Nishat Khan, a One-Man Sitar Band
WASHINGTON POST
Monday, May 16, 2005; Page C09
For the neophyte, sitarist Nishat Khan's concert Friday night at Baird Auditorium might well have been intimidating. The evening's principal raga sprawled for 100 minutes, with more than half of that time devoted to the alap, the free-rhythm exploration of themes in which the soloist traditionally plays unaccompanied.
Aside from being potentially overwhelming, however, Khan's performance was an ideal introduction to Indian classical music. The sitarist played with immense vigor, invention and charisma, and further conveyed his enthusiasm by occasionally bursting into song or delivering impromptu commentary. In addition, Khan's style encompassed timbres and techniques familiar to Western ears. His sharp, resonant tone evoked electric guitar, while his intricate ornamentation suggested harpsichord.
With its wealth of possibilities, the sitar is a small ensemble posing as a single instrument. Or at least that's how it seemed when Khan performed, with one hand answering the other in prolonged melodic spirals that decayed into glimmering shards.
Khan is an assertive, flamboyant musician, and he didn't show much interest in dueting with tabla player Abhiman Kaushal once the latter finally entered. Kaushal kept pace with the sitarist, but barely entered the musical dialogue. That was disappointing, yet almost immaterial. If the performance consisted mostly of Khan talking to himself, it was a brilliant conversation nonetheless.
-- Mark Jenkins