Hindustani light classical singer
Hindustani Light Classical singer Rekha Surya trained under Begum Akhtar and Girija Devi. She is from Lucknow and now lives in New Delhi. She recorded for the Archives of Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1994 and 2014. She is a recipient of Karamvir Puraskar 2012 for singing Sufi poetry in Thumri-Dadra-Ghazal form and keeping alive traditional Ghazal-Gayaki.
Rekha Surya sang to a packed hall. Rekha belongs to the Begum Akhtar tradition, having studied under the Begum and followed that hypnotic inheritance with great gift. Her voice is deep and resonant and her pronunciation has the same savour as the Begum’s – a sense of hopelessness and despair. ...
Rekha Surya is a talent to behold. Rarely does one find such confluence of restraint and abandon, discipline and playfulness, nerve-tingling sensuality and a near-sacred dedication to the Indian art of vocal exposition. Her voice has presence. Raw and earthy, it announces itself. Her handling of rhythm is superb. ...
Begum Akhtar left the stamp of her genius on Rekha Surya. ...
Rekha Surya enthralled. Her audience was spellbound by her Hori, Kajri, Jhoola and Dadra, interspersed with Ghazal. She was sometimes sprightly, sometimes melancholy, always poignant. ...
In today’s world of mediocre and diluted ghazal-singing, what a pleasure it was to hear Begum Akhtar’s youngest student Rekha Surya sing Ghazal in its authentic form. ...
Rekha Surya’s rich voice and passionate music evokes an exotic image of a bygone era. ...
Rekha Surya’s special mark is that she treats Ghazal as an allied form of Thumri and presents it alongside Thumri and Dadra, keeping Begum Akhtar’s legacy alive. ...
The sensuous and the sublime become one when Rekha Surya sings Sufi poetry. Her enunciation of lyrics has astonishing clarity. ...
Rekha Surya sings Ghazal in the traditional style of Lucknow Gharana. She resembles her guru Begum Akhtar yet is unique. ...
Rekha Surya briefly explains the content of each poem before embarking on its musical journey. She presents Sufi poetry in the Thumri-Dadra style of Lucknow Gharana. Each textual phrase is treated with abandon yet restraint, interweaving different melodies into the main composition. She began with an ancient dadra having a dual motif--overtly romantic with spiritual undercurrents. Her next song was also thematically romantic and mystical, written by the 13th century Sufi poet Amir Khusro. Then she sang a contemporary poet's ghazal, which she ...
One of the few practitioners of the Lucknow Gharana of North Indian music, Rekha Surya has preserved the legacy of her legendary guru Begum Akhtar by propagating this art at prestigious concert and lecture venues in India and abroad. She has also honed her skills under the tutelage of another legend, Girija Devi of the Benaras Gharana, integrating both styles of singing into an individualistic st ...
Hindustani light classical music bridges the gap between pure classical and mainstream music, appealing to both the connoisseur and the layperson. To musically elaborate a word or phrase is the idiom that defines Hindustani light classical music. Weaving varia
