Royal Albert Hall And The Connection With The Indian Sub-Continent

In the last week of November, history was made at a concert featuring three Indian classical vocalists at the Royal Albert Hall, London. This was the first time women classical Indian vocalists had performed at this prestigious venue; even more special was the fact that two of the vocalists, Ranjani Gayatri sang Carnatic music. Kaushiki Chakraborty represented the Patiala gharana of khayal gayaki.

The Royal Albert Hall, London has a special standing as a venue for music. Perhaps it’s the size (5000 plus seats), location (downtown South Kensington, London), wonderful acoustics or its architecture, or probably a combination of all these – the fact remains that it is considered London’s finest, grandest venue. Opened in 1871 by Queen Victoria, the Royal Albert is more than a venue, it’s regarded as a cultural institution in itself. Kaushiki Chakraborty, after her successful concert shared “I think so much wonderful music has been performed over the years, that the venue has absorbed musical vibes. Even the crew are so welcoming and appreciative of artists.”

Contrarily, sitarist Ustad Shujaat Khan shared “In my opinion, the Royal Albert Hall is actually not really all that suitable for Indian classical music; I feel the Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, or even Purcell Room are better venues. But the Royal Albert has the name!” Yes, the Royal Albert Hall remains the place to perform for Indians even today.

Concerts of Indian artists over the decades have been organized mainly by other organisations, not by the Royal Albert Hall itself. The BBC Proms, at the Royal Albert which stretch over 90 days usually feature at least one Indian artist of stature; sitarist Ustad Nishat Khan has been performing there since the 1980s; He shared “I feel privileged to have performed at the Royal Albert Hall at a time when you had to be an artist of stature to perform there. There is a mystique about the venue; no doubt about it.”

The first Indian classical musician to perform at the Royal Albert was Pt Ravi Shankar in 1969, on 21st Oct, as part of many others as a tribute to Gandhiji. His first solo was on 22nd Aug 1971 accompanied by Ustad Alla Rakha on the tabla. A year later, Pt Ravi Shankar and his brother- in-law, sarodist Ustad Ali Akbar Khan played a duet (jugalbandi) at the Royal Albert on Oct 28th 1972. One can only wonder what the then predominantly white audience made of this type of music. The ticket pricing and exclusivity of the venue probably made it inaccessible for many British residents from the sub continent.

Pt Partho Sarothy the sarodist, accompanied his Guru Pt Ravi Shankar at the Royal Albert Hall in 1993, at a concert organized by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. He recalled staying in Ajitabh Bachchan’s house for the event; it was a memorable event, I haven’t forgotten it even after so many years, he shared. Incidentally, a CD was also released of the concert.

In 1974, Pt Ravi Shankar presented several Indian musicians at the Royal Albert Hall; the event was organized by George Harrison. By then, the association with the Beatles had made the sitar more recognizable in the UK. ‘King of violin’ Dr L Subramaniam recalls playing a solo (the first Carnatic musician ever), Pt Ravi Shankar also played a solo, and then other musicians including late Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma, and Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia jointly presented a piece. “I was fortunate to again present a solo concert at the Royal Albert in 1997; it is indeed one of the grandest venues in the world.” Dr L Subramaniam shared.

It has been claimed that Begum Akhtar was the first Indian vocalist to perform at the Royal Albert, in 1973; however an official from the Royal Albert Hall disputed this.

‘Ghazal King’ Mehdi Hassan who had migrated to Pakistan after 1947 performed at the Royal Albert Hall in 1977. An interesting incident took place during that historic concert that highlights the deep connection between a musician and patron. Apparently, whilst in the middle of a ghazal, the erstwhile Rajmata of Jaipur, Gayatri Devi entered the hall, and sat down. She was recognized by the Rajasthani musicians and Mehdi Hassan was informed in a whisper that she was in the hall. He immediately stopped singing, announced her presence, and got off the stage into the audience, and greeted her formally, and requested permission (‘ijjazat’) to continue the concert! This formality of court etiquette, of a bygone age when his family were residents of the princely state of Jaipur was a reminder of how much has changed in the world of music.

An All Night Long concert, the first ever, took place in 1981, during the BBC Proms. Curated by sitarist Ustad Vilayat Khan, the event featured his solo sitar recital, 18 year nephew Irshad Khan on the surbahar, sarangi maestro Ustad Sultan Khan accompanying Ustad Zakir Hussain’s tabla solo, and vocalists Fayyaz Ahmed and Niaz Ahmed Khan. Ustad Irshad Khan recalled “It was announced that I was the youngest ever soloist on this stage. (he was 18 years old) BBC broadcast the concerts Live and my career spiralled after this concert, even though I had been performing since I was 8 years old.”

UK based Sandeep Virdee has had a long association with the Royal Albert; he recalled attending this iconic concert as a youngster. “It was a landmark event. I still remember Irshad Khan played Raga Jog.” As an organizer, Sandeep’s company Darbar which has operated in UK for more than 20 years, organized special events at the Royal Albert. In 2017, for the BBC Proms, they presented sitarist Pt Buddhaditya Mukherji, Carnatic veena exponent Jayanthi Kumaresh and Pakistani Quawwals Fareed Ayaz and Abu Mohammed (originally from Delhi, then Hyderabad) showcasing the sub- continent’s diverse musical traditions.

The connection with the Royal Albert Hall and Darbar culminated with a unique collaboration on 25th November featuring the lady vocalists. “Presenting vocalists was a huge challenge; in the past it’s always been classical instrumentalists. We were just a few seats short of being totally sold out, which is a huge deal as it’s such a large hall; it was a joint marketing effort of the Royal Albert Hall and my team. The seats are expensive, between 60-100 pounds. We had about 80% Indians around 20% non Indians. People flew in from the US, Singapore – it was wonderful.”

Ranjani Gayatri were ecstatic; Ranjani shared “the Royal Albert Hall is vast and imposing, but the moment we began to sing, it transformed into something intimate, like the warmest of baithaks.” Kaushiki Chakraborty concurred “the seats are actually quite close to the stage, and as it’s a round hall, every portion feels connected. I could see my audiences faces and hear their appreciation; it was very inspiring.”

The prolonged standing ovation that both acts got was proof that now vocal Indian classical music is totally appreciated; even at as British a bastion as the Royal Albert Hall.