Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| (1903-1977) |
Siddheswari Devi enriched the Poorab ang of light classical music tradition she inherited by making the thumri as expansive as the khayal. She clothed the thumri with “a rare classical dignity even while retaining its tender lyricism Initially known as Akhtari Bai, her art earned for her the respect due to a begum sahiba. Her music carried the old world charm of the Lucknow court and, in the early years, “maddened her listeners with a certain intoxicating quality.” (Susheela Misra). Later, there was in it even more of an emotional intensity and a tinge of sadness as well. While she sang khayal-s, thumri-s and dadra-s as well, her singing of ghazals earned for her the title of Mallika-eGhazal, or Queen of Ghazal.