On May 27, 1957 Ravi Shankar (sitar), Chatur Lal (tabla) and Nodu Mallick (tanpura) performed in Amsterdam at the Concertgebouw. It was Shankar’s first appearance as a solo artist in The Netherlands. Though there is no audio of that concert, we are lucky to have this music, recorded earlier in the day at the Radio Netherlands studios in Hilversum as well as an interview with Ravi Shankar, done in both Hindi and English, recorded at a museum in Leiden. As a rare glimpse into Ravi Shankar’s early east-west travels, this installment of the Nine Decades series documents the excitement with which the western and eastern worlds greeted each other through the melodies, improvisations, and rhythmic cycles of Indian classical music.

“What a special recording this is. Tilak Shyam brought tears of joy to my eyes. There is no one like him. The romance, the sensuality, the spirituality in his music was what made him stand apart. Chatur Lal on Tabla is brilliant… you almost see the tabla sparkle! Please enjoy listening to the musical wonder of Raviji. How hard he worked to take the great music of his country across the seven seas!” – Sukanya Shankar (2020)

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