Friday, May 20 2005 10:23 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: India's Sarod Maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan received a standing ovation from a packed audience at the Royal Festival Hall in London after he gave a scintillating performance along with his sons Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash.

Prominent among those present on the occasion last night (May 19, 2005) included Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Indian High Commissioner to the UK Kamalesh Sharma, Lord Meghnad Desai, Professor of London School of Economics and Stephen Pound, MP, Chairman of the Labour Friends of India.

The two-and-a-half hour long musical extravaganza began by the ace Sarod player presenting a Rag Durga followed by a Jhinjhoti.

After the interval, sons Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash gave an electrifying performance with rag Kaushik and Teen Taal before the Ustad joined them to regale the audience with a musical based on a Rabindranath Tagore song and folk music of Assam.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, who is the recipient of several awards including Sarod Samrat, UNESCO Award, Kala Ratna, Sangeet Natak Academy Award, Tansen Award and Padma Bhushan, imparted a rare aesthetic experience to his audience with his creative, imaginative and consummate artistry.

Sandeep Das and Sanju Sahai gave an accomplished performance on the Tabla.

The show was sponsored by ICICI Bank UK Ltd.