His soulful rendition of ragas on the piano has earned Utsav Lal a unique epithet of “Raga Pianist”. The 18-year-old's grasp over Western and Indian Classical music and jazz would leave anyone spellbound. “In Western Classical music there is no room for experimentation. You have to understand what the composer is trying to express and remain true to it. Western Classical is beautiful, and to be a good pianist, training in this style is a must. As far as jazz is concerned a completely different format is followed; it has varied styles, allowing the pianist to re-create his own music spontaneously.” He recently performed in the city with Irish flautist Sam Comerford at an event, “Ragas to reels”, held at Royal Orchid hotel and organised by Yes Bank.
Utsav's journey as pianist began at age seven. What started as a hobby soon transformed into a passion. Utsav first got his base in Indian classical and Bollywood music, and later trained under Brian Silas.
Playing with different artists who play diverse musical instruments is one of Utsav's fortes. “When I was at the Royal Scottish Academy in Glasgow, I remember getting very excited when I saw a guy walking into class with a harp. I went up to him and suggested we jam together. It was a rewarding experience,” says the Dublin-based pianist who was recognised as the “Young Steinway Artist” on the global top pianist's roster.
Considering that the piano is a western classical instrument how does he, so effortlessly, translate ragas on it? He seems unfazed by the question and explains: “All tunes work naturally on the piano. It has variety of tone, it introduces some element of harmony in it, and more importantly, more than one note can be played on it. Once, after a concert, someone came up to me and said I play the piano like the tabla.”
Utsav does lose himself in the music while playing, though he candidly admits, it doesn't happen all the time. “I rehearse quite a bit. I record my music and listen to it intently to judge which notes sound good and which don't. I improvise and polish my tunes till I like how it sounds.” His ability to pick up music by ear has helped him to adapt different styles of playing the piano into one cohesive whole.
Yet, it is in Indian Classical music that Utsav wants to make a mark. “There is so much soul and depth in ragas. My favourite is Dhrupad. Each traditional Indian musical instrument is unique, starting from the harmonium to the santoor. In my next project, I am working on bringing the tone of the sitar to the piano.”
Utsav has performed in over 100 solo concerts and festivals worldwide. But quiz him on what he considers his most memorable performance so far and he replies: “I remember playing at a tiny concert that was held in a small church in the Irish countryside. The audience comprised farmers, and more than half of the audience were sitting at the altar.
“This audience had never heard Indian music, but they were open to listening to it, they absorbed a lot of it. As you can imagine, the experience playing for them was exhilarating.”
