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Throwback Thursday

The woman pioneer who composed landmark operas in India in defiance of music traditionalists

Shanno Khurana created ‘Sohni Mahiwal’, ‘Jahanara’ and more in the 1960s and ’70s, a time when classical vocal music was staunchly insular. The statuesque young woman with a powerful voice who joined the cast of director Sheela Bhatia’s Heer Ranjha in 1956 was an unknown face in the theatre

Interviews

How did the piano become a Bengali instrument? A documentary has some answers

Subha Das Mollick’s ‘Calcutta Sonata’ looks at how the piano became an integral part of the cultural fabric of Calcutta. “Nobody remembers when the first piano was disembarked from the ships that docked by the shores of the river [in Calcutta],” declares the narrator early on in Subha Das

Music Education

The world’s first ‘turntable orchestra’

This philharmonic orchestra comprises 31 DJs playing records and zero musical instruments. In honour of Japan’s annual “Record Day”, which celebrates the moment LPs were first released in 1948, audio brand Technics assembled a rather eccentric orchestra, made up entirely of DJs with turntables. The orchestra, which calls itself

Know Your Composer

Remembering the Parsi composer who wrote some of the longest-ever pieces for the piano

Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji wrote massive, complex compositions in early 20th century. Is that the only reason he is not widely known? By Anu Kumar For someone who revelled in obscurity, even ensuring that his work was accessible only to the “serious and dedicated” listener, Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji has gained a