Autumn 2024 has so far been a great season for Indian classical music in the UK. Having recently schlepped over to London for the fabulous Darbar festival, I couldn’t contain my excitement at a new partnership between the Bristol-based Asian Arts Agency and Music at Oxford, which will bring a host of South Asian artists and musical stars closer to home over the coming years. No more schlepping.
The inaugural event in this collaboration showcased the talents of British-born sitar player Roopa Panesar, accompanied by Shabaz Hussain on the tabla and Carnatic percussionist RN Prakash on the ghatam and kanjira.
South Asian music is vastly rich, as would be expected given the subcontinent’s geographical, cultural, religious and linguistic diversity. Of the Indian classical tradition, its roots going back to ancient times, Hindustani (North Indian) and Carnatic (South Indian) styles are the best known. Tonight these polar worlds united to create a harmony of raag and taal that reverberated through the hallowed arches of St John the Evangelist Church, thrilling the audience in its wake.
The sellout performance was nicely balanced, with the first half appropriately in raag Yaman, for auspicious beginnings, just with sitar and tabla. The introduction of ghatam and kanjira to the second half added depth and complexity, with three shorter compositions that included a devotional and a relatively modern raag, Jogkauns, which brought back memories of the late Ustad Vilayat Khan saab. The rhythms floated through jhaptaal, dadra, teentaal and an improvised quick-fire dialogue between tabla and ghatam. The evening finished with the timeless Bhairavi, which is typically a morning raag but is also played to conclude concerts.
The lack of tiered seating and low stage resulted, for me, in a totally obscured view, but I soon realised I could just sit back, close my eyes and enjoy the sound, which was enhanced both by the natural acoustics of the hall and by the technical team. And in doing so I felt on occasions transported to another world, reflecting that perhaps the divine could manifest in surprising ways, in this place of worship.
What didn’t disappoint was the palpable synergy, camaraderie and mutual respect between the three learned artists. The diaspora community has made enormous contributions to the Indian classical musical canon and, for me, it was a particular delight to see a fellow British Asian woman reaching the heights of virtuosic solo performance in this genre. I can’t wait to see which other musical stars the new partnership will bring to Oxford (if you’re reading this, I have a whole list in mind).