I G O R

Celebrating his 7th Birthday ! (Crans s/Sierre - Switzerland)

TERRY RILEY in studio (Chateau d'Hérouville, France) recording  "Les Yeux Fermés". Produced by Igor Wakhevitch for Warner Brothers Rec. 

 (photo private archive Igor Wakhevitch)  All rights reserved.

KAUSHIKI CHAKRABARTY (after a memorable concert at the "Cité de la Musique" in Paris - Teental Recitals)  Kaushiki visiting the Eiffel Tower with Igor ! 

Ustad ZAKIR HUSSAIN the legendary tabla maestro of India and also member of "SHAKTI", the band of John Mc Laughlin. The first encounter between Zakir and Igor was organized by Pandit Vijay Kichlu in Kolkata (India)

Below, autograph insciption: Khan Saheeb words to “igor ji”

Photo above: two genius of music together. An encounter organized in Paris by their friend the composer Igor Wakhevitch: meeting for the first time, USTAD AMJAD ALI KHAN, the great maestro of the sarod (India) and the great french virtuoso of the clarinet, MICHEL PORTAL.

Photo below:

The Sacred Land of Igor’s soul and life in South India. Construction of the “Matrimandir”. Its in this Amphjtheatre seen of the photo that Igor’s music was played so many times, years after years. Its in this Amphitheatre also that Igor listened Amjad Ali Khan for the first time … and this concert marking the starting point of their great mutual friendship! Ustad-ji invited Igor several time in his house in New-Delhi and in Kolkata as well. Later on they worked together, Igor-ji organizing few concerts for the legendary maestro, especially in Paris at the Cité de la Musique auditorium, and at the Theatre de la Ville.

(Photo below) NYGMAR (golden hat), dancer of the “Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts” in Dharmsala (Himachal Pradesh) India. Nygmar is the official performer of the “Sacred Dee”r Tantric Ritual Dance. The TIbetan Institute of Performing Arts is the official Opera-Dance-Company of His Holiness the XIVth Dalai-Lama

The Sacred Deer's wonderful cosmic dress.  A dance to chase the Evil

Below : ... a great event in Paris: for the first time, the "Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts" performing in a big European capital, thanks to Igor's passionate involvement to make it happen ....

(36 TIBETAN ARTISTS, GUEST OF FRANCE AND FRENCH PEOPLE :  BY BUS, TRAIN, AIRPLANE … FROM THE HIMALAYAS TO PARIS! SO MANY SMILING AND JOYFUL FRIENDS TRAVELLING WITH IGOR !)

THE TIBETAN INSTITUTE OF PERFORMING ARTS IS AN OPERA- DANCE-THEATRE COMPANY ATTACHED TO HIS HOLINESS TENZING GYATSO, THE XIVTH DALAI-LAMA OF TIBET

 Spirit of Good Luck : TASHI SHOELPA

IGOR WAKHEVITCH with his muse “COQUINE DE PARIS”, helping him to find inspiration for Salvador Dali’s opera “TO BE GOD” (ÊTRE DIEU)

Photo below : 

ERISSA (Taddy) : half Indian, half Swedish ! … born in Africa! Igor's great friend in India ! …..

 Below : Igor's friend Taddy

ERISSA (Taddy) : Taddy's poetry and way of life inspired to Igor the piece of music "Taddy's fruit garden" (dedicated to Taddy) … on the first side of the album "Let's Start" (EMI).  Taddy's fruit garden was existing for real below his house in “Auroson’s home” ! … plenty of tomatoes, papaya trees, salads, carrots, jackfruits, goyavas, banana trees, etc!

 Photo below: Joyful gathering of Igor's relatives on the beach in Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu, South India. Gulf of Bengal). Seen on the photo, small Parun (green shirt) and his helder sister Savitha (Nagappan's children) 

 Photo above: beautiful friends of mine …. here on the shore of the Gulf of Bengal, pilgrimage in Rameshwaram (Tamil-Nadu)

Indian Ocean, Gulf of Bengal, shores of Igor's life.

PRABHAKAR

Photo (below) : CHAMPAKLAL : He was Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's intendant. After the departure of the Mother, Champaklal never spoke again, remaining voluntarily mute for more than fifteen years ... tiil the end of his life ....

CHAMPAKLAL

Below: OLIVIER MESSIAEN’S TREATY OF HIS MUSICAL LANGUAGE’S TECHNIC (first page with musical examples).

Page annoted by Igor’s hand in Olivier Messiaen class at the Paris National Superior Conservatory of Music. One can notice the similitude between the hindu rythmic structures (talas) - here “ragavardhana” - and the rythm of Stravinsky’s sacral dance in the “Rite of Spring”.

OLIVIER MESSIAEN

 OLIVIER MESSIAEN was Igor's teacher at the "Paris National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance"

Below: Olivier Messiaen's treaty of his musical language 

Score of IGOR STRAWINSKY's "THE RITE OF SPRING" annoted by Igor in Messiaen's Analysis Class ("Paris National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance")

Below : Igor's score, cover page of Igor Strawinsky's legendary masterpiece:  "The Rite of Spring"

Nomenclature de l'orchestre : "The Rite of Spring" orchestration  (list of the orchestra instruments playing in "The Rite of Spring")

An inscription from AJOY CHAKRABARTHY, one of the most famous vocalist maestro of Hindustani Classical Music, one of the greatest voice of North India.

IGOR AU DOMICILE D' OLIVIER MESSIAEN JOUE "LE MERLE NOIR" sur le piano du Maître ("Catalogue d'Oiseaux" pour piano)

Igor playing on Messiaen's personnal grandpiano in Olivier Messiaen's appartement in Paris, 220 rue Marcadet. Behind, Rose-Marie Cabestany and Betty Yang from Taiwan.

CRAIG

CRAIG having tea in Maya tea-shop

Photo below: IGOR MARKEVITCH (the great Symphonic Orchestra conductor) asked his young friend and student Igor "Wakhevitch" (aged of 15) to learn and play his piano pieces, a collection of compositions for piano named "STEFAN THE POET". Igor Markevitch married the daughter of Vaslav Nijinsky

Pandit HARIPRASAD CHAURASIA touring with Igor Wakhevitch for "Teentaal Recitals" igor's company dedicated to Indian Classical Music, concerts and workshops (Concert in Paris at the "Musée du Quai Branly")

Below : after the immense success of the "Chaurasia Cycle" at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris (Hommage to Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, bansuri bamboo flute maestro, living treasure of India) : congratulation letter to Igor Wakhevitch from Mr. Stéphane Martin, President of the Paris Museum "Musée du Quai Branly"

Photo below : Jacques RUEFF inscription to Igor Wakhevitch. Jacques Rueff was elected to the "Académie Française" in 1964. Great economist, he was an important economic advisor to President Charles de Gaulle and many  other French Presidents.

 Intermission pause during a rehersal at the National Opera of Paris (Palais Garnier) 

View on the Indian Ocean, Gulf of Bengal, from Igor's terrace in Puducherry (South India)

"The Sacred Drums of India" : the idea and the name of this band was initiated by Igor Wakhevitch with the great help of the famous tabla maestro Pandit Subhankar Banerjee. Here, all the musicians sitting in front of the Sri Aurobindo Theatre in Pondicherry, their first concert in India and in the world at the initiative of "Igor-ji" !  From right to left : Subhankar Banerjee (tabla), Gopal Barman (shreekhol), Rakesh Chaurasia (bansuri bamboo flute), Shiv Kumar Patri (mrigandam), Suresh Vaidyanathan (gatam). All among the greatest percussionist of India. Great maestros !

 Photo (below) :  Igor Wakhevitch with his great friend Mehdi El Glaoui - tv superstar (“Belle et Sebastien” original by Cecile Aubry, Medhi’s mother) - after a "Rolling Stones" memorable concert in Brussels!

MEHDI EL GLAOUI  (Igor's album "Hathor" is dedicated to Mehdi)

MEHDI EL GLAOUI ("Mehdi", french actor, t.v. superstar ; dear to the heart of French people, Mehdi was a child actor, playing the main role of a little boy (Sebastian) with his snow dog (Belle) in the famous t.v. serial "Belle and Sebastian") He is the son of the famous french actress ans writer Cecile Aubry and the grand-son of the Pasha of Marrakech

Photo below: IGOR AND AUROSON (Auroson’s home - 14th September)

 I G O R W A K H E V I T C H

Below: " to Igor" ... few lines written by a young couple from Israel touring in India :

ADHI (Arunesh and Pathik’s father) Igor very dear friend

Olivier Messiaen's analysis of Igor Strawinsky's score of "The Rite of Spring" : Igor's annotation  during his class at the "National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance of Paris"

Igor's annotations "live" during an Olivier Messiaen's class analyzing Igor Strawinsky's score of *The Rite of Sping" at the "National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance of Paris"

Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha (the Gundecha Brothers), visiting a Ferrari shop in Venice. Nowadays they are the most inspired and greatest maestros singers of "dhrupad" in India and all over the world. Great friends of Igor, they came with him and "Teentaal Recitals & Maestros" for a memorable concert in Paris at the "Cité de la Musique" and in Venice at the Cini Foundation.

Tintin (incognito behind his dark sunglasses) and the General Alcazar (alias Igor and Alexandre Wakhevitch) in Switzerland (summer holidays)

On our way to Ooty with Nagappan ...

.... encounter with Hanuman

Photo above: Back side (courtyard) of Igor's first house in India (One can distinguish clearly an "alien" on the right side of the photo)

(Below) Words of thanks from Mr. François Mitterrand, President of the French Republic to Igor Wakhevitch for the gift of his music presented in luxury edition numbered from 1 to 1000 : three LPs accompanied by a luxury libretto including many photos. Salvador Dali's opera "Être Dieu"

Unforgettable concerts of Indian Classical music was organized by "Igor-ji" in the Doges city. (Teental Recitals & Maestros) 

PARUN having chocolate milkshak at the restaurant "La Terrasse" in Puducherry, South India

Mmmmm .....

The universe of Tintin – though not an official religion – occupy an important place in Igor's spirituality. Below :  1) an ambush in the Sahara desert : "The Crab with the Golden Claws" by Hergé  2) the huge rocket ready to take-off for the moon : "Objective Moon" by Hergé 

Above: a frightening situation for Tintin and Miloo pursued by gangsters in the streets of Chicago.

Above: Tintin in Tibet in the footsteps of yeti (Yeti = l'abominable homme des neiges; the abominable snowman)

 PARUN (Igor's favorite little devil)

Parun with his plastic laser-gun : a very dangerous little boy

From left  to right  : Parun (red t-shir), Prince Lishvanan, Savitha, Vanilla, Davesh. (Igor's family : Nagappan and Shivalingam's children)

Adhi travelling to Madya-Pradesh with Igor to pay a visit to the Gundecha Brothers in Bhopal, the famous "dhrupad" singers

Sri Aurobindo Ashram :  the street of the Darshan's balcony (rue François Martin), Pondicherry.  South India.

The ashram balcony where the Mother was giving Her "Darshan"  four times per year in Puducherry (Pondichery) South India

In the backgounf the "Service" tree under which is located the Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's samadhi (grave). One can guess, hidden by the branchs of tree, one of the windows of Sri Aurobindo's room. The eight small windows facing the south are those of the Mother's room (12, rue de la Marine, Puducherry, South India)

Main culture of Tamil-Nadu farmers : cashew trees in Bruno Petris's land and garden. BRUNO PETRIS (Varuna) from Italy was a great friend of Igor and a teacher of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram International School ; a very good sanskritist and a poet. Rest in peace, dear Bruno. See you again ....

Country side around Igor's living place in India.

Just behind Marica's grave (igor and Alexandre's mother)

Entrance of Bruno Petris's garden where Marica and Bruno are both buried in the countryside of Puducherry, not far from the shore of the Gulf of Bengal,  South India

Photo (below) : Pandit Rajan and Sajan Mishra in concert in Paris : morning ragas (Teentaal Recitals & Maestros) Musée du Quai Branly

Photo (below) :  Pandit SHIV KUMAR SHARMA, the legendary indian maestro of the santoor  (Shiv-ji inscription to Igor, with lots of love 8. 8. 08)

Kartik's magic cat (his name is kept secrete)

HAZAK