‘SUBHA’ new album by Roopa Panesar Palsule in Peaceful Radio Show 1503
18 August 2022 Artists
Leading UK sitarist, Roopa Panesar, has a new summer 2022 album, SUBHA; a celebration of morning ragas. Translating from the Hindi as ‘Morning’, SUBHA offers a unique start to the day. Time does not have to be a hurried affair, the start of a new day on SUBHA is a slow, peaceful awakening lending itself as a time of mindful reflection that beautifully builds in tempo and vigour as the album progresses through morning.On SUBHA, Roopa Panesar performs sitar alongside master tabla player, Ramdas Palsule.
The journey from student to mastering the sitar is a long road of continuous learning, practise and dedication. The student may gain an initial grasp of its workings after several years but it is a widely held opinion among masters of the instrument, that it is a lifetime’s journey. UK sitarist, Roopa Panesar proudly joins a modest number of Indian women worldwide who have learnt, mastered and launched careers as full-time professional teaching and touring sitarists.
Being born in London and raised in one of the UK’s most culturally diverse cities, Leicester, afforded Roopa Panesar the opportunity to learn sitar from an early age. At the age of seven, Roopa’s lifelong journey started with renowned educationalist and leading UK musician Ustad Dharambir Singh ji MBE. Ustad Dharambir Singh was a disciple of the late Ustad Vilayat Khan. Roopa was quickly recognized as a talent for the future and remains with her musical guru to this day. Roopa’s knowledge and skills have also been strengthened by additional training from masters including Pandit Arvind Parikh, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Pt. Buddhaditya Mukherjee and Ustad Bahauddin Dagar.
SUBHA totals just over an hour in playing time. ‘Ahir Bhairav’, ‘Gujri Todi’ and ‘Bhairavi’ are all morning ragas which evoking feelings or ‘rasas’ of peace and reflection. The opening raga, ‘Ahir Bhairav Vilambat Gat’ is performed in a slow or ‘vilambat’ tempo lasting just over thirty minutes. SUBHA moves gently from morning to the day with an increase in tempo during the second raga, ‘Gujri Todi’ which is split into two sections: ‘Gujri Todi Madhya Laya Gat’ followed by the faster ‘Gujri Todi Drut Gat’. The album ends with a lighter rendition of Rag Bhairavi in the form of a Punjabi Dhun.
Roopa provides a personal explanation of the album SUBHA, “This is an album of morning Ragas which evoke the peaceful vibrations of the morning. The Ragas on this album were deeply inspired by my greatest sitar inspiration, the Late Ustad Vilayat Khan. I have always found these Ragas to be healing and exhilarating and wished to record these to share the same sentiments with listeners.”
On SUBHA, Roopa Panesar is accompanied by the internationally acclaimed tabla virtuoso from Pune, India, Pandit Ramdas Palsule. SUBHA is their first collaboration. Ramdas Palsule is an esteemed tabla player, accompanying doyen vocalists, sitarists and dancers at a national and international level. Based in Pune, India, Ramdas plays an important role as the tabla guru at The Lalit Kala Kendra (Center for Performing Arts) of University of Pune and the Bharti Vidyapeeth School of Performing Arts. Ramdas Palsule is a passionate teacher, an intellectual academic, zealous entrepreneur and most importantly a modern ambassador for Indian classical music.
As a versatile sitarist, Roopa Panesar performs in a wide range of styles from Hindustani classical music, western classical, jazz and world music. With multiple BBC performances, Roopa has collaborated with Mercury Prize winner Talvin Singh and the Belgian Symphony Orchestra recording the soundtrack for the film ‘West is West’ as directed by Andy De Emmony. Roopa has toured extensively in the UK, Europe, India and USA performing at prestigious venues and festivals including London’s Darbar Festival and WOMAD UK.
Roopa Panesar performed a debut tour of India in 2014 playing to vibrant audiences in Delhi, Mumbai and SRA Kolkatta, followed by a highly successful tour in USA in 2017 which included New York’s Lincoln Center and World Music Festival Chicago. Roopa Panesar was honoured to perform before HRH The Prince of Wales at VJ75 Day which was broadcast for BBC1 Television. Roopa also performed at a critically acclaimed concert with conductor, Sir Simon Rattle O.M. C.B.E., for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s Centennial anniversary concert. This performance resulted in The Guardian stating, “AR Rahman‘s suite from his Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack is effectively a concerto for sitar and orchestra, the former played with staggering dexterity by Roopa Panesar.”
Despite both gaining university degrees in engineering, Roopa Panesar and Ramdas Palsule were both driven by their love of music, innate abilities, strengths and joy of performing to independently fulfil their dreams of becoming professional musicians. Neither Roopa Panesar nor Ramdas Palsule have looked back since. SUBHA is a truly inspired album from one of the UK’s finest female sitarists, Roopa Panesar. SUBHA is Roopa’s sophomore album following on from the debut ‘Khoj’ which was released through The Milapfest Institute for Indian Arts in 2011. SUBHA releases internationally on August 12th, 2022 through the renowned Asian Arts Agency, who specialise in showcasing British Asian artists in the UK and at an international level. SUBHA will be distributed through Cadiz Music.
Track Listing SUBHA/Roopa Panesar/Asian Arts Agency
Total Playing Time: 71:39
01 Rag Ahir Bhairav – Vilambat Gat in Tal Teental 32:57
02 Rag Gujri Todi – Madhya Laya Gat in Tal Teental 08:56
03 Rag Gujri Todi – Drut Gat in Tal Teental 14:42
04 Rag Bhairavi – Punjabi Dhun in Tal Kaherwa 09:54
05 Radio Edit – Rag Gujri Todi – Madhya Laya Gat in Tal Teental 05:10
Musicians on SUBHA:
Roopa Panesar: sitar.
Ramdas Palsule: tabla.
Kaviraj Singh: tanpura.
Roopa Panesar Website: http://roopapanesarmusic.com/
Roopa Panesar YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVlkISSDZK-LvnFM3vGRXlA
Album: SUBHA
Artist: Roopa Panesar
Label: Asian Arts Agency
Distribution through Cadiz
Genre: World Music/Indian Ragas
Catalogue Number: AAA208
Total Playing Time: 71:39
Release Date: 12 August, 2022
Special Notes: SUBHA features a radio edit for
‘Rag Gujri Todi’ at 05:10 in length.
Benno Veugen Peaceful Radio, Peaceful Radio Show, Roopa Panesar Palsule, SUBHA