Indian Classical Music

[Traverso]

I can't imagine how much an LP from India could cost. Several times I have seen huge piles of old dusty LPs in Kolkata that were sold for next to nothing. This is probably due to the fact that Kolkata is where Indian LPs were produced first of all. CDs are cheap compared to prices in the West. The peculiarity is that the sales of music on media in India is very scarce. There is very little information and you have to dig it out from under the ground. There is no marketing as such. In my years of travelling in India I have seen a few relatively extensive CD shops in Varanasi, and that was more of an exception. In big cities like Mumbai or Chennai or New Delhi I've never seen a serious CDs shop, let alone a LPs shop. Could be it just didn't happen. With all that said, the 200 euro price seems strange at least. Kumar Gandharva's recordings are well represented on Qobuz, though far from being complete.

I found this on Ebay, the so-called Bollywoodshop

 https://www.ebay.nl/itm/404444122145?itmmeta=01HWZN8F2RBKPSVK08C2V900HV&hash=item5e2abf8c21:g:za4AAOSw2gZk3TUV&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4NHmRX0zsfx7gtZunKRbmnxEYQBrMSuCdDdHgTwajE0m3o0LxaX7KZlkegLFVSIIK1EP8DYwo0nLv%2B91VshGX%2BKVooEaKitgCF1vRiJUR6iHbu55rWOE4jPCm38%2BNX9blHt9n4RVnCUmtNIonTdHnUMtsxQ5ZA3ww1Wn25YfFfiio%2FCcGu676CXc8Tw6IF8ck6ihG7pbnFeT7eKhE6SRKy%2BdFBS%2FRxHzPvTn9PEt6YSUI90LrebkqT7kU7nVbkp9RfIatqyA1cXJruzoeZIXwx5GUHhzy%2FUYG6gy9teCET5Q%7Ctkp%3ABFBMuvGh9edj

You would almost think that the hunger for good classical music from India is greater in the West than in India itself. 

[AnotherSpin]

I found this on Ebay, the so-called Bollywoodshop

 https://www.ebay.nl/itm/404444122145?itmmeta=01HWZN8F2RBKPSVK08C2V900HV&hash=item5e2abf8c21:g:za4AAOSw2gZk3TUV&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4NHmRX0zsfx7gtZunKRbmnxEYQBrMSuCdDdHgTwajE0m3o0LxaX7KZlkegLFVSIIK1EP8DYwo0nLv%2B91VshGX%2BKVooEaKitgCF1vRiJUR6iHbu55rWOE4jPCm38%2BNX9blHt9n4RVnCUmtNIonTdHnUMtsxQ5ZA3ww1Wn25YfFfiio%2FCcGu676CXc8Tw6IF8ck6ihG7pbnFeT7eKhE6SRKy%2BdFBS%2FRxHzPvTn9PEt6YSUI90LrebkqT7kU7nVbkp9RfIatqyA1cXJruzoeZIXwx5GUHhzy%2FUYG6gy9teCET5Q%7Ctkp%3ABFBMuvGh9edj

You would almost think that the hunger for good classical music from India is greater in the West than in India itself. 

Unfortunately, this may be true. In pursuit of an anonymous future, India is discarding as unnecessary its great traditions, which seem to interest mostly foreigners.

[DaveF]

Great to have an Indian Music topic here.

In London in the '70s I saw Imrat Khan perform a couple of times.  Once I was in the 2nd row of the audience, wow, what a sense of connection.  Imrat Khan was (I think) the son of Vilayat Khan and like him was a sitarist, but he also often performed on the surbahar, which is a larger instrument with a deeper tone and slower action, most suited to the Alap.

Younger brother of Vilayat, I believe.  Yes, there's no comparison between the live and recorded experiences - I saw him and his sons at a late-night Indian Prom in the early '90s, and theirs, among all the other performances, is still the one that sticks in my mind.  That Nimbus series was invaluable!