Lalit Rao
Il est temps que je commence à noter ces idées qui depuis des années me tournent dans la tête à propos du chant indien, pour essayer de saisir ce qui me touche tant, moi occidental sauvage et inculte du point de vue de l’Inde, ne parlant aucune de ses langues, ne connaissant rien à son histoire, ni à ses histoires, n’y ayant jamais mis les pieds.
En écoutant Lalit Rao, plus précisément une série d’enregistrements d’origine inconnue, avec des khyals en Bihag et Kedar, je suis frappé une fois de plus par l’évidence des qualités de sa voix :
L’aisance et la souplesse extraordinaires, la justesse d’intonation parfaite, le timbre clair et pénétrant.
La voix de Lalit Rao concilie des caractéristiques contradictoires, tour à tour rêveuse et à la limite de l’hystérie, douce et autoritaire, blanche ou vibrée, de gorge ou de tête. En d’autres circonstances tant de maîtrise et de virtuosité m’ont même inspiré (à tort) un sentiment de froideur.
Je crois bien que l’importance du meend dans la musique indienne ne m’est apparu nulle part avec autant de clarté que dans les enregistrement de Lalit Rao, et plus précisément dans ce Bihag et ce Kedar. Le meend n’est pas un ornement au sens où il serait optionnel, voire superflu. Il est un élément constitutif du discours musical aussi essentiel que les notes fixes. Son caractère structurel indispensable est illustré de façon convaincante par la manière de chanter de Lalit Rao.
L’art de faire les meend est si particulier, si difficile, si propre à la musique de l’Inde du Nord, qu’il est l’écueil sur lequel viennent à mon avis s’écraser la plupart des tentatives de musiciens occidentaux. Rares sont ceux qui réussissent à produire des glissandos crédibles, qui ne soient ni des caricatures ni des effets.
novembre 4th, 2006 at 2:56
Bonjour!
I have to start by saying that the above is as far as I can go with French!
My name is Abhishek, I live in Urbana-Champaign (Illinois, USA), am a Hindustani classical music fanatic and I have been reading and cherishing your blog for some time now (thanks to google translator). I just wanted to compliment you on this wonderful site. I too have been listening to Lalith Rao and was struck by exactly this quality in her voice that you mention. Her supreme control and variability in voice throw and more than anyone else her meends…It is a very astute observation that in her case they are not mere ‘alankars’ or ornamentation…they are the bridge not only between different tonal spaces in the raag but also bridge her own widely divergent expressions (from sharp like a razor to soft and soothing like the ocean)…
Have you heard her Durga and Shuddha Sarang? The Shuddha Sarang is IMO supreme! It’s a raag made for chromatic meends and she has regaled in it…if you want I can send them to you…
Who else do you listen to? In this world where true blue rasiks (connoisseurs) are hard to come by…it would be great if we could correspond further (unfortunately I don’t have a blog but I am pretty responsive on email)…I also hope the language barrier is not unsurmountable…
Happy Listening…and hope to hear from you…
Regards,
Abhishek
novembre 4th, 2006 at 2:59
Oh and you can email me asingh8 at gmail dot com or asingh8 at uiuc dot edu …
Au revoir…
Abhishek
novembre 4th, 2006 at 4:20
Welcome Abhisek, and thank you for your kind comments.
It could be the start of a fruitful correspondance.
It is quite interesting to note that while you were writing the lines above, I was sitting in a concert, listening to an Indian classical musician playing together with a western classical musician in some fusion project (around Rag Megh), thinking about the particuliar way of playing the meends, so natural and consubstantial with the Indian artist (Dhruba Ghosh playing his Sarangi), but so superficial and merely decorative with the Western artist playing his cello. This is more than just a coincidence.
novembre 5th, 2006 at 3:48
Hey Kerbacho!
that I have chanced upon another music lover such as you…we should continue to correspond…
Oh wow! That IS some coincidence…
Since we are discussing Meends…I have been thinking about Ragas like Shuddha Kalyan, Yaman, Chayanat, Shuddha Nat…in each of these there are very special meends that are used to further the raag’s personage…
In particular look at Shuddha Nat…many people sing it with shades of Shuddha Kalyan (thus the shuddha adage). I was listening to Kishori Amonkar singing this and she does something beautiful. The Nat component in Shuddha Nat has a characteristic meend from P to R (fifth to second) . This is the contribution of raag Chhaya to Nat… Now in Shuddha Kalyan the meend from P to G (fifth to third) is all important…it is mediated by a shadow of the sharp fourth again. So Kishori as she sings Shuddha Nat uses the P-R meend of Chhaya but introduces shades of the Ma and Ga. It’s like she starts off with a shuddha kalyan meend and then not stopping at the Ga decides to go on to the Re…both raags (Shuddha Kalyan and Nat) unite in that one glissando…such precision and such thought…
Now the P->R meen is also used in Yaman but it is entirely different. The artist brushes against the sharp fourth (Ma), and the second (Re) is approached via the third (ga). What is amazing is how the Shuddha Nat meend that she executes remains different from the yaman meend as its M and G are more explicit than Yaman – the beauty of intonation!
I am very glad that
BTW since u are fond of Lalith Rao (and I don’t find many people who know or appreciate her enough) do you have her Shuddha Sarang? If not I would like you to hear it and can send the file to you…
Au revoir…
Abhishek