NCPA to present music of Gauhar Jan on July 22

File photo of vocalist Gauhar Jan.

The National Centre of Performing Arts (NCPA), one of India's best-known arts and cultural institutions, will present a guided listening session on the music of vocalist Gauhar Jan, the first Indian artiste to cut a gramaphone record, at the NCPA Experimental Theatre here on July 22.

The event has been organised by NCPA in collaboration with the Indian Musicological Society for its July edition of "Nad Ninad – From Our Archives".

Nad Ninad shares some of the priceless archival recordings (both from NCPA archives and external sources) of the great masters of music with classical music aficionados.

This time around, Nad Ninad will be presented by Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan, both well-known exponents of Indian music.

According to an NCPA press release, the session will treat the audience to the music of the alluring Gauhar Jan who recorded over 150 discs in 20 different languags and dialects.

Born in Allahabad as Angelina Yeoward, Gauhar Jan (1873-1930) received her initial training in music from Kale Khan of Patiala, and in dance from Ali Bakhsh. Many teachers followed, including the great thumri singer and harmonium player Bhaiya Saheb Ganpat Rao, and the famous kathak maestro Bindadin Maharaj of Lucknow.

With her unusually large repertoire of songs, ranging from khayals, thumris, dadras, tappas and horis to ghazals, Gauhar Jan became one of the most sought-after and wealthy singers of her time.

"Gauhar Jan was the first major gramophone celebrity and her impressive personality and musical style had an enormous impact on her contemporaries. She was one of the few vocalists who managed to commercialise her music without really compromising on the quality," Dr Suvarnalata Rao, Head – Programming (Indian Music), NCPA, said.

With almost 5,000 hours of audio recordings and 1200 hours of film footage of musicians, the NCPA Archives ranks among the world’s finest documentary resources for Indian vocal & instrumental art music and folk music from different regions of India.

With sessions of this calibre, the NCPA endeavours to share the great recordings that they have preserved over time, with budding music students and lovers as well thereby bringing them close to the rich and varied tradition of Indian music.

This event is a free session and seats can be occupied on a first-come-first-served basis. However, a section of the seats will be reserved for NCPA Members, the release added.

NNN