Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 September
http://www.darbar.org/darbarfestival
The Darbar Festival returns to the Southbank Centre following its sell out success in 2012 for another invigorating weekend of music, talks, food, and yoga from Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 September in the Purcell Room for a full immersion in the hypnotic flavours of India. This year the unique Festival of both Hindustani and Carnatic music will showcase the next generation of India’s most respected up and coming talent with a special focus on female performers, some of whom will be performing in London for the first time. The Festival will also celebrate the life and memory of the great Pandit Ravi Shankar who passed away in December 2012.
The 2013 Festival
Thursday 19th
6.30pm – ‘Transposed Rhythm and the Saraswati Veena’
Bernhard Shimpelsberger drums
Sukhad Munde pakhawaj
Interval
Jayanthi Kumaresh saraswati veena
Patri Satish Kumar mridangam
RN Prakash ghatam
The Festival opens with a double bill concert of drums performed by Shimpelsberger to Indian rhythms together with Munde on the pakhawaj.
Friday 20th
12:45pm – ‘Tribute to Ravi Shankar’
Oliver Caske
Simon Broughton
Find out more about the life and times of this great Indian classical music maestro. Illustrated with photographs rarely seen by the general public.
2.30pm – ‘Great Improvisational Expectations’
Debashish Bhattacharya slide guitar
Yogesh Samsi tabla
The trendsetter Bhattacharya presents afternoon ragas through his virtuosity. He doesn’t believe in the difference between classical music from East and West, but sees it simply as universal. He is accompanied by one of India’s foremost tabla maestros, Samsi, who takes the improvisational accompaniment to dazzling heights.
6pm – ‘Darbar Unplugged: Saraswati Veena’
Jayanthi Kumaresh saraswati veena
Patri Satish Kumar mridangam
RN prakash ghatam
Jayanthi Kumaresh is the most highly prized Saraswati veena player in India – enjoy the traditional way to hear Saraswati veena.
6.30pm – ‘Colours of Dhrupad and the Majestic Sarod’
Nirmalya Dey dhrupad vocal
Sukhad Munde pakhawaj
Interval
Ustad Wajahat Khan sarod
Akram Khan tabla
Dhrupad predates the Hindustani and Carnatic traditions of today but sadly there are merely a handful of remaining practitioners making this concert a rare treat. Khan, belonging to a 400-year musical dynasty is a celebrated composer and sarod maestro. He performs ragas in the Imdadkhani Gharana style.
Saturday 21st
10.00am – ‘Glorious Morning: Ragas Unwrapped’
Manjusha Kulkarni-Patilkhayal vocal
Tanmay Deochake harmonium
Akram Khan tabla
Manjusha Kulkarni-Patil is India’s most sought after young virtuoso of the Agra and Gwalior Gharanas. In her debut UK concert, she presents these morning ragas in her inmitable style which savours their expressive implications of the words, relishing their subtle shifts of rhythm to create a sighing quality.
10:15am – ‘Darbar Unplugged: Morning Sitar Recital’
Mehboob Nadeem sitar
Harkiret Bahra tabla
Mehboob Nadeem performs morning raga melodies in a rare mehfil-style concert.
2.30pm – ‘Enchanting Afternoon Ragas on 100 Strings
Harjinderpal Singh Matharu santoor
Yogesh Samsi tabla
Harjinderpal Singh Matharu performs mesmerising ragas on the santoor, an ancient string instrument that produces a beautiful trance-like sound, which Sufi mystics use as an accompanying instrument in their divine music.
6pm – ‘Darbar Unplugged: Rudra Veena’
Ustad Baha’uddin Dagar rudra veena
Sukhad Munde pakhawaj
An opportunity to hear Dagar, a 21st-generation musician and one of a handful in the world playing the rudra veena. The young maestro Munde accompanies him on the pakhawaj.
6.30pm – ‘Iconic Sitar to Mesmerising Carnatic Ragas’
Anupama Bhagwatsitar
Gurdain Rayatt table
Interval
Sudha Ragunathan carnatic vocal
Jyotsna Shrikanth violin
Patri Satish Kumar mridangam
RN Prakash ghatam
In her UK debut performance, Bhagwat plays the sitar with vigour that is the hallmark of her Imdadkhan Gharana. She is accompanied by Rayatt, the UK’s rising star of tabla.
Ragunathan, known for her enchanting voice, is the most eminent singer in the South Indian devotional Carnatic tradition. A trio of Carnatic heavy weights will accompany her.
Sunday 22nd
10.00am – ‘Morning Ragas: Sitar on Fire’
Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjeesitar
Soumen Nandi tabla
The sitar phenomenon Mukherjee returns to the London stage after an absence of six years. With his bullet speed virtuosic ability, he has been described by the great veena maestro, S. Balachander, as the sitar artist of the century. Nandi makes his debut UK appearance accompanying Mukherjee.
10:15am – ‘Darbar Unplugged: Kirana Gharana Khayal’
Dr Vijay Rajput khayal vocal
Tanmay Deochake harmonium
Shahbaz Hussain tabla
Dr Rajput, a disciple of the illustrious North-Indian vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, is one of Britain’s most talented classical Indian vocalists. He returns to the Darbar Festival to perform poetic morning ragas.
12:45pm – ‘Where Are the Women?’
Sudha Ragunathan
Dharambir Singh MBE
One of India’s most experienced Carnatic vocalists Sudha Ragunathan talks vividly about her life as a female musician and explores the role of women in Indian classical music.
2.30pm – ‘Limitless Tabla, Punjab Style’
Yogesh Samsi tabla
Tanmay Deochake harmonium nagma
This long awaited tabla solo shows of the amazing versatility of this instrument through the hands of India’s great intellectual table maestros. Samsi’s sublime dexterity in manipulating time and tone through rhythmic patterns is exhilarating to witness. Deochake accompanies him on nagma.
6:00pm – ‘Rudra Veena to Magnificent Khayal’
Ustad Baha’uddin Dagar sitar
Sukhad Munde pakhawaj
Interval
Pandit Raghunandan Panshikar khayal vocal
Tanmay Deochake harmonium
The Dagar family dynasty is synonymous with Dhrupad. Dagar is noted for his control of the raga. The terrific young Munde accompanies on the pakhawaj. Panshikar presents evening ragas from the Jaipur Atruli Gharana, known for its beautiful and unusual ragas, and is accompanied by an array of stalwart musicians.
6pm – ‘Darbar Unplugged: Sitar & Tabla’
Aunpama Bhagwat sitar
Gurdain Rayatt tabla
One of India’s freshest female sitar maestros, Bhagwat, makes her debut visit to the UK. She is accompanied by leading UK tabla player Gurdain Rayatt.
www.southbankcentre.co.uk/darbarfestival
Southbank Centre Ticket Office: 0844 875 0073