"Inventor of Genius” – Ravi Shankar’s Opera 'Sukanya' Previewed at the London Nehru Centre

[caption id="attachment_812" align="alignleft" width="620"] Poster image courtesy of the Nehru Centre[/caption]

Last Friday evening saw me walking across Green Park in a distinctively blustery autumnal atmosphere on my way to the Nehru Centre to a preview of Ravi Shankar’s opera. It’s been less than a year since Shankar’s passing but his legacy lives on in many ways.

As well as a preview of the opera I was attracted by the attendance of Amit Chaudhuri who I thought would be chairing. I had recently read his Calcutta book and was hoping he would sign it but alas he went walkabout at the end and I lost him. In addition, Shankar’s wife, Sukanya, his grandson, and his dog were in attendance.  The evening was rather sparsely attended, perhaps by 60 people in total, and many were friends of the Shankar family, in a theatre that might hold 200 people. Many of the attendees were first generation and reminded me of my parents in many respects.

I hadn’t really known what to expect of the evening but it was engrossing.  Firstly words of introduction from the Director of the Nehru Centre, Sangeeta Bahudur, who spoke warmly of her personal memories of Ravi Shankar.  Then David Murphy, Ravi Shankar’s co-composer, along with Anouskha Shankar, and conductor, talked about the background to the production, and how he and Shankar had worked together in composing the opera.  Murphy had conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra in performances of Shankar’s works with Shankar as the sitar soloist.

Murphy had first met and worked with Shankar at Dartington in 2005, and clearly idolised him.  Murphy already had an interest in Indian music and had worked with many Indian musicians.  They became teacher and pupil, and he and Shankar began to collaborate.  Dartington in Devon, UK, describes itself as a “social enterprise organisation” and it has also had an interest in India, and most notably hosts the Tagore Festival each summer.

Continuing, Murphy spoke of Shankar’s training in Indian classical music which he said was much more complex than Western classical music, and how Shankar was well-versed in both traditions which he had wanted to fuse particularly in an exploration of rhythm.  Indian classical music was derived over 2,000 years mainly from the hymns of Indian temples, almost in a mirror of the Western tradition, so there is a deep spiritual component to both traditions.

As well as being a performer Shankar had been a mentor and guide to many world class Western musicians including Yehudi Menuhin, with whom Shankar recorded albums and performed on stage.  In addition, Shankar had been a strong influence on John Coltrane, Philip Glass and George Harrison amongst others.

Shankar had originally conceived the opera 15 years ago and wanted to utilise his visual and dance creativity as well.  He had originally been a dancer and worked with a number of film directors including Satyajit Ray.  The opera is based on a scene from the Mahabharata, the epic Sanskrit histories of ancient India.  The scene, appropriately entitled 'Sukanya', depicts a sage who has meditated so long in the forest that he is covered by ants.  Found by Sukanya she accidentally blinds the sage.  They marry and she looks after him.  Some time later twin demi- Gods offer to restore the sage’s sight and youth if Sukanya can distinguish her husband from the twin Gods who all now have the same form.

As part of the programme Murphy introduced a short film about Shankar which had been shown after his death.  Entitled 'Sangeet Ratna' it had been put together by Alan Kowslowski who has made a number of concert films amongst others. The film, about 35 minutes long, was a delight to watch.  In chronological order it focused on Shankar’s career from dancer, travelling across the world, sitar pupil, his own musical journey, to working with George Harrison, Yehudi Menuhin, Ali Akbar Khan, his own daughter Anouskha Shankar amongst others. The film was a mixture of still and moving footage with Shankar’s music as background and concerts.  It included interviews with Shankar himself, as well as other notables Zakir Hussain, Zubin Mehta, and Joshua Bell.  There was also a segment devoted to Shankar’s performance at the Monterey Festivals and there was an allusion to Shankar’s doubts about playing at such events. (See my Ravi Shankar blog).

After the film Murphy focused on the actual composition saying that the software programme Sibelius had been utilised by Shankar and himself but that it was perhaps not best suited to Indian instruments like the sitar, tabla, and shehnai. Murphy played two short extracts, the first of which was akin to Western orchestral music and the second rather avant garde, reminiscent of Akram Khan’s 'Desh'.  Murphy finished by saying that the production would be a combination of animation – an animation company, 59productions, involved in the Olympic opening ceremony and many operas were participating - and dance together with the music.  Sukanya has already had the backing of the Royal Opera House, as well as other major theatres.

Murphy introduced the Bengali writer Amit Chaudhuri who I learnt was also a composer and musician but had been brought into the project as librettist.  He has of course has a deep insight into Indian music and based on his writings has a deep passion for Shankar and his work.  Chaudhuri used the term “inventor of genius” to describe Shankar.  I was rather surprised when Chaudhuri revealed he could not write a libretto in Bengali not having been schooled in the language.  He talked of Shankar extending boundaries and wanted to bring this quality to Sukanya.  An interesting snippet was that Murphy had sent Chaudhuri a comic book based on the Sukanya story. I remember these comics from childhood but I think ours were in Bengali which I cannot read.  There was limited insight into the libretto which was described as a work in progress and Chaudhuri compared it to Ted Hughes’ 'Tales of Ovid' which is itself a reworking of 'Metamorphosis'.

It was quite remarkable to be almost an insider during the gestation process of Sukanya, and hearing the thoughts of Murphy and Chaudhuri.  I look forward to seeing the completed opera, sometime during the 2014/15 season, and seeing how the collaborators will fuse the western and eastern classical traditions of music, and dance.  Given its heritage, a homage to the memory of Ravi Shankar, and the quality of its composers and librettist I expect to experience a unique production.  Finally the Nehru Centre hosted the event well with wine and nibbles but more use of social media like Twitter would have ensured a greater exposure to a wider and larger audience.

http://ravishankaroperaproject.org/

http://www.nehrucentre.org.uk/

http://59productions.co.uk/

 http://www.dartington.org/tagore-festival#&panel1-2 

The Tagore Festival

[caption id="attachment_517" align="alignleft" width="225"] Statue of Tagore, Gordon Square[/caption]

Sue and I paid a very quick visit to the Tagore Centre’s Tagore Festival in Gordon Square, central London yesterday afternoon. The Tagore Centre organised the Festival in particular to commemorate the centenary of the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature to Tagore.

Rabindranath Tagore is revered in both West Bengal and Bangladesh as a cultural icon: a writer and poet of the highest merit as well as a distinguished musical composer responsible for the canon of work known as Rabindra Sangeet. Tagore’s family hailed from East Bengal in the area that is now Bangladesh, where they were landowners. Despite being sent to look after the ancestral lands Tagore devoted himself to culture from an early age. He was also a Brahmo, a member of an organisation that advocated Hindu reform. Tagore travelled widely across the world and espoused a form of Asian co-operation. He is most famous for Gitanjali, a series of poems which were received with awe by English poets when they were translated into English, and which prompted his Nobel Prize. In addition, Tagore composed the national anthems for both India and Bangladesh.

On a personal note my father sang Tagore songs from his teenage years. Apparently he sang at friends’ weddings and social events in Calcutta. But with a busy life and career when he came to the UK such cultural activities took a backseat. However, close to retirement my father began to play and sing again using an accordion and taking music lessons. At my father’s funeral a number of his contemporaries played and sang in memory of him.

The Tagore Festival took place in a corner of a busy square full of lunching students and office workers who sadly had little interest in the proceedings. We saw some classical dances, songs from Rabindra Sangeet, and a number of readings. Dr John Stevens of SOAS, quite bravely we thought, read in Bengali from Tagore’s diaries in addition to reading from Gitanjali in English.

There were a few stalls around the stage selling food, paintings, and Tagore texts. After a brief stay and eating a few samosas we left with the impression that this was an opportunity lost.  The Festival was sadly lacking in vision and organisation. Whilst it is appreciated that the event was to commemorate Tagore, this could have been the focus together with a more commercial approach to the other stands and activities. So, for example, the Festival could have been combined with Kolkata or Indian Street Food, and other types of music. Regular readers will know how much we have enjoyed Indian musicians in London but Tagore is probably still an acquired taste appreciated the most by those from a Bengali background. This was an opportunity to really bring Tagore to life, to educate the wider audience about his life and work. The Festival might have been more of a success had it taken place on a weekend - it was attended mainly by more mature first generation immigrants. It needs to widen its constituency to appeal more broadly to the second and third generations, and to groups other than Bengalis.