Live in Bangalore

Performing in Bangalore in February 2012 (around ten months before his death) Ravi Shankar is on top form here, alongside his daughter Anoushka and an impressive array of accompanying musicians. His joy is evident and unfettered, notwithstanding the fact he could no longer sit in the traditional crossed-legged position on the floor for what turned out to be his swansong in the country of his birth. The first item, ‘Raga Yaman Kalyan’ is played in the dhrupad (ancient classical vocal) style and it immediately sets the scene, reminding us why Ravi's sitar took the world by storm in those heady 1960s: with no compromise on the pure classical element, yet with maximum accessibility. He goes on to one of his own inventions, the enormously popular ‘Raga Tilak Shyam’ and he concludes with a ragamala (or ‘garland of ragas ’) starting with ‘Raga Khamaj’ which segues into a medley of other ragas, folk tunes and favourite airs. For this final piece, Ravi explains that both he and Anoushka have placed a small piece of cloth on the bridge of their sitars to produce a more percussive effect, akin to a staccato.

While Indian classical music concerts usually make very poor-quality visual material, the expertly made accompanying DVD offers some truly unmissable visual moments.