The Clearing

A closer look, I decided, was warranted at Gangubai Hangal's place in the world of Hindustani classical music after reading this article which I came across via this blog. If the `my memory is like a Swiss cheese' factor, as a friend of mine likes to say, is not at work here, the first and only time I have heard Gangubai Hangal sing live was as a part of the SPIC-MACAY convention in Bhopal in `98, and I came away rather unimpressed. In fact, what I heard in that performance left me cold, and wondering about the reason for her stalwart reputation--to put it very crudely she sounds firstly, like a man, and secondly, a man whose voice is too subdued, stunted, and unspectacular for singing.

Obviously, to do her justice she should be judged by her whole body of work and not just what she sounds like now, so I proceeded to get better acquainted with her older works (also, I should admit that I was troubled about being in conflict with the general opinion about her talent). So, inspired by the aforementioned article, I went to the musicindiaonline website (where else?), which I'm happy to report does have some younger Gangubai music. The pieces are fairly short but whatever little I heard was enough to convince me (and hence this post) that she was definitely an accomplished singer before her voice underwent a very strange, and obviously unfavorable, transformation. I especially liked the bhairav piece.

Labels: Reviews