Your query with regard to my musical experience of listening to music greats in the past, requires a longish response as follows:
I had the opportunity of listening to Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan prior to listening to Ustad Amir Khan, Begum Akhtar and Ustad Faiyaz Khan.
a. Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan – He had an open hearted resonant voice, which had a kasdar base without being karkash. The range was fantastic. Punjabi style harkats were judicially used. He unfolded the raga very swiftly but discreetly. I used to accompany Ustad Vilayat Khan who went to visit him often in Mumbai. Once I casually mentioned to Ustad Ghulam Ali Khan that “In yesterday’s concert, you unfolded raga Kedar very quickly”. With a mischievous smile, he explained ‘हमारा तूफ़ान मेल है – मालगाड़ी नहीं’ As far as light classical music is concerned – thumri etc., Khan Saheb was superb. We learn that he was responsible for introducing thumri singing in Patiala gharana and made it extremely popular. A fantastic voice coupled with insightful imagination and Punjab related decorative elements – all of these made his recitals extremely enjoyable and impressive. Proof of the popularity of many of his renderings is, that even today several musicians copy the same in their recitals.
b. Ustad Amir Khan was a ‘धीर – गंभीर’ person having an insightful -introspective musical vision. Everything he did was measured in the vilambit tempo / laya. His facial expressions while singing were sombre. He very rarely smiled during his recital. In short, everything had a base of serenity and grandeur. His unfoldment of vilambit khayal was extremely methodical – step by step – melodic centre to melodic centre, in a high systematic fashion evolved through several generations of Kirana gharana musicians. While the respect that he commanded was indeed great, there were some who observed that, “He seldom sang antara of vilambit khayal”. Thus implying that he perhaps did not receive systematic taleem and hence did not know a bandish in full. There were also some who observed that after completing alap, he straight went to execution of longish taans – thus missing the systematic development of the taan portion. He was a great thinker and I received valuable guidance from him, from time to time, as I had the good fortune of receiving him at our residence quite often. For e.g., he criticised my lack of initiative to take risks. He mentioned that without taking risk one cannot make progress. He told me, ‘įरˋ लेतेŠए बड़ेबड़ेउˑाद बेसुरे हो जातेहै – तुमको भी įरˋ लेना चािहए, तुʉी लोग तो कहतेहो [🡨 Suvarna: please review the Hindi text here] “no risk no gain”. That was a great pointer, as at that stage I was still in the process of establishing myself as a sitar player. The practical guidance he gave from time to time relating to sitting posture, decorative element etc. was indeed timely.
c. Ustad Faiyaz Khan – I had the good fortune of listening to him 2 – 3 times along with Ustad Vilayat Khan. Being a follower of Kirana gharana music approach, I found his recitals a little aggressive with sparingly used delicacy. The voice production was nasal but it had its own character of being impressive and included volume variations. Frankly, I do not have much to say as my exposure to Ustad Faiyaz Khan’s music was limited.
d. Begum Akhtar had affectionate feelings for my wife Kishori, and hence used to visit our residence from time to time. Ustad Mohammad Ahmed Khan, the famous tabla player, also knew her very well as he had accompanied her in her recitals on many occasions. Any words of praise for her would not really adequately convey the immense stature of Begum Akhar. She was not only an unbelievably fantastic musician but also a very humble and simple human being, always ready to assist and help – maintaining the entire burden of her family’s needs. There are many instances that I know of her unusual humility. It was during our return by air from Bhavnagar after a Sangeet sammelan concert, Begum Akhtar who was sitting next me in the plane, asked me whether I would teach her sitar. I was completely taken aback and told her that I am only a shagird and cannot teach an Ustad. In response she said that I was fortunate in having excellent taleem from Ustad Vilayat Khan saheb and hence would like to learn from me rather than anyone else. This was because she admired Ustad Vilayat Khan’s approach to music after the film Jalsagar where Ustad Vilayat Khan had composed music. She told me that she, who was considered to be almost a queen of ghazal, thumri etc. found that Ustad Vilayat Khan had a different approach (she had a session or two of taleem from Khansaheb). After obtaining permission from Khansaheb, I started teaching her as and when she used to visit Mumbai. This lasted for about 2 years. She must have taken approx. 8 – 10 lessons in raga Yaman.
Conclusion:
With regard to the query as to what aspects / dimensions of the recitals of all these greats are relevant to the taleem that our students receive today: Ustad Vilayat Khan moulded / structured his style based on those elements of the musical approach and performance of these masters that appealed to him.
a. By and large, it is believed that, he was influenced by Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan.
b. For jod-kam, he was partially influenced by the ‘nom-tom’ alap as conceived by Ustad Faiyaz Khan (Agra gharana).
c. For taans etc., in addition to our own gharana’s approach, he was also influenced by the taan patterns of Uatad Rajab Ali Khan (Dewas). Thus we have received Ustad Vilayat Khan’s synthesis / amalgam of a unique style which personified the Vilayatkhani baj. I think it is sufficient to mention that some of the elements of the music that I have heard from the great musicians are already included in the taleem that we received from Khansaheb. Hence no more comments may be required.
d. In conclusion, I would mention that being dedicated to Kirana gharana approach to music, I respect Ustad Amir Khan saheb as one of the greatest vocalists in addition to being a great thinker.