A beautiful recording of music from the private collection of Aminuddin Dagar, recorded at a house concert in Calcutta in 1955. As with most any album (or two albums, as here) of Indian classical music, the length can be a bit overwhelming for the average listener. Here, one gets over two hours of music, broken into a mere three songs. The recording quality leaves something to be wished for occasionally here, as the sounds of the outside world tend to encroach on house concert recordings (passing cars, kitchen work, etc). Nonetheless, the vocal work of the Dagars is quite amazing. Here, they expound three rags to an amazing level of virtuosity -- "Rag Bihag," "Rag Kamboji," and "Rag Malkosh." The notable aspect of the
Dagar Brothers' singing is the way in which they seemingly divide the range of octaves between themselves and as such are able to cover an even greater range together than the usual virtuoso singer. As with many other similar recordings, for fans of dhrupad, this double album is something of a must-have. For those not affiliated (yet) with the genre, a slightly shorter album may suffice better as an introduction, perhaps Todi by the same artists. ~ Adam Greenberg