“And I hope you haven’t forgotten me,” said
the beaming Ravi Shankar after introducing his accompanying
musicians on stage. And, of course, the audience hadn’t.
Playing at Royce Hall Thursday night to a multiethnic crowd of
elderly folk, hippies, college students and children,
Shankar’s music proved its lasting power, unlike the acid
trips that his audiences wrongly latched onto his art decades
before.
Though Shankar was clearly the night’s biggest attraction,
the audience also reacted passionately to the impressive opening
performance of Anoushka Shankar, Ravi’s daughter and student
who, at the tender age of 21, has too thorough a knowledge of her
instrument to be labeled simply as “promising.” And
though her playing style provides less of the effortless grace than
her father, Anoushka’s mastery of the instrument is a clear
reflection of her natural talents and her father’s wise
teachings.
Anoushka opened the night with the accompaniment of two tabla
players and two tambura players. Both of the tabla players used
their pitch-perfect hand drums to provide more than just a
backbeat. Weaving a sonic tapestry with their instruments, they
dazzled the audience with blazingly fast beats, changing their
rhythms effortlessly, occasionally stealing the show as Anoushka
provided the background accompaniment.
But the highest points of the set came when Anoushka took charge
herself, displaying her technical skill to bring to life the
colorful compositions, and when she ended her set with a rousing
finale that saw her pound her sitar with power and grace.
Shankar, who entered the stage to a standing ovation, played
with less raw power in his fingers, but whatever he lost in pure
strength he made up for in creativity and spontaneity. Onstage with
the two tabla players, two tambura players and Anoushka, Shankar
commanded the set. His backing musicians remained locked on
Shankar’s moves, which were more improvised than
Anoushka’s structured performance. This was Shankar’s
music at its most impressive and in its purest form. Without the
use of sheet music to dictate the flow of the music, he played with
melodic ideas, introducing new patterns to create a reflective,
leisurely paced set that still flowed with emotion.
Shankar only played two pieces, and though both were alive with
different moods and colors, they still maintained the same
harmonics with the help of the two tambura players who plucked the
same open chord throughout the entire set. Shankar’s ability
to play so creatively with this backbone displayed his imaginative
prowess as well as his dedication to the set’s structure and
cohesiveness.
All the while Anoushka sat beside her father, eyes locked on his
playing, providing background accompaniment to his sitar. Together,
they ended the set with interweaving melodic lines, the ever
resourceful Shankar using the opportunity to play with blinding
speed and agility. He couldn’t have played with such high
intensity throughout the entire set, but the energetic close
revealed a rousing playfulness from all musicians on stage, leaving
the audience stunned and longing for more.
Shankar has said before that one lifetime is not enough to
master the sitar, but he certainly knew enough to floor the Royce
Hall audience, treating his fans to a wonderful combination of both
creativity and virtuosity.