Melody unlimited

benaroya hall 14th may2005 


the performance 

Its ironical ...I had always heard and seen the legendary virtuoso,Ravi shankar's performances and concerts on tv in India and but its here,in the US of A that I finally saw him in concert.May,14th 2005 was an enchanting evening filled with music,melody and pride.

Fighting all the traffic we reached Benaroya hall just in time .Acoustically and aesthetically its a masterpiece.The evening took on high gear when the Bharat Ratna winner/Nobel peace prize nominee) was ushered onto the stage accompanied by his daughter Anoushka ,two of his disciples and Tanmoy Bose on Tabla .The hall was soon resounding with endless applause and a standing ovation .Pandit Ravi Shankar who is pushing 85 was a study in white,with a serene expression on his face ,a gentle voice ;he epitomised fraility and yore.His 23 yr old daughter was a striking contrast in her red outfit ,youthfulness and vibrance .She shares a close resemblance with her father and I did not miss the tenderness and pride in her eyes as she helped her old dad on stage .

I was spell bound by the music and watched with sheer joy the father-daughter jugalbandi.Their music had power,soul,sweetness and lots of intricacy with fantastic range which they displayed as they played raag maru Bihaag (rupak taal),raag kirvani (teen taal),raag majKhamaj(an evening rag in semi clasical form )amongst other compositions.

I did not realise when the evening ended to another standing ovation and more applause .I felt pride and glory even though it was only "reflected glory" .