Faiz Ahmed Faiz has been the indisputable favourite of singers. Their rendition(s) of Faiz have found places of pride in the repertoires that they leave. Any collection of Noorjehan’s will have to include Mujh Se Pehli Si Muhabbat. Likewise, a selection of Iqbal Bano’s is bound to feature Dasht-i-tanhai (composed by the immensely talented but unsung Mehdi Zaheer).

More than any other number, Mehdi Hasan’s impeccable rendition of Gulon Mein Rang Bhare won him a place among the front ranking ghazal specialists. Many other singers worth their vocal chords, such as Begum Akhtar and Firdousi Begum, not to forget the one and only Farida Khanum, have sung his verse soulfully.

Way back in 1976, Nayyara Noor recorded an entire album featuring the poet’s poems. That was meant to be a gift for Faiz’s 65th birthday. Earlier this year Tina Sani came up with another exclusive CD which the Faiz Foundation produced to mark his centenary.

Across the border, the Faiz Centenary Committee, New Delhi, and the Indian Ministry of Culture lent their support to the production of a memorable album Tum Mere Paas Raho, and in the process found a new and well trained voice for the poet.

Most Pakistani music enthusiasts would not know Vidya Shah. I was unaware of the musical prowess of this Delhi-based Tamil Nadu-born singer until this paper’s correspondent in the Indian capital sent me a CD of her rendition of ragas. To say that her rendition was impressive is to state the obvious.

Vidya, is naturally well-versed in Carnatic music but having spent most of her productive years in Delhi she learnt khayal-gayeki from Shubha Mudgal and semi-classical and ghazal rendition from Begum Akhtar’s main disciple Shanti Hiranand. Produced and marketed by Times Music, Tum Mere Paas Raho has three tracks of Faiz’s recitation of his own verse, while the remaining seven are Vidya Shah’s renditions of his verse. If one has a taste for a full-bodied voice, sung with what Keats would call ‘full-throated ease’, the album will very much be a feast. Here’s a singer who blends subtleties of poetry with nuances of music in what seems to be an effortless and spontaneous manner, a quality which comes to the fore with the very first track, a prayer Mori Araj Suno. Set in that soul-stirring raga — Shudh Sarang, the song sounds very much like a prayer or a plea from the inner-most recesses of one’s heart. My favourite tracks are: Dard Thum Jayega and Yoon Saja Chand. Based on Raga Khamaj, one of the main attractions in the former is the manner in which she has woven sargam in the interlude section with the verse. Her skilful taans and the execution of musical notes are amply displayed in these number. All of the tracks have been composed by Shah herself, except for Tum Mere Paas Raho and Hum Ke Thehre Ajnabi, the tunes of which are borrowed from Arshad Mahmud (and Shahid Toosy). Shah has, of course, given the numbers her own colouring.