PhilPaine.com

Chakraborty is the out­stand­ing expo­nent of the Patiala school of North Indi­an clas­si­cal singing. The pres­ti­gious Patiala Gha­rana dates from Mughal times, but it has con­sis­tent­ly fos­tered inno­va­tion, rather than strict clas­si­cal ortho­doxy. Chakraborty is one of its many stars. I have two pieces sung by him: Abho­gi, and a full khyal using the South Indi­an raga Ham­sad­hwani. This last has an emo­tion­al punch that real­ly got to me, espe­cial­ly at the point of one impos­si­bly long-held note that lifts the piece into sub­lim­i­ty. The tabla and har­mo­ni­um (per­haps his broth­er San­jay?) are apt­ly under­stat­ed. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, I only have the sound-files, with no pro­duc­tion details.