Legendary classical singer Prabha Atre who was an exponent of the Kirana Gharana, among the most prominent lineages of classical music in India, passed away in Pune on Saturday. The singer was 91. She developed breathing issues, following which she was rushed to a private hospital on Satuday morning. However, she reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital.
Prabha who was conferred the Padmashri (1990), Padma Bhushan (2002) and Padma Bhushan (2022), plus many other national-international honours, excelled in rendition of khayals, thumris, ghazal, dadri, bhajans and natyasangeet. Prabha had penned books on music composition – ‘Swarangini’ and ‘Swaranjanee’, is credited with inventing new Raagas like ‘Apurva Kalyan’, ‘Madhur Kauns’, ‘Darbari Kauns’, ‘Patdeep-Malhar’, ‘Shiv Kali’, ‘Tilang-Bhairav’ and ‘Ravi Bhairav’.
She composed music for a full-length dance recital ‘Natya Prabha’, a music composition adapted for jazz by a top Netherlands artist, and also created music for musical-dramas or sangeetikas.
(With IANS inputs)
