The favourites of our favourite musicians

The melodious world of music has many towering figures. Beethoven is considered one among the Gods of western classical instrumental music; Lata Mangeshkar is the living legend in Hindi film music and Elvis Presley is one of the iconic pop singers with a resounding voice and impeccable singing prowess. But who were their favourites in music, and whom did they revere?

Lata Mangeshkar & Mehdi Hassan

“Aisa lagta hai ke unke gale mein bhagwan bolte hain (It seems like God speaks through his voice),” Lata Mangeshkar, who is considered to be one of the greatest singers of India, once said about Mehdi Hassan. The melody queen deeply admired Mehdi, who is considered to be one of the finest ghazal singers and composers.

In 2011, Lata Mangeshkar and Mehdi Hassan recorded their only duet. Other than that, they didn’t work together. Lata called it her ‘bad luck’. Even their duet together was recorded separately. Lata recorded her part in India and Mehdi recorded his in Pakistan. And what is the duet titled? Tera milna bahut achcha lage hai (I like meeting you very much).

Mehdi, despite his skill and talent, faced stiff competition for popularity, especially since other ghazal singers ventured on to simpler and popular ghazals. Mehdi included a classical touch in his songs, tough ragas and philosophical poetry.

Apart from Mehdi, Lata did not meet another of her favourites – singer KL Saigal. She considered him the man of her dreams and he was her big crush.

Beethoven & Handel

Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer and pianist, considered as one of the most influential figures in western classical music history, was once quoted as saying, “Handel was the greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head, and kneel before his tomb.”

GF Handel was a German composer, though adopted by the British as their own and revered widely. Beethoven’s praise of Handel counts a lot. He was not nice towards many princes and ‘royalty figures’. He wouldn’t greet them or bow to them if he didn’t think of them as worthy. He would walk right past them and tell you to do the same.

Handel, though, is a bit of a controversial figure. He was often accused of borrowing others’ tunes and improving upon them, and faced severe criticism for the same. He has also been criticised for being simple. Which is why some find Beethoven’s praise surprising.

Handel had large feet, large hands, was overweight and was regularly made fun of. He went bankrupt, had great difficulties dealing with theatre companies, colleagues and critics. Towards the end of his life, he was almost blind.

What kept him going? He never gave up. That’s another trait he is famous for.

Presley & Orbison

Elvis Presley, an American singer, is perhaps the most popular pop singer in the history. He was an admirer of Roy Orbison, another American singer known for his silken voice and soulful compositions. Elvis complimented him as having the ‘most perfect voice’, and considered him the ‘greatest singer in the world.’

Roy Orbison characteristically wore dark glasses and stood at a spot while singing on stage. Interestingly, Elvis never recorded a Roy Orbison song. It is said that he genuinely believed he could not do justice to it. Elvis made the audience swoon with his voice and his dance moves, with his style and fashion and drama. Roy, on the other hand, hardly moved, and you might not find any video of his without his trademark dark glasses.

But listen to his voice and you’ll want to see if you can reach the high notations as he can, or the lower ones – you might want to sing along and check. Why? That will give you an indication of how tough it is to sing some of his songs.

Heard of the film Pretty Woman, starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere? Its title is inspired by Roy’s hugely popular song, Oh, pretty woman. He is also the song’s writer and composer, as he was for most of his other songs.