Saturday, May 9, 2009

Papia on fusion in Tagore songs

Ershad Kamol

•   Part 1
•   Part 2

Eminent Tagore singer Papia Sarwar has been rendering Rabindra Sangeet since mid-1960s on radio and TV. Graduated in music from Visva Bharati University established by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore at Shantiniketan under a scholarship, Papia Sarwar had outstanding academic results. More than that her unique style of rendering Rabindra Sangeet has made her one of the leading Tagore singers in the country.

Over four decades she has been practicing and performing Tagore songs. She got popularity as a Tagore singer in Bangladesh even before going to Shantiniketan. However, she believes her musical skill has developed under the guidance of legendary singers such as Kanika Bandyopadhyay, Neelima Sen, Ashesh Bandyopadhyay, Shantidev Ghosh and Shubinoy Roy at Shantiniketan,

In an interview with The Daily Star Online on the eve of Tagore's 148th birth anniversary, Papia evaluates the nature of celebration of the day in Bangladesh. Moreover, she talks frankly on the current scenario of rendering Tagore songs in Bangladesh and ongoing trends of fusion music.

On the current trend of fusion and use of modern instruments with Tagore songs, Papia comments that she encourages experiments unless it distorts the original tune. She believes that any kind of 'bad' experimentation on Tagore songs will never be accepted by the audience.

Papia Sarwar is optimistic about the future of Tagore songs in Bangladesh as there are many talented young singers. She also suggests the younger singers the secrets of becoming an ideal Tagore singer.