Search - The Dagar Brothers :: Chant Dhrupad: North Indian Classical Music

Sublime Dhrupad

Aditya Vedula | Princeton, NJ United States | 02/28/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Dagar brothers (Ustads Zahiruddin and Faiyazuddin Dagar) render two Dhrupads in their inimitably sublime style. I believe the depth of their music comes as much from their conviction and devotion as with years of rigorous training and practice. Especially the Dhrupad in Choutal in Raga Bageshree on Lord Krishna (lovingly referred to as Nand here) that is rendered with such mellifluous beauty and gentle devotion that I cannot imagine anyone else coming close to being capable of. The notes that come with the CD describe their tradition along with translations of the compositions performed."

Dhrupad at its most pure

Aditya Vedula | 06/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am a great admirer of the Senior Dagar Brothers (Moinuddin Dagar and Aminuddin)and love the primal, stripped-down sound on the live recordings of the Royal Mewar Collection series on Virgin. I thought nothing could touch those recordings in terms of getting to the heart of Dhrupad vocals. Then I ran across this CD by their younger brothers, Zaheeruddin and Fayyazuddin.
The first piece on this CD starts off really, really quiet...the voices barely above the threshold of audibility. I could not listen to it on my Walkman because even the slightest breeze obscured the brothers' voices. Make no mistake, this is not a technical flaw. The voices do eventually come up to "normal" level but the initial low volume is but one aspect of the tremendous restraint, subtlety, and intelligence shown in the performances here. This is pure sound crafted into purest of art. There are no show-off vocal gymnastics, no attempts to entice the casual listener. This is sober, controlled music of the highest order and an absolute must for any fan of Indian Classical Music."