Sitar.co.za

Mon, September 06, 2010

2008 06 13

Annapurna Devi - Rare Recording


The video below features a rare recording of enigmatic sitar and surbahar player, Annapurna Devi (b. 1926).  Despite the poor quality of the recording, the quality of the musicianship and level of technical proficiency is beyond comparison.  And, keep in mind that she’s playing the surbahar, not the sitar.  It’s astounding.

Although Annapurna Devi rarely performs in public and very few of her recordings exist, she has some very famous students, including Hariprasad Chaurasia.  She still lives and reportedly teaches at her apartment in Breach Candy, Mumbai.

Here’s another superb recording of her playing raag Kaushika (requires Real Player).  You can find a few more of these recordings on her Wikipedia entry, and Mohan D. Nadkarni has written an interesting article which recounts his meetings with her.

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Useful Links

  • David and Chandra’s Sitar Forum: The epicenter of the sitar universe and the best place to find accurate, insightful and up-to-date information on all things sitar. This is the place to ask questions about sitar music, learning the sitar, or where to find a teacher. Become a member, spend some time reading the threads, and ask a question! We're there to help.
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  • The Wikipedia Sitar Entry: Although it ranks high in Google's search ratings... be careful! A lot of the information here is great, but an equal amount is not completely comprehensive, open to debate and often confusing. There's a been a lot of work done on this entry over the last year but it's very far from being an adequate, complete or accurate source of information. Come on, sitar community, we need to make this entry better! Click "edit" and contribute something!
  • Radel Tabla and Tanpura Machines: The essential accessory for any sitar player is a tabla machine. Radel's models are superbly built and their customer service is exceptional. They ship worldwide.
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  • Riyaz Studio: Tabla/Tanpura accompaniment software ideal for sitar practise. Inexpensive and easy to use. If you can't afford or obtain a tabla machine easily, this is an excellent choice.
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  • That Which Colors the Mind: 12 minute sample of Steven Baigel's wonderful documentary on sitarist Nikhil Banerjee. (from Stevenbaigel.com)
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