Maestros strike a discordant note

MUMBAI: Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar has accused tabla whiz Ustad Zakir Hussain of unprofessional and immature conduct while performing with him at Shanmukhananda Hall here on Saturday evening.

In front of a shocked audience of 3,000-odd music lovers, Zakir Hussain had yanked the microphone from its stand in front of his tablas. Panditji was playing "Maaj Khamaaj" at the time. Hussain was upset with the quality of the tabla sound. He had gestured to the technician that the volume of his microphone should be adjusted, but apparently this was not done.

Zakir's act upset the audience since it could only hear Ravi Shankar and his daughter Anoushka. They kept up a steady chant of ''We want tabla'', following which Zakir put the microphone back in its place and continued playing.

Ravi Shankar (86) said he was shocked by Zakir's behaviour. "I have known him since he was a kid. I did not expect this from him. These days some artistes play fusion music and suchlike and are used to loud music. As an instrumentalist, I like the sound of the accompanists to be about 20% lower than the volume of my sitar. This is standard practice. If at all Zakir had any problem, he should have indicated it to me. But his behaviour was totally unjustified," he told TOI on Monday from New Delhi.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1413560.cms