It was a classic example of a musical dialogue between the East and the West. Noted American violinist Elmira Darvarova, a Grammy-nominated concert violinist, along with sarod players Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan presented excerpts from their album “Soul Strings”. Not restricting herself to just this much she went on to explain how this unique collaboration came about.
Shedding light on the partnership, this New-Yorker said, “The concept of this collaboration (which began with a live performance at Symphony Space in New York in February 2015) is to interpret the works of maestro Amjad Ali Khan’s singing and playing through the prism of a unique joint performance, in which the artists have aimed to preserve the essence of both Indian and Western traditions so that they are able to partake of each other’s musical heritage without artistic compromise.”
The event held in the Capital’s Taj Mahal Hotel acted as a bridge between two different classical musical instruments (sarod and violin).
Explaining how this collaborative venture was dissimilar from musical partnerships being held across the world, Elmira said, “Our goal through this process is to engage and celebrate both the shared and discrete musical DNA of both traditions from a perspective of abundance. This is a blissful dream of a project, infused with the unique amalgamated contributions of artists united under a common aegis, regardless of their diverse background, cultures, traditions, generations, genders, religions, upbringing, and career paths.”
Giving his take on this initiative, Amaan said, “This collaboration actually stemmed from ‘Samagam’, where we were planning scores for international orchestras playing my father’s compositions. Out of this we collaborated with Elmira and I personally feel lucky to have her because more than music it is the collaboration of good hearts which matter to me. When people with peaceful and pristine minds meet sophisticated music is by default generated.”
Describing Elmira as a talent house, Ayaan said, “Our journey started last year. We have grown with each other’s music and have developed a comfort level because it is very easy to connect to the person you are performing with on the stage. We are excited to be sharing each other’s traditions and treasures.”
The evening was sectioned in to precise renditions with Elmira beginning with one of Bach’s composition which was short yet crisp. Ayaan was next to take stage with a soothing interpretation of raga Yaman and the piece was aptly named as ‘Sacred Evening’, for in true sense the rasa of Yaman evoked the grace and majesty of a descending sun.
All throughout these musical interpretations, a set pattern was followed in which a mellifluous amalgamation, jugalbandis, and ‘sawal-jawabs’ were happening between Sarod, violin, and tabla which was played by the able Satyajit Talwalkar. The last piece in raga Kirwani or harmonic minor in the western musical school brought together all the artists in yet another fitting title named ‘Temple of love’ which made the lyrical evening came to an end with all the rasikas feeling a bitter-sweet note echoing in their hearts.
