To know the true meaning of harmony and synchronisation in music, one must listen to Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Ustaad Zakir Hussain.
The popular duo performed in the City recently for the first time, together. The audience was excited by the maestros and didn’t mind the late start. Playing in Raag Jhinjhoti and Raag Pahadi, they proved that they are truly musical geniuses.
Unfortunately, for artistes of such talent and repute, the organisers failed them in providing proper arrangements.
There was a persistent technical problem that disturbed the artistes and a lot of time was spent in tuning and in asking the tech team to fix the problem. While an amateur listener may not have noticed too much of a technical interference, anyone with a fairly sound knowledge of music could immediately notice the disturbance.
It was painful to see both these artistes so irritated and disturbed, with Zakir at one point of time saying to the tech team, “We can’t hear what we are playing!”
Only an hour into the programme did it get resolved and then the duo proved why they are legends on the Santoor and the Tabla.
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma eased the audience into the music by explaining the mood of each raag, a few technical pointers and letting the audience know what to expect. Playing completely in sync, with smiles on their faces, both managed to create a completely different level of music.