Search - Nikhil Banerjee :: Hundred Minute Raga Purabi Kalyan

A masterpiece by a great artist

D. Petschl | Vienna, Vienna Austria | 11/09/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Pandit Nikhil Banerjee was one of the greatest sitar players of all times; a pupil of Ustad Allaudhin Khan (who also taught Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan), this musician has developed a unique and very lyrical style of playing.This cd features a very long rendition of the rare Rag Purabi Kalyan, a raga that ist seldomly played. Disc 1 features solely the (beatless) alap section, the first few minutes of which are from an audience recording (since the engineer at the soundboard apparently pressed "record" too late). This section, which has lots of hiss and distortion (but is still well listenable), can be skipped. The overall recording quality of rest of the the disc is excellent.

If you're not yet familiar with North Indian classical music, this disc may seem difficult - better try the excellent jugalbandi (duet) with Ali Akbar Khan first, which is far mor easily accessible to the untrained ear.

However, for experienced listeners and serious admirers of raga sangeet, this is a must-buy."