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Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur
Khayals (Felmay, Dunya)
$17.99

Accompanied by Rajashekhar Mansur - vocals, Baban Manjerekar - harmonium and D.R. Nerurkar - tabla. Less antique and austere than the dhrupad, Khayals is probably the most popular and well-known form of Hindustani vocal music. Essentially open and sweepingly 'romantic' in character, its semi-classical status permits the interpreter to adopt a less formal approach and therefore to give freer range to his emotions in improvisational passages.

Musicians:
Pandit Malikarjun Mansur - voice
Rajashekhar Mansur - vocal support
Baban Manjerekar - harmonium
D.R. Nerurkar- tabla

Tracks: 1. Raag Deshkar
Hun To Tore Karan Khayal - Vilambit teentaal - 20.20
2. Raag Yamankalayn
Pat Tore Karan Khayal - Vilmabit teentaal - 19.24
3. Raag Nat Bihag
Jhan Jhan Jhan Payal Baje - Vilambit tritaal - 21.04

"From a strictly technical standpoint, his singing is exemplary; his command over different vowel shapes, his preturnatural breath control (even more amazing when one realizes that the singer was an enthusiastic chain-smoker) and his overtone-rich, spot-on intonation help to make this recording an essential one. An Indian newspaper quoted Mansur toward the end of his life, saying "music is nothing but joy." Listening to these performances, one understands anew just how joyful music can be." - Warren Senders, RootsWorld (Read the complete review)

The reocod label's notes:
With the release of this recording by Pandit MALLIKARJUN MANSUR (1911-1992) Dunya expands its Indian music series to take in another essential part of the music's vocal tradition. Less antique and austere than the dhrupad, Khayals is probably the most popular and well-known form of Hindustani vocal music. Essentially open and sweepingly 'romantic' in character, its semi-classical status permits the interpreter to adopt a less formal approach and therefore to give freer range to his emotions in improvisational passages.

With supreme concentration, the voice of MALLIKARJUN MANSUR takes on three compositions each with a fairly slow and meditative tempo (vilambit) which he decks with deft and brilliant ornamentation (for, as the celebrated Indian saying goes:''music without ornament is like a river-bed without water''), done by means of the akaar technique (open-throated phrasing in which the principle sound, sustained and modulated by the vocalist, is the 'aa').

The listener cannot help but be bewitched by the music's delicate blend of subtle melodies and complex rhythmic cycles and by the intensity of the MALLIKARJUN MANSUR's singing as he passes from states of extreme quietude and relaxation to ones of feverish agitation. Listening with an open mind to the ragas of MALLIKARJUN MANSUR one enters a unique world of ardour, longing and devotion. Born in the Dharwad region in the northern zone of Kamataka in Southern India - home to other great vocalists such as Gangubhai Hangal, Bhimsen Joshi and Kumar Gandharva. MALLIKARJUN MANSUR is considered one of the greatest exponents of Hindustani classical vocal music Trained in the Jaipur style, he attained recognition fairly late in life, at the beginning of the 1960s, when his pure, singular vocal style (along with his vast singing repertory) could no longer be ignored.

His technique is based on perfect breathing control that makes even the most daunting passages look easy. MALLIKARJUN MANSUR's voice is like a river in full flood, coursing with great naturalness over the music's obstacles, as you can hear for yourself in the three ragas that make up the magnificent Khayals.

Musicians
Pandit Malikarjun Mansur - voice
Rajashekhar Mansur - vocal support
Baban Manjerekar - harmonium
D.R. Nerurkar- tabla

Tracks: 1. Raag Deshkar
Hun To Tore Karan Khayal - Vilambit teentaal - 20.20
2. Raag Yamankalayn
Pat Tore Karan Khayal - Vilmabit teentaal - 19.24
3. Raag Nat Bihag
Jhan Jhan Jhan Payal Baje - Vilambit tritaal - 21.04