Newbury rings to the celestial sounds of the sarod

Newbury Spring Festival: An evening of Indian Music

at the Corn Exchange, Newbury

on Tuesday, May 13

Review by JOHN GARVEY

THE Corn Exchange in Newbury rang to the celestial sounds of the sarod during an extraordinary evening of Indian classical music.

Sarod virtuoso Debasmita Bhattacharya gave a jaw-dropping performance which explored the full range of moods this ancient instrument is capable of engendering.

A raga is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music which sets a particular mood.

As the audience learned, there are ragas designed to be performed at different parts of the day.

The raga begins with a slow improvised introduction (alap) which gradually builds.

Debasmita Bhattarcharya was accompanied by tabla maestro Kousic Sen and an electronic tanpura drone.

Yet, at times, it was hard to believe there were only two musicians on stage as each raga built in speed and intensity.

A pulsing, hypnotic beat would build and build until the throbbing tabla and soaring strains reached breathtaking intensity.

Debasmita Bhattarcharya’s hands became a blur as she pulled diamond-sharp melodies from the strings.

The sarod itself is a form of lute which can produce a voice-like sound through gliding the fingernail up and down

The lack of frets, while allowing for the melismatic vocal timbre, makes the sarod one of the most difficult instruments to play, requiring not just wrist action but also considerable strength in the shoulder of playing arm.

Instruments can have up to 25 strings, four or five of which are used for playing the melody, with several more being used as drones or for rhythmic articulation.

Like the sitar, there are sympathetic strings which add an ethereal, shimmering quality to the sound.

Although the raga is an ancient musical form and the sarod an equally venerable instrument, the sounds produced sounded strangely modern.

At times Debasmita Bhattacharya played so fast, a guitarist would have recognised the technique as ‘shredding.’

Indeed, pyrotechnics and lasers wouldn’t have seemed out of place at times.

Debasmita Bhattacharya is a rising sarod star from Kolkata and her soul-stirring performance at the Newbury Spring Festival showed why she has thrilled audiences worldwide.