Music
Press
The album by Shivoham, Shanti Mantras, guarantees a different spiritual experience. The vocals as well as the orchestration have succeeded in bringing out the inner meaning of the Upanishad mantras. The mood of the hymns has been magnificently brought forth through the rendition. The sarod has accompanied the vocals beautifully. Vocalists are at their best.
- Kolkota Mirror, 10 August 2009
All the tracks are beautifully composed by sarod player Bhargav Mistry, a disciple of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. Each composition has the softness of a feather- touch, each has the quietude and calmness of dawn, the power to cuddle you into a state of inner peace. Mistry has surely succeeded in bringing out the time-tested beauty of the mantras. - The Hindu, 14 August 2009
I'm not deeply spiritual but, off and on, I come across music that leaps over the bounds of mysticism and speaks to the modern, world-weary soul that would be mine. The hungry urge yet silken vibrancy of Aparna Panshikar's vocals resonate with the melancholic, haunting strings of Bhargav Mistry's sarod in an album thankfully not overpowered with electronic beats (as is the trend these days, to mask artists' inefficiencies). - The Times of India, 21 March 2008
What makes it different from other chant albums is the contemporary and modern treatment, and an attractively packaged booklet. - S. Sahaya Ranjit, India Today, May 30, 2005
Aparna's chanting, interwoven with the sublime sarod notes against the background of synthesiser, creates a deep, rich and contemplative mood. The end result is deeply moving and unique. - MusicIndiaOnline.com, 12 February 2005
Highlight: The Best Album You've Never Heard - Rave India, 28 April 2006
After its successful album ‘Shankara’, which musically explored poems of Adi Shankaracharya, Shivoham is now back with another album that concentrates on the ancient ‘Shanti Mantras'. The purpose of the album, says Mistry, is to re- interpret and transmit to the new generation some of the oldest prayers of mankind which have traveled from generation to generation through an unbroken chain of oral transmission. - Utpal Borpujari, Deccan Herald, 26 September 2009
Discography
Shankara (2005, Silk Road/Universal)
Shanti Mantras (2009, Silk Road/Universal)
Road To India, a collaboration with pianist Corrado Rossi (2010, Silk Road/Universal)
Photos
Bio
Bhargav Mistry received his initial training in Hindustani classical vocal music from Madhuriben Khare from 1977 onwards while studying Industrial Design at the prestigious National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad (India).
It was the Late Shri Sashikant Gundani who introduced him to the sarod in 1980 and taught him the basics. Attracted to the style of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, he went to the master in Delhi in 1991 to seek his guidance and to understand his baaj of Sarod playing; to this day, he continues to draw inspiration and enrichment from him.
He was awarded the Gold Medal for Sarod from Surnanda Bharati, Calcutta.
But over the last ten years he honed his skills as composer, first by composing the music for a ballet based on a play by the sanskrit poet Kalidasa. Since 2002, he regularly composes and records with Korean musicians and tours with them in Korea.
His first solo album, Shankara - six minimalistic compositions based on mystical poems of 8th century Indian philosopher Adi Shankaracharya -, is a duet with classical vocal artist Aparna Panshikar and has received both critical acclaim and commercial success.
His new album, based on the Shanti Mantras [Peace Mantras] from the Vedas, inroduces new singers Viraj Amar, Neha Joshi and Surbhi Arya and is a bold synthesis of the Korean and Iranian influences on his own Indian classical foundation.
Links
