Provoked Thoughts Options

[zippoo]

Aaj HF padhhtey padhhtey desh ki bahut yaad aa gayi. Abhi ja toh nahi sakta, socha gunh gaan hee sun loon.

[unni]

rom:

Thanks for sharing that with us. It made interesting reading. I've not had the opportunity to see either Jagjit Singh or Ghulam Ali in concert, although they've appeared frequently in these parts.

In terms of pure music, devoid of any popularity hoopla, the Mehdi Hassan concert was memorable. Like attending a classical concert. Although unfamiliar with the ghazals and with very basic knowledge of Urdu, I could still enjoy the event for the sheer beauty of the singing. That famous artistes of Madras film-music were attending the event was an indication of his stature in the music world.

I always felt that attending a live performance was more a visual experience than a "listening" one. By that token, watching Lata-ji and Asha-ji "live' was like putting another notch on the belt, to be able to say, "That's one more artiste I've seen in person". In all fairness to these legends, they were past their best singing days at the time I witnessed them. But even otherwise, the voice of the artiste seems a little different in live shows. Perhaps because of the acoustics. Or that the voice has changed slightly over time and it becomes noticeable in songs originally recorded in their younger days.

It wouldn't be fair to compare live renditions with recorded ones. Some would find it more interesting if artistes made innovative variations from the original studio recordings. But others judge the rendition by its faithfulness to the original.

Lata-ji was the featured artiste at a concert in a large auditorium in mid-down New York. The revolving stage and circular seating gave all sections of the audience the benefit of seeing the artiste face-on. As expected, she sang a cross-section of her most famous/popular numbers, old as well as the relatively new. The first time she stepped on stage, she bent down to touch the floor in obeisance. And she would remove her sandals before each singing session and stood barefoot at the mike. Artificial smoke billowed across the stage as she sang "Aaja Re Pardesi"! (She looked startled when a total stranger came on stage between songs and brushed past her. A friend of mine attended a party held later in her honour; he reported that she mentioned the incident as a 'security concern').

With great fanfare the MC announced that Dilip Kumar would sing a song, which he did, only to be booed off stage with cat-calls! It was amusing to read later in the local Indian media that his singing was "greatly appreciated"! Yes, when it ended!

Today's audiences expect a thrilling stage-show, replete with lights and colours and dancing. I had a friend "complaining" about another concert by Lata-ji, that she was expression-less and rooted at the mike. But that's true of virtually all singers of the last generation. That Mukesh-ji or Talat-sahab would stand behind the harmonium and just sing was expected. A spoken word from Rafi-sahab was a rarity, even at the behest of the organizers. But he would inject humour into a 'mast' song with an unexpected sharp whistle, or impart a "sexy" inflexion to a word ("kajra" in "Madhuban Mein Radhika"), or by changing some words in a song ("Le Gayi Dil, Gudiya Madras Ki"). But, with the exception of Kishore-da and Asha-ji, none of the other singers I've seen, moved about on stage. Infact, Asha-ji has kept pace with the current trends in live shows, with costume-changes, back-up singers and dancers. There she was, dancing on stage with Amit Kumar --- and she was 64 then!

Indian artistes would do well to take lessons from Asha-ji on how to dress for a stage appearance. Sadhana Sargam looked as if she had stepped out of the kitchen. Chitra in mourning white. Kavita Subramaniam in some non-descript outfit. Shankar Mahadevan in leather during summer!