9 hours ago
Review: Anoushka Shankar's Spellbinding Finale At Brighton Festival Offers Hope For A New Dawn
Anoushka Shankar Chapter III. Photograph by Claire Leach.
Claire Leach
Anoushka Shankar brought the Brighton Festival to a breathtaking close on 25th May with a performance that was nothing short of transcendental. Taking to the stage with her visionary new live show, Shankar performed her trilogy of mini-albums–Chapter I: Forever, For Now, Chapter II: How Dark it is Before Dawn, and Chapter III: We Return to Light–in one sweeping, emotionally charged arc. It was a spellbinding evening of music, meaning, and deep emotional resonance.
The trilogy–composed and released across two years of global touring–formed the core of an ambitious and experimental project. Each chapter informed the next, not only musically but thematically–tracing a full emotional cycle from the fleeting, sun-dappled joy of Chapter I, to the womb-like introspection of Chapter II, and finally, the radiant, redemptive energy of Chapter III. Together, they formed a powerful meditation on grief, healing, and hope.
Anoushka Shankar Chapter III. Photograph by Claire Leach
Claire Leach
Though Shankar had lost her voice–the result, she explained, of an exuberant Yoko Ono-inspired performance earlier in the festival–the lack of dialogue only heightened the power of the music. After a brief, heartfelt greeting, she let her sitar do the talking, while her ensemble of peerless musicians read from notes she had written. In those words, she shared the deeply personal genesis of the trilogy: the sadness of being unable to help a loved one, the heartbreak of watching a world in conflict, and the fragile but persistent hope for a brighter future.
Her sitar became a vessel for that hope—looping, bending, and shimmering through textures that ranged from the meditative to the ecstatic. With 30 years of performance behind her, eleven Grammy nominations, and an Honorary Degree in Music from Oxford University, Shankar has long since proved her technical mastery. But this performance revealed something deeper: a spiritual command of her instrument that borders on the mystical.
The ensemble matched her every step with breathtaking sensitivity and virtuosity, moving seamlessly from classical ragas to techno-tinged rhythmic pulses. At moments, the music soared into joyous crescendos that had the audience visibly moved; at others, it descended into intimate stillness, allowing space for reflection.
Anoushka Shankar Chapter III. Photograph by Credit Claire Leach.
Claire Leach
In every note, Shankar expanded the language of the sitar–not by abandoning its roots, but by weaving them into a bold, Indo-futurist soundscape that felt both ancient and utterly new. Shankar's entire aura is filled with a luminous inner light, her black bobbed hair framing a Cleopatra-like visage, and her arms so finely in tune with her sitar that it feels like an extension or her being. The climax of the evening–a euphoric final movement brimming with joy and light — felt less like an ending and more like a beginning: a musical invocation of a 'new dawn,' which also served as the thematic heartbeat of the entire Brighton Festival she so masterfully curated.
This was not merely a concert. It was a cathartic, soul-stirring experience that reaffirmed the power of music to hold sorrow, transcend boundaries, and illuminate the path forward. Anoushka Shankar has long been a transformative force in contemporary music–but this performance marked a pinnacle. A swansong, perhaps, to this particular chapter–but also a luminous opening to whatever comes next. And after such a performance, we wait for that next chapter with bated breath, and renewed hope.
