In Concert

Kartik Seshadri is probably the best sitar player of his generation and is considered a leading exponent of this most popular of Indian classical instruments. A child prodigy who began performing at the age of six, he eventually went into formal discipleship with sitar legend Ravi Shankar. He is renowned for numerous international collaborations, ranging from the Brazilian group UAKTI to the composer Philip Glass, as well as leading one of the largest programmes of Indian classical music in the US at the University of California.

On this disc he employs an ancient beenkar (veena player) style for an exquisite ‘Raga Kaushi Kanada’ – a composite of ragas ‘Malkauns’ and ‘Darbari Kanada’ – but the album reaches its highpoint on the second track with ‘Raga Mishra Gara’, which also used to be a regular at Ravi Shankar’s recitals. Beginning with an aochar (a very brief alap, or introduction to the basic melodic outline), Seshadri renders it in a thumri (light-classical and lyrical) mode, which seems to be a natural home for this raga. Anindo Chatterjee’s tabla – extremely polished as always, with every syllable of percussion delicately nuanced yet distinctly clear – greatly enhances this remarkable performance and Seshadri’s own appreciation for his accompanist is clearly audible. Seshadri dedicates this album to his mother who, he says, taught him that ‘tenderness and strength' come from the same place in the heart. And, if this work is anything to go by, it would appear that Seshadri has definitely taken that lesson on board and made it a hallmark of his art.