Hirabai Barodekar and Prabha Atre
In this episode, we focus on North Indian raga tradition, with recordings of two famous Indian singers. In the first part of the programme, you hear recordings of Hirabai Barodekar (1905-1989), the daughter of the very famous singer Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, founder of the Kirana Gharana (gharana: ‘school’ or ‘style’). Naturally, Hirabai was also schooled in this style, mainly by a cousin of her father’s – Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, co-founder of the Kirana style of singing.
Hirabai Barodekar developed into one of the greatest raga singers of the twentieth century. She was enormously popular with both the connoisseurs and the ordinary, large audience. Being a woman, she did important pioneering work by conquering the concert stages for women after her. And, beside her very successful singing career, she is also known (in India) for her performances as an actress in feature films. In this episode, we hear the complete LP ‘Hirabai Barodekar’ from 1962, on which she plays the ragas ‘Multani’ and ‘Yaman’.
Next, you hear recordings of the singer Prabha Atre (1932-), a famous pupil of Hirabai Barodekar. Following Hirabai Barodekar, Prabha Atre has been one of the major representatives of Kirana Gharana in the last decades. In September 2020, she turned 88 years old. She still performs every now and then, although in 2020, this was hardly possible because of the coronavirus measures of course. You hear two recordings from her debut LP ‘Prabha Atre’ from 1971: ‘Raga Kalavati’ and, in light-classical thumri genre, the raga song ‘Mishra Khamaj’.
Playlist:
Title: Raga Multani
Performing artist: Hirabai Barodekar
Composer: traditional
Album: Hirabai Barodekar
Label and Year: HMV ECLP 2275, 1962
Title: Raga Yaman
Performing artist: Hirabai Barodekar
Composer: traditional
Album: Hirabai Barodekar
Label and Year: HMV ECLP 2275, 1962
Title: Tan Man Dhan Tope Varun – Raga Kalavati (ektaal)
Performing artist: Prabha Atre
Composer: traditional
Album: Prabha Atre
Label and Year: EMI ECSD 2490, 1971
Title: Kaun Gali Gayo Shyam – Thumri Mishra Khamaj (deepchandi)
Performing artist: Prabha Atre
Composer: traditional
Album: Prabha Atre
Label and Year: EMI ECSD 2490, 1971
