Ken Hunt despairs at the ‘new’ audiences but then Raviji manages to ‘put a smile on his face’ at the maestro’s Barbican concert this summer, on 21st June 2011. Image Courtesy The Barbican
Let’s begin with a confession. Let’s lay some cards on the table. Attending every Ravi Shankar concert had no longer been a must. The reasons for that were complex and varied. For one, the audience had changed. The new audiences were no longer the community of faces at a Bhimsen Joshi, Vilayat Khan, Ali Akbar Khan or Alla Rakha recital. People were increasingly clapping to congratulate themselves on recognising a taal (rhythm cycle) finishing. Snobbish moi? You bet. The subtitles were plain.
