PARVEZ Shahid - sitar
Magnificent Melody

Fy 8086


Dunya Records
India

 

Parvez's career began at the age of three with singing lessons. Natural talent alone would doubtless have been insufficient to to reach the position of pre-eminence among sitarists that he now occupies in India, if it had not been accompanied by strict discipline and incessant, gruelling practice of the instrument.

Etawah, the prestigious school (gharana) Parvez comes from, dates back to the beginning of the 19th century and has produced such musicians of note as Ustad Inayat Khan and especially Vilayat Khan, Parvez's uncle and probably the greatest sitarist of the late 20th century who unfortunately died earlier this year. Following in the footsteps of great masters like these, Parvez has fully absorbed their teachings (the transposition of the gaayaki vocal style ) while at the same time forging an innovative approach to his instrument that has made him in turn a model to be imitated.
The two ragas on this disc are a case in point. Parvez's execution of the charming Darbar (of the royal court), a famous night raga, offers us the chance to bask in the magnificent sounds he is able to wring from his instrument, light yet powerful volutes of sonic balm that from the opening notes envelop the listener in an atmosphere of dreamy serenity. The way he goes on to develop the piece's opening theme convinces us that we are in the presence of a master, a musician able to maintain a state of focused calm and composure even in the brio of his phrasing and energy of his improvisations. Delicacy and impetus, energy and refinement, sensibility and vigour are all held in perfect balance enabling Parvez to summon up the enchantments we have come to expect from Indian music.
Accompanied by Shri Anindo Chatterjee on tablas, who provides a perfect counterpoint to the unfolding of the performance, Parvez is in complete control of his material which he bends and kneads at will into breathtakingly original lyrical and rhythmic shapes.