Among the most emblematic appointments of the Ritratti trasversali (Transversal Portraits) series, this evening brings into dialogue two musical practices that are poles apart in their historical origins and instrumentation, yet surprisingly close in their conception of time, listening, and sonic transformation. On one side is Hélène Vogelsinger, a rising talent of the new French electronic scene; on the other is Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar, heir to the most authoritative tradition of dhrupad, accompanied by pakhawaj master Mohan Shyam Sharma.

Hélène Vogelsinger’s research develops through the exclusive use of analog modular synthesizers, conceived not as programming tools but as constantly evolving sonic organisms. Each performance arises from a live-built system of physical patches and connections, in which electrical voltages, oscillators, filters, and envelope generators produce unrepeatable configurations. The artist intervenes with minimal gestures, slowly altering the system’s internal balances and allowing the sound to transform through processes of accumulation, interference, and resonance. The result is a music that seems to breathe, devoid of traditional narrative development and oriented instead toward the expansion of perception, where time loses its metric division to become an immersive experience. Listening thus assumes an almost contemplative dimension, in which every minimal variation acquires structural value.

This focus on sonic continuity finds an unexpected point of contact with dhrupad, the oldest surviving form of North Indian classical music. Its origins date back to the liturgical chants of Hindu temples and medieval devotional practices; between the 15th and 16th centuries, dhrupad developed in the courts of Rajput rulers and later within the Mughal Empire, assuming the form that is still handed down today. Unlike other traditions of Hindustani music, dhrupad privileges purity of intonation, stability of sound, and a rigorous formal architecture, centering on the exploration of the rāga as an acoustic space rather than simply as melodic material.

The performance opens with the long ālāp, a vast introduction free from pulse and rhythmic accompaniment, in which the singer progressively unfolds the full potential of the rāga. Each note is explored for its timbral quality, its microtonal nuances, and its relationship with other pitches through an extremely refined articulation of glissandi, oscillations, and vocal inflections. Only after this slow construction of the sonic space does the pakhawaj intervene—an ancient, double-headed drum with a deep and powerful timbre—introducing the rhythmic cycle (tāla) without interrupting the meditative character of the performance. The pulse does not serve a propulsive function in the Western sense, but organizes time as a cyclical principle, sustaining the progressive intensification of the dialogue between voice and percussion.

Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar belongs to the legendary Dagar Gharana, one of the most important schools of the dhrupad tradition, guardian of an oral transmission spanning over twenty generations. The Dagar family played a decisive role in preserving and reviving this practice in the 20th century, safeguarding both its technical complexity and its profound philosophical foundation. In their conception, sound is not merely a musical phenomenon, but a manifestation of the principle of nāda—the primordial vibration from which the experience of the world takes shape. The performance thus becomes a journey of progressive concentration, in which performer and listener share the same process of perceptual refinement