Mishra, pakhawaj. A double bill featuring singing from one of India's greatest next generation maestros, Asnare-Kelkar, and the first UK concert of Pushpraj Koshti playing the rare surbahar, a kind of bass sitar. Asnare-Kelkar is the rising star of the Jaipur-Gwalior khayal style of singing. Meanwhile Koshti performs the ancient, yet timeless, dhrupad style on the surbahar. Regarded as the bigger brother to the sitar in size, it also comes with added bass.
28th September 2012
6.30 pm, Purcell Room
Tickets: £25, £20
Sublime morning ragas on the bansuri
Featuring Pandit Rajendra Prasanna on flute; Shubh Maharaj on table. A concert by one of India's greatest flautists, Pandit Rajendra Prasanna, with expert tabla accompaniment by Shubh Maharaj. India's great maestro, Prasanna, brings the bansuri (flute) to the stage for a rare London concert. Prasanna is known for his playful and melodious renderings of Indian classical ragas. He has often performed alongside Ravi Shankar. Maharaj provides a flamboyant and exciting tabla accompaniment.
29th September 2012
10.00 am, Purcell Room, Southbank Centre
Tickets: £20, £15
Tribute to Ustad Vilayat Khan
Featuring Pandit Arvind Parikh on Sitar.
A rare insight into one of the greatest sitar players India has produced. Arvind Parikh talks about his life as a friend and student of the legendary Ustad Vilayat Khan and plays short pieces by the great maestro. An in-conversation session with Dharambir Singh MBE.
29th September 2012
1.15 pm, Purcell Room, Southbank Centre
Tickets: £20, £15
Tabla Solo: Lucknow Style
Featuring Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri on Tabla; Tanmay Deochake on Harmonium.
Pandit Chaudhuri is a phenomenon in the world of tabla. His music is the spontaneous expression of powerful emotions and a deep knowledge of the instrument. He returns to the Darbar Festival after his breathtaking solo in 2006.
29th September 2012
5.30pm, Queen Elizabeth Hall Front Room
Tickets: £20, £15
Discover Raga
The concept of the raga is at the heart of Indian classical music. In a live installation, contemporary composer and sarod player Soumik Datta explores raga themes and the repetitive circular motion that is deeply connected with Indian music. This audio-visual presentation is aimed at engaging both newcomers and connoisseurs.
Soumik Datta is a critically acclaimed British Asian artist who shares his vision at the Darbar Festival to expand audiences, engage the youth and revisit Indian music in a contemporary way.
29th September 2012
5.30 pm, Queen Elizabeth Hall Front Room, Southbank Centre
Entrance: FREE
Chitraveena to Hindustani Groove
Chitraveena Ravikiran, Carnatic veena; Jyotsna Shrikanth, violin; Srimushnam Raja Rao, mridangam; N. Venkatesh, kanjira; R.N Prakash, ghatam; Shruti Sadolikar, khyal vocal; Vishwanath Shirodkar, tabla; Tanmay Deochake, harmonium; Murad Ali, sarangi
A double bill featuring world-class artists, including one of India's greatest Carnatic maestros, Chitraveena Ravikiran, and Shruti Sadolikar, one of India's finest living vocalists in the Hindustani tradition.
29th September 2012
6.30 pm, Purcell Room, Southbank Centre
Tickets: £25, £20
Majestic Morning Ragas on the Sitar
Ustad Shujaat Khan, sitar; Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, table.
Khan, a seventh generation musician, gives his debut morning ragas UK concert.
This world acclaimed musician is the son and disciple of legendary sitarist Ustad Vilayat Khan.
Hear him perform morning ragas in the gayaki style at the correct time of the day on the sitar - a style that imitates the subtleties of the human voice. He is accompanied on tabla by one of India's greatest tabla maestros, Pandit Chaudhuri.
30th September 2012
10.00 am, Purcell Room, The Southbank Centre
Tickets: £20, £15
Carnatic Rhythms to Sublime Khayal
Talavadya Kutcheri, percussion ensemble; Pirashanna Thevarajah, mridangam; Bangalore Prakash, ghatam; Kandiah Sithamparanathan, khanjira, moorsing; Aravindhan Baheerathan, flute; Dr. Ram Deshpande Mahadeva, khyal vocal; Vijay Ghate, able; Tanmay Deochake, harmonium; Murad Ali, sarangi.
The Darbar festival closes with a double bill featuring mridangam expert Thevarajah Pirashanna, followed by Pandit Ram Deshpande, regarded as one of the most talented up-and-coming maestros of Indian vocal technique. Young mridangam maestro, Pirashanna, presents a Talavadya Kutcheri (percussion ensemble). Pirashanna has collaborated and performed with some of the world’s foremost classical and contemporary musicians such as Pandit Ravi Shankar, Dr M Balamuralikrishna, Mandolin U Shrinivas, Anouska Shankar and Karsh Kale. Pirshanna presents a heart-beating experience of Carnatic rhythms from traditional to the contemporary. The final Darbar Festival event ends with a UK debut performance by one of India’s best kept khayal secrets.
30th September 2012
10.00 am
Purcell Room
Tickets: £20, £15
For more information and tickets, visit www.darbar.org
