'Yoga, pranayam can do wonders to a singer's voice quality'

In terms of lineage it does not get better than this. Kaivalya Kumar Gurav is the third generation singer of the renowned Kirana gharana who is not just taking forward his legacy but has enriched it by his extensive work in this sphere. He was in the city to perform at the three-day Swarsangam sangeet mahotsav, and spoke to TOI on the sides of the event.
After a degree in engineering, he pursued his B.Com before doing his graduation and post-graduation in music. "I was a late convert only interested in disco music in my youth," he says. But that began changing when he started singing Marathi natya sangeet at various events. "At this time I realized that I had to go the whole way," he says.
Once he took up classical music in right earnest he began understanding the various difficulties and the negatives of this genre. "The reasons why audiences find classical concerts so dreary dawned upon me. I began my research in voice culture and worked on tonal qualities of a singer and methods by which he or she would not have to contort facial muscles," he says.
His work in this field has yielded results. "I have mastered the areas of how to prepare a voice for classical singing. I know how a singer can work his abdomen for base and how when breathing through the abdomen is cut the voice gets a tonal quality," he says.
Famous for his speed taans, complicated blandish, imaginative approach to his music and the aesthetics of his presentations, Kaivalya Kumar says that he has the technique for making classical music interesting and understandable. "Yoga, pranayam and meditation works wonders for a classical singer. Today I can guarantee that by practising these techniques a classical singer can be ready to take the stage in less than five years," he says.
Dismissing the belief that artists who render compact version of a raag tamper with its purity, he says, "Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, the founder of Kirana gharana could deliver a raag in less than two minutes. I have rare records dating back to 1902 to prove this. What is required is the right approach."
Saluting the maestros like Pt Bhimsen Joshi and Kumar Gandharv, Gurav said that these artists would first understand the vibrations of the venue where they were to perform and type of the audience before deciding upon what to sing. "Today singers come prepared and give a recital without understanding the requirements of the audience," he says.
Source:TNN