Ghalib
Portrait Of A Genius - A Ghalib Centenary Presentation
His Master’s Voice (India) 1968
ESCD 2404 (LP)
sleeve : VG+(RW, SOC, wear on side and corner, dirts, color-faded, label on side A: SOC, WC)
media : EX-/EX-(some slightly surface noise and some light pop noise)
A deeply fascinating record just arrived. This album is built around the poetry of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib, one of the great Urdu/Persian poets of the 19th-century Indian subcontinent, who lived through the final years of the Mughal Empire and the transition into British rule, and pushed Urdu poetry — especially the ghazal form — into more philosophical and introspective territory. Ghalib’s poetry is sung here in ghazal style by the legendary Mohammed Rafi and Begum Akhtar, with music composed by Khayyam, one of the great names in Indian film music. The album is structured with spoken narration by Kaifi Azmi introducing Ghalib’s life, character, and words before the songs begin. Ghazal is often rooted in love poetry, but Ghalib’s writing carries a much deeper literary, spiritual, and existential weight. Even without understanding the language, the beautiful melodic lines of the Indian classical instrumentation and the rich, lustrous voices of Rafi and Akhtar are completely intoxicating. Highly recommended.
A1: Mohammed Rafi “Zikr Us Parivash Ka”
B4: Mohammed Rafi “Nuktachin Hai”