Shubhendra Rao has been playing the sitar ever since he can remember. He was a student of Ravi Shankar’s, playing alongside him at venues around the world throughout the 1980s and 90s.
“He used to call me his memory bank," he said. "So he would just compose, I would pick it up, and then I would, you know, tell it to the other people. Never writing it down, but it was always in my memory. Whether it was working in Kremlin with the Russian orchestra as well as the Russian folk ensemble, Russian choir, I would pick it up, pick up. I mean, so the seed that he would sow, then I would see it, how it grew and grew into a full tree.”
Rao is one of six musicians performing a curated selection of Ravi Shankar’s compositions in a tour of 14 cities across the U.S. The Ravi Shankar Ensemble, produced by Schirmer Theatrical, was selected by Shankar’s wife and daughter, Sukanya and Anushka Shankar, to showcase Shankar’s repertoire, which he composed over his decades-long career. The ensemble rehearsed for a month in New Delhi before performing a preview concert last month.
Five members of the ensemble arrived in Albany to rehearse at the Egg over the weekend, and ran through their opening piece, which is a Sanskrit prayer, and an invocation of the divine.
Singer and violinist Padma Shankar said Shankar, who died in 2012, paved a path for generations of Indian classical musicians who came after him.
“He was[the] one who showed us that tradition is not a limitation, it is a foundation," she said. "It can help you grow. It's not going to bind you. And he was the first one who opened the dialog of Indian classical music to the world, where everyone could understand our language musically.”
Shankar says the biggest challenge for the ensemble is to replicate the grand effect of Shankar’s performances along with orchestras and larger ensembles, particularly his performance in the Kremlin in 1988, alongside more than 140 musicians, including the Moscow Philharmonic and the Russian Folk Ensemble. The recorded performance became an album titled "Inside the Kremlin."
“To be playing his compositions is the most amazing thing for me – what we are trying to create is the compositions, many of them performed, in the Kremlin," she said. "We are trying to create the same effect with just six of us.”
The ensemble features string instruments like the sitar, sarod, and the violin, as well as the flute and two percussion instruments: the tabla and mridangam.
Aayush Mohan, who plays the sarod, says the ensemble provides a unique opportunity for the musicians to work together.
“We are all having such a wonderful time playing these compositions," he said. "As musicians, we always crave to have such occasions where we can actually feel inspired by each other and be together to play all these compositions, and since all of these instruments are so unique in their nature, and in their sound.”
The theater where the ensemble will perform is a small venue, and each musician will be seated on the stage. Shankar said she is excited to connect with the audience.
“It looks so nice and cozy that we can see each member in the audience and connect with them," she said. "I'm really excited for this.”
Although Ravi Shankar was one of the most famous sitar players of the 20th century, the ensemble may have the opportunity to introduce new audiences to his work. BC Manjunath, who plays the mridangam, says he hopes to do justice to Shankar’s work and legacy.
“I think people who are going to listen to this – if we perform it properly, of course, because we have to do justice to that," he said. "If that’s going to happen, I think people will be blessed to listen to what he intended for generations to come.”
