Masterpieces for Sarod and Violin

There’s a long tradition of Indian-meets Western-music albums, but this is one of the best. India’s premiere sarod player, Amjad Ali Khan, has been a leading figure in this field having written Samaagam (2011), a concerto for sarod and orchestra. Here he is joined by Bulgarian-American violinist Elmira Darvarova and his two sons, Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, both carrying on the long sarod-playing tradition. Darvarova has been leader of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York as well as a versatile soloist, but unlike most Western classical musicians is well able to enter the world of Indian ragas, which she does on this double album. It’s jugalbandi for sarod and violin.

The ten tracks here are actually filleted from three previous albums – Soul Strings, Amalgam and Peace Worshippers – so it’s a kind of ‘Best Of.’ All the compositions are by Amjad in various ragas and most are around 15 minutes long, so they have time to evolve and develop. Of course, the plucked sarod and bowed violin complement each other well and Tanmoy Bose and Anubrata Chatterjee provide tabla accompaniment.

‘Rivers of Bliss’ has a speedy race to the finish. Amjad, Amaan and Ayaan alternate on sarod, except in ‘Temple of Hope’, which starts on violin with both brothers joining and leading to a powerful finish. ‘Gentle Sunset’ contrasts slow, low tones on the sarod with silvery filigree on the violin. My only complaint is the title: it sounds dull and rather immodest. It might have been better to use one of the individual titles like ‘Temple of Hope’ or ‘Brightest of Stars’. However, the music is a compelling listen.