Having mesmerised fans around the world for decades, sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar will bid farewell to Europe by performing a select set of ragas for the last time.
The 88-year old sitar maestro who has been a major force for innovation in Indian classical music, is on a tour to Europe which will culminate at the prestigious Barbican Centre on Wednesday night.
According to his daughter, 'he has given a new shape and definition to this instrument over the course of the 20th century'.
'He added the bass string that is quite common now. He created the modern notation system for Indian music. The tabla player was never really an important factor until my father made percussion a central part. A lot of what people now consider Indian music can be traced back to him' so recounted the maestro's daughter.
Shankar spent seven years studying sitar with Khan before emerging in the late 1940s and 50s to become one of India's most celebrated musicians.
Elaborating on his routine, he confessed that 'I sit with Anoushka and give her new things, information that I didn't give her before. That is what happens with our music - it goes on growing, because it is not written down'.
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