Anoushka Shankar

Anourag
$16.98
this is Anoushka's second cd,and she shows once more that she is one of the great artists of our time.This is a must for lovers of Indian classical music.The ragas are not too long,so we get a lot on 1 cd. Her sitar playing is just great. Get the cd!

Rise
$11.94
Have listened to the piece several times now, and find it richer each time I listen to it. I create art to it, the music allows the unconscious to flow & the heart to swell, opening closed pathways. It would also be beautiful music to have dinner with.

Anoushka
$16.98
There seems to be an ongoing battle here about Anoushka and whether or not she is talented. I have 3 of her albums and thoroughly enjoy each one. Rise is an outstanding combination of Indian and Western music that I use during therapy sessions. Her first album is grounded and solid to my ears. I have heard her father many times, in India and America, and suggest that he can be proud of both his daughter's work. If you like Indian Classical music you won't be disappointed with this album (unless perhaps you are an Indian who has a chip on your shoulder).

Live at Carnegie Hall
$16.98
I am frankly shocked at the number of negative reviews written by people who either admit they don't know much about Hindustani classical music or display their ignorance in the comments they make.

Anoushka has 24 concert scheduled in the next 2 months; in addition, she will be by her father's side at each of the 8 concerts he has set in the same time period. Ample evidence that many thousands of Classical Indian Music fans in the US alone consider her a major talent - as do I.

Anoushka is a professional recording and concert artist - yet several reveiws criticize her "commercialism". Concerts and CDs are commercial enterprises, my friends - duh! Some criticize her for trading on her family name while singing the praises of her father who became well known because of his famous brother, Uday Shankar.

It is improper under any circumstances to refer to classical performances like these as "songs". Those who claim that these pieces are "verbatim" or "identical to" something on another of her CDs or played at a concert they attended simply have no idea what they are listening to and may have mistakenly assumed that this music, like virtually everything in the West, consists of composed pieces written in advance and played as such.

Hindustani classical music is improvised within strict and complex rules that define and control each raga. The term "composition" most often refers to a short chorus or refrain which states the theme and to which one returns after a period of improvization. (In the Carnatic music of South India, the term is used for something much more akin to a Western song. This lends Carnatic music it's repetative and non-creative feel. And please note: Hindustani music is the most complex system of rhythm and melody in the world, substantially more developed than any other in South Asia - it is hardly waiting to blossom.)

The use of two drummers is common in all Indian Classical Music. To suggest that these great tabla players tripped one another up in any way is simply foolish. If you cannot hear the tala, you may become confused. They played brilliantly together!

This music is taught to students who imitate EXACTLY what their gurus sing or play. To preserve a tradition developed over centuries it is very important that a performer master the one style being handed down to her before hot-dogging and "doing her own thang" - something that may be valued among kids who last week learned a few chords on the guitar, but considered very dangerous in highly developed classical music systems of all kinds. Anoushka has a responsibility to preserve the entire classical traditon of her father, his guru the great Ustad Allaudin Khan, and indeed, the entire Maihar tradition. Once we are all fairly certain this has been acomplished, we will welcome more of her own individual expression. Until then it is with great humility and respect for her father that she doesn't try to show him up, act like she knows more than he does, or even suggest that she has something important to add that he missed in the last 60 years. This is not an Okie Stomp. Anoushka displays grace, modesty and deep respect for her culture, traditions and family honor. In addition, she is always dressed very tastefully in the typical outfits of India - to criticize this is to criticize India herself, something for which you should be ashamed!

Michael Robinson is among those musicians who has retuned a piano using just intonation in order to play with the sitar. You can also chose pentatonic ragas that avoid a few sour notes.

Finally, the tuning of sympathetic strings is a highly variable and personal matter. I can think of several situations in which I have tuned both 4ths for various reasons. Why Anoushka may have done so is really not any of your business. If you were Hindustani musicians you would have found it unremarkable and would not have made the mistake of assuming that there is any correct way to tune a sitar's tarafs.