Two interesting interviews
Havanur
A recent interview with Kishori Amonkar where she holds forth on her
mother, role of sargams and words, classical vs light music, the role
of bhava in raga and her book in preparation. Smt Mogubai, for all her
gentle appearances, was apparently quite a terror when it came to
grooming a disciple. Part 3 and 4 tend to be cliche ridden and drag
but overall you get a good idea of why KA sings the way she does.
There is also a series of reminiscences by Kumar Gandharva. Not sure
if this was an interview or a documentary. He is less fluent in
Marathi, which after all is not his mother tongue, rambles along but
gives enough glimpses into his music and personal life. There is an
extremely interesting special segment where he compares Balagandharva
and Master Krishnarao's styles.
Havanur
Imnot Apadmashri
Couldn't find Kumarji's interview on that page. Found 2 parts of
Kishoritai's 4-part interview, and from there it should easy to get
the missing parts. Perhaps Kumarji will also show up as I follow the
links.
DG
naniwadekar
> where he compares Balagandharva
> and Master Krishnarao's styles.
>
http://www.youtube.com/user/avinashdesai#p/u/11/lpg27wyx1GA
At 2:10, Kumar Gandharva claims that (the gist) : Narayanrao
Balgandharva used only aa-kaar for taan-kriyaa, and that
nobody else has ever managed to do it as easily / naturally
as him. I doubt whether the second claim means anything at
all, and if it does how true it is. Jaipur clan also claims that
they use only aa-kaar for badhat and taan. Even if the claim
is true, there is no virtue in it.
Bal Gandharva's use of o-kaar can be heard in 'shreehari
deen dayaal udho' from the film Dharmatma. The song had
been uploaded on YouTube by someone last year but I
could not find it by searching for 'Dharmatma' .
Veracity of Kumar Gandharva's claim on BG using only
aa-kaar in singing notwithstanding, his talk (unlike Kishori's)
is actually interesting for the most part.
Shashi Vyas repeatedly claims, with no correction supplied
by Kishori, that she was unable to sing for 9 years. To the
best of my knowledge, the period for which Kishori had some
unknown problem with her voice lasted for something like
10 to 20 months, perhaps around 1975? Most people from
Mumbai-Pune area, who were actively following the concert
circuit in 1960s and 1970s would, I guess, be able to eliminate
most years from the stretch of period when she (probably)
did have this problem.
- dn
Imnot Apadmashri
> Shashi Vyas repeatedly claims, with no correction supplied
> by Kishori, that she was unable to sing for 9 years. To the
> best of my knowledge, the period for which Kishori had some
> unknown problem with her voice lasted for something like
> 10 to 20 months, perhaps around 1975?
Even Wikipedia thinks it was 8 years http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishori_Amonkar
Isn't there a biography in book form? What does it say?
DG
naniwadekar
>
> Even Wikipedia thinks it was 8 yearshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishori_Amonkar
>
> Isn't there a biography in book form? What does it say?
>
Wikipedia can be made to say it was 80 years with 20 seconds' effort.
Kishori mentions in the (Shashi Vyas) interview
that she would sit helpless while
a less accomplished accompanist supported Mogubai's singing.
Mogubai's voice in a 1974 recording is so tentative that by then
her career must have been practically over. Before that Kishori
sang two bhavgeet-s for Hridaynath in early 1960s, a film song
in Get Gaya Pattharon Ne in 1964, released her Jaunpuri LP
in 1967, Bageshri LP in 1972 (per the wiki article, and I think
the year is correct). If the nine-year period had occurred in 1950s,
Vamanrao Deshpande would surely have mentioned it in his
article on her, included in the book Alapini. He does mention her
problem with voice which rendered her mute, IIRC, but does not
say anything about the exact length for which it happened. He
became Mogubai's disciple after Natthan Khan's death in 1946,
and says that (the gist) he saw Kishori's art take shape in
1950s and 1960s. No word there about any problem with voice
which persisted as long as 9 years.
Her 'buddies' like Padma Talwalkar and Arun Dravid would know
something about it. So should Satyasheel Deshpande. This is
not a mystery, but the claim of 9-years is too obviously false
and not worth pursuing.
Datta Marulkar had published her biography, for which she first
cooperated with him by meeting him several times to talk about
her life. After the book was published she accused Marulkar (who
is no more) of several distortions in the book.
.
- dn
.