Shivkumar Sharma

1938年，Shivkumar Sharma出生于印度最北端克什米爾的Jammu地區(qū)。他原本學(xué)習(xí)的是古典聲樂和tabla，但據(jù)說其父認(rèn)定自己的兒子天賦異稟，必能開創(chuàng)santoor音樂的新格局。于是在這位先見之人的執(zhí)意要求下，Shivkumar Sharma從13歲開始學(xué)習(xí)santoor。1955年，他初次登臺表演。之后，經(jīng)過10余年的探索，Shivkumar Sharma發(fā)展出一整套用于表現(xiàn)北印度古典音樂的演奏技巧，使santoor的古稀之音煥發(fā)出蓬勃的生命力。1967年，由他構(gòu)思并主創(chuàng)的北印度古典音樂組曲《call of the valley》大獲成功。這張猶如克什米爾風(fēng)情畫般優(yōu)雅的唱片，至今仍是最暢銷的印度古典音樂錄音之一。1968年，Shivkumar Sharma參與了beatles吉他手george harrison制作的電影配樂《wonder wall》。從此，Shivkumar Sharma逐漸步入北印度古典音樂領(lǐng)域中最頂尖的行列。 　　20世紀(jì)70年代后期到整個(gè)80年代，Shivkumar Sharma在歐美很多地方進(jìn)行了巡演和錄音。1983年，OCORA出版了他的唱片。同年6月10日，Shivkumar Sharma在倫敦演出。后來這次演出的實(shí)況錄音成了經(jīng)典——即這套由navras出的唱片。唱片后來又以CD形式出版，共分兩卷，是Shivkumar Sharma演奏生涯盛期的最佳瞬間之一。 ?
by Ken Hunt
Shivkumar Sharma is one of the truly great visionaries in the Hindustani classical music firmament. His popularity has created a knotty problem for his admirers. Popularity has led to a demand for recordings by him, to a degree that having a Shivkumar Sharma album acts like a kind of validation for a label. Consequently the market is flooded with his recordings. His playing is consummate, therefore he is unlikely to produce a piece of work that is below par, which makes selecting a shortlist even more difficult.
Sharmas story is one of dedication. He was born in January 1938 in Jammu Kashmir. His father Uma Dutt Sharma asked him to pursue the development of the Kashmiri santoor. Being a dutiful son he obeyed and persevered despite private reservations. Though its Persian relative, the santur, had associations with Persian and Iranian classical music, elevating the Indian instrument to the classical concert platform was widely viewed as folly in conservative quarters. But Shivkumar Sharma persisted, experimented, restrung and reconfigured his instrument. His first major santoor recital took place in Bombay in February 1955, but it took, he reckons, until the 1970s to finally silence the querulous, the die-hard connoisseurs of the music, musicologists and purists. Parallel with his development of the santoor he worked as a tabla player (he accompanied acts as diverse as the renowned Punjabi folksinger Surinder Kaur and sitar maestro Ravi Shankar), and his understanding of tabla playing and rhythm has immeasurably enhanced his performance style and stagecraft.