Sky Arts - Darbar Festival 2009

Described by one artist as "the G20 summit of Indian music" and as the “place where everyone expects and gets the highest quality performances of Indian classical music," by arts journalist, Jameela Siddiqui, the Darbar Festival 2009 is one not to miss.

Indian classical music is arguably one of the most complex and complete systems of music ever developed. What began as Vedic chants several thousand years ago developed into a sophisticated musical system by the 3rd century.

The music is based on a single melody line, which is played over a fixed drone and the performance is based melodically on particular ragas and rhythmically on talas. The music has been passed down orally. Improvisation predominates and written notation, when used, is skeletal.

This series from the Darbar Festival, presented by Lopa Kothari, features ten outstanding performances from artists from the two main strands of Indian classical music, the North Indian Hindustani and South Indian Carnatic traditions.

Harmeet Virdee (Sitar)
A recital displaying serenity, vibrancy and stunningly mature improvisations. Harmeet Virdee, a young British talent plays this most iconic of Indian classical instruments, made famous by Pandit Ravi Shankar, with charismatic vibrancy and skill, matched by speed and the power of his musical strokes.

Ashwini Bhide Deshpande (North Indian Hindustani Vocal)
Ashwini Bhide is one of the finest classical divas from the north Indian classical tradition. She has a range of over three octaves and has a reputation for soulful ragas sung in a unique style that blends different influences. Her performances encompass lyrical khayal, a beautiful, imaginative and flowing style that transports you to another world.

Ganesh and Kumaresh (South Indian Carnatic Violin)
A violin duet that combines Indian classicism with more contemporary styles by brothers Ganesh and Kumaresh. The recital presents a series of pre-composed and improvised pieces where the pace builds up and slows down in geometric progressions within complex rhythmic patterns.

Rupak Kulkarni (Bansuri or North Indian bamboo flute)
Few Indian instruments are as evocative as the simple bansari or bamboo flute. This simple bamboo instrument, in the hands of Rupak Kulkarni, a student of maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, produces one of the most haunting and captivating sounds in Indian classical music.

Aruna Sairam (South Indian Carnatic Vocal)
Aruna Sairam is one of the best voices to emerge from the Carnatic tradition of southern India an this concert presents a rich repertoire of beautiful and rare classical compositions as well as lighter folk forms and melodies.

Somjit Das Gupta (Rabaab) and Sukhvinder Singh (Jori)
Somjit Das Gupta is one of few maestros playing Indian classical music on the rabaab – a forerunner to the sarod – that originated hundreds of years ago from Afghanistan. Sukhwinder Singh (Pinky) then presents a rare recital on Jori, a percussion instrument that resembles tabla from Punjab in northern India.

Tejendra Majumdar (Sarod)
Pandit Tejendra Majumdar is quite simply one of the finest sarod players of this generation. He had training from one of the greatest sarod maestros of our times, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Accompanying him on tabla is the remarkable, irrepressible Pandit Kumar Bose.

UK Carnatic Ensemble
A line of rising UK musicians from the south Indian carnatic traditions singing beautifully crafted vocal melodies, backed by violin, flute, and dynamic percussion from the north and south of the sub-continent.

Wasifuddin Dagar (Dhrupad Vocal)
Transport yourself to ancient India with deeply devotional dhrupad singing. Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar represents the 20th unbroken generation of dhrupad singers in the Dagar family. Traditionally his family has always performed dhrupad as a duet, but Wasifuddin successfully presents the dynamic of a duet in a solo performance.

Purbayan Chatterjee (Sitar) and Shashank Subramanium (Carnatic Flute)
Purbayan Chatterjee, who plays the sitar with a maturity beyond his years, takes the stage with Shashank, a child-prodigy of the south Indian flute to present a performance of speed, virtuosity and mercurial invention that fuses the Indian classical traditions from the north and south traditions of the sub-continent.

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Darbar Festival 2008

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Latest comments

Paul W

Tue 28 July 2009, 20:49

Really looking forward to the new series...if its as good als last year’s we’re in for real treat...keep up the good work SkyArts and Darbar..

Sanjay Kundalia

Wed 19 August 2009, 09:10

Thank you so much for recording and having Darbar aired on SkyArts it’s truely amazing watching it on tv ... I can only imagine the immense atmosphere generated by these great musicians live!

Kamalesh

Wed 19 August 2009, 09:57

Really disppointed with the first show on 17th August. Such a brilliant UK born siartist with a brilliant performance (having seen it live at the concert), but which was spoilt by the techicians not being able to get the sound and vision syncronised for the TV broadcast. I need to remind myself that we are in the 21st Century.

Vidya

Wed 19 August 2009, 15:08

Going to the Darbar festival and hearing the musicians live is absolutely wonderful. To encapsulate those rare moments and bringing them to us through the programme is a real treat. Thank you Darbar.

Adam Kenneth

Wed 19 August 2009, 19:13

Simply wonderful - thank you for having the conviction to feature this awesome for of classical music.

I have never heard anything like this, and this series is inspiring me to study this art further

I plan to attend the next festival as it must be mindblowing live!

Thank you Sky and keep it up

harigopal

Thu 20 August 2009, 01:14

muy bueno

Sandip (Leicester)

Thu 20 August 2009, 11:58

Fantastic- finally some really good quality indian classical music on tv.

I’m looking forward to watching the series and hope we get to see similar programs in the future.

Well done to SkyArts and Darbar, keep up the good work.

John Thomas

Fri 21 August 2009, 00:14

Why does that annoying woman have to start talking and interviewing mid way through the flow of the performance. And why does the sound always seem to slighty off to the pictures? And anuradha pal? Who in gods name de IDDD that she was a good accompaniest? She is quite awful for someone who has learnt from such an illustrious master. Can’t even keep theka.

Bala Balendra

Fri 21 August 2009, 08:42

Very threauputic ,such beautifull music moves you in every way.
We need more broadcast of indian classics.

Sue Rogers

Sun 23 August 2009, 10:55

Simply brilliant - thank you Sky for doing what the BBC should be !!

Rajen

Sun 23 August 2009, 18:22

Simply professional and a joy to watch, pushing the boundaries of South Asian Arts quality and reach.

Kamalesh

Mon 24 August 2009, 10:33

Further to my previous comments, having seen the subsequent broadcasts, really happy with the sound and vision. Watching Aruna Sairam was truly mind-blowing. What an artist and hats off to the Darbar Team for finding her within the many gems of Indian classical music and bringing her to the UK and into the masses living rooms. Well done to all at Darbar for their ground-breaking efforts.

Gurpreet Dhillow

Mon 24 August 2009, 11:19

Simply superb, a unique event and the ultimate oppurtunity for all of us outside India to sample some of the finest musical talent around.

Nothing can replace a live performance, however, the chance to catch some of the concerts I missed on SkyArts is fantastic.

I hope they re-run them over and over again, until next years festival comes around.

Can’t wait!

Jonathan (Yorkshire)

Tue 25 August 2009, 00:22

It’s really wonderful and quite refreshing to see such a broad range of indian classical music presented from a live concert in the UK. Sky Arts should be applauded. I have to say though, whoever thought it was a good idea to break the performance mid-flow with an interview was seriously misguided. It’s just an unnecessary gimmick. Aruna Sairam was simply awesome. Look forward to the rest.

vicky

Thu 27 August 2009, 12:18

Spine tingling stuff from some of the worlds greatest musicians. Thank you so much Sky Arts for brining such much joy with this broadcast.

Jagdish Singh

Sat 29 August 2009, 00:45

I was amazed whilst watching so much talent on show in one place. This should be on more regularly and advertised I couldn’t believe it was not in my sky magazine this month.

Jasdeep Singh Degun

Sun 30 August 2009, 22:34

Its great to see british-born artists performing alongside the musicians from india; its an inspiration for all us indian classical, british-born, students. Darbar on Sky Arts is an excellent way to promote indian classical music. Can’t wait to buy the DVD…

Anand Varu

Mon 31 August 2009, 09:46

Simply amazing… I was unfortunate to have missed the live performances this year and was overjoyed when I was informed that the performances would be shown on Sky Arts 2. I only wish that the programmes were longer! I look forward to seeing what other indian classical music performances may be aired on Sky Arts 2 (if any), otherwise I can’t wait until next year’s Darbar festival!

Sukhdeep Singh Dhanjal

Wed 2 September 2009, 14:53

Congratulations to Darbar and well done to SkyArts for having the foresight to appreciate the benefit of enabling us to re-visit such rare & unique performances.

Keep up the good work!

music lover

Wed 2 September 2009, 16:29

I only saw the TV highlights on Sky Arts but was impressed at the sheer brilliance of much of what was shown. Highlights for me were Harmeet Virdee, Purbayan Chatterjee & Shashank Subramanium, Aruna Sairam and in particular the UK Carnatic Ensemble - I’d like to see more of this music on Sky Arts…

Peter Grahame Woolf

Sat 19 September 2009, 10:26

We have been attending Indian Classical music in many London venues for very many years, but often increasingly frustrated by over-amplification and sound distortion at live concerts; as noted in online reviews on MusicalPointers.co.uk and MusicWebInternational.
The Darbar filmings transmitted by Sky Arts 2 are brilliant and have given us enormous pleasure and satisfaction; intimate performances brought into the intimacy of one’s home.
Specially admired have been the concerts with Tarun Jasani and Shashwali Mandal Paul (repeats from 2008) and Shashank Subramanium & Aruna Sairam (2009) on the strength of which we have had Sky installed and are looking forward to collecting and keeping the repeat showings from the 2009 festival. Keep it up and try to find space for some fuller explanatory programmes to help ignorant westerners who would like to understand better for fuller enjoyment.

Narinder Birdi

Fri 16 October 2009, 22:41

Where can I obtain a DVD for Darbar Festival 2009. When is the Darbar festival 2010

tl_vasu@rediffmail.com

Sat 21 November 2009, 19:24

IS IT POSSIBLE TO CONDUCT SAINT THYAGARAJA’S FESTIVAL HERE AT LONDON WITH LEAD ARTISTS FROM INDIA FOR 5 DAYS TO A WEEK. CAN BE ARRANGED WITH A WELL RECOGNISED ORGANISER IN THIS FIELD HAVING EXPERIENCE FOR MORE THAN 3 DECADES. VASU

balaram

Wed 25 November 2009, 07:18

awesome keep it up

bonaventura716@gmail.com

Sun 17 January 2010, 13:41

Hello,
I ask Sky Arts is there a Darbar Festival 2009 on DVD?

Greetings from Shankar from Holland

Darren Sangita

Wed 3 February 2010, 10:54

I don’t even own a TV but Skyarts coverage of this eminent Indian Music festival makes me want to get the whole package!! The 2010 lineup has just been announced )
http://www.sangitasounds.com

Sri

Thu 11 February 2010, 12:08

Where can I get a DVD or CD of Darbar festival 2009?
Kindly reply.

Arun Shah

Tue 6 April 2010, 13:58

I did ask one of the Darbar organisers about CDs or DVDs, and the answer was that the start-up costs associated with producing/mastering/pressing/mass producing/and marketing CDs or DVDs were beyond their current means.............Unless of course SkyArts were to take up the initiative!!!

Amar

Mon 5 July 2010, 16:09

Great to see the 2009 festival again last week,does anyone know when the 2010 festival will be aired?

Nauman Humayun

Sun 8 August 2010, 07:27

NEED THE DVD!!! NEAU!!!

Amo

Tue 31 August 2010, 09:48

Yes a dvd/cd would be great!

Ravindra Bhat

Thu 17 February 2011, 09:13

south indian Classical DVDs are available?

tetsehtshau

Tue 1 November 2011, 06:41

I would pray for a blueray or dvd of this.

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