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The way of the violin
On meeting Anupriya, the talented Indian violinist who got a standing ovation at the end of a concert of classical music organized by Sampurna at Karachi’s Alliance Francaise, one takes her to be a girl-next-door. There are no airs about her and when interviewed, she has no well-rehearsed statements to issue.
Her hour-and-a-quarter long recital of Raga Rageshri kept the listeners glued to their seats. When Ustad Rais Khan, who had to leave early, got up from his seat to express his appreciation of the performance, Anupriya, true to the Indian tradition of paying tribute to the senior, touched his feet in sheer devotion.
If her recital Raga Rageshri had an unmistakable meditative quality, her exponence of the abbreviated version of the romantic raga — Maru Bihag — had a playful quality. It was a recital to remember.
The violin came to the subcontinent with the British and it has been a part of the film music orchestra, where not one, not two, but so many violinists play together with other instrumentalists.
Anupriya was invited by the organizers of the World Performing Arts Festival in Lahore, where she enthralled the audience at the Alhamra, and invited by Sampurna and the Alliance Francaise to play.
The daughter of a noted Hindi poet, Anupriya was learning vocal music after her normal school hours at a music school in the evening when she was attracted by the sound of the violin, in the instrumental music class in the adjacent classroom. So, she opted for the violin, but she insists that her grounding in vocal music has been a great help to her.
Anupriya obtained a master’s degree in the study of the violin from Vikram University in India and was ranked second. She got first position first and was awarded gold medal when she did MA in classical music from Khedagarh Indira Kala University.
The hallmark of Anupriya’s art is that she is at home with two different styles of playing musical instruments, the ‘gayaki ang’(vocal style) and the ‘Tantarakari ang’ (the pure style of playing an instrument). She has been able to achieve a fusion of the two diverse styles
While Anupriya was studying for her bachelor’s in Indore, she attended a concert of the great sarod nawaz Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and was mesmerized by his recital. She told him she wanted to be his disciple. He asked her to play whatever she could on the violin and his simple comment was “If you come to Delhi, I’ll only be too pleased to teach you.”
After completing her double masters she went to the Indian capital and true to his words, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan began to give her lessons in classical music. He even arranged a scholarship for her. “Even when my Ustad was out of Delhi, I went to his music room to practise. I could feel his presence there,” she said. She then joined the accomplished sarangi player, Pandit Ram Narayan. Five years with him have been rewarding too. She continues to learn from the Pandit.
The hallmark of Anupriya’s art is that she is at home with two different styles of playing musical instruments, the gayaki ang (vocal style) of which the late Ustad Vilayat Khan was the high priest and the Tantarakari ang (the pure style of playing an instrument) which is championed by Pandit Ravi Shankar. She has been able to achieve a fusion of the two diverse styles.
Anupriya has performed with different musicians in many countries and has played solo as well. She also has a good number of CD recordings to her credit. Her repertoire of ragas is not too large, but she does have full command over the few ragas that she plays.
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