Anoushka Shankar: ‘Chapters’

Anoushka Shankar: ‘Chapters’
Royal Albert Hall

Yes friends, it's the one I've been waiting for. One I so wish I could have attended personally, but you know how it is...

I know it is going to be special, because every concert with Anoushka Shankar is. Personally, I have been lucky enough to see her perform live one time, which was at the Llangollen Eisteddfod in 2022. It was a mid-summer evening, the weather was great, the front of the stage was adorned with beautiful flowers, and the music was out of this world. I remember being there (alone) and feeling very happy and content with life.

But life doesn't always deal us good hands, and later that year saw some personal loss and torment in my life. It is reassuring, therefore, when Anoushka takes to the stage and tells the audience about her own struggles, and how her series of mini albums - Chapters - were born out of this.

At the Eisteddfod in 2022, Anoushka was backed by the Britten Sinfonia, and split the bill with her collaborator, Manu Delago, whose set I also very much enjoyed and learned from. They had just released their album (literally on the very same day of that gig - Friday 8th July 2022). I liked their collaboration so much that I ordered the album on vinyl at my earliest opportunity.

Fast forward to the Royal Albert Hall on 12th August 2025. I am listening live via BBC Sounds in my back room. I decide tonight not for the kitchen radio, but to listen on my new Bluetooth speaker I picked up in London on Saturday (a privilege I did not grant to Mahler last night).

The music starts softly, with the hallmark glangs and bends of the sitar. The orchestra subtly joins in. It's one of those where you would only notice their absence if they stopped playing, if that makes sense. Subtle, but vital. One can hear a pin drop in the Albert Hall - no rogue coughs picked up by the recording gear tonight!

Of course, all of it is a highlight. I note that the undercurrent of the orchestra takes an interesting turn during Dancing on Scorched Earth. And my favourite moment comes around 45 minutes into the programme - the build-up ending of New Dawn, where the sitar and orchestra are fully working together, and my head starts to fizz with the visual emotion of it.