Our centuries old intangible heritage of classical music is the precious legacy being carried forward by the stalwarts of each generation to the worthy inheritors of the generation next, who are groomed with care by their gurus. The two festivals held recently were an assurance for those who worry for the future of this cherished heritage and reaffirmed our belief in the unique tradition of the guru-shishya parampara that carries it forward.
If the Delhi Classical Music Festival presented stalwarts like Pandit Jasraj, Dr. N Rajam, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Ustad Iqbal Ahmad Khan, Ustad Rashid Khan, Pandit Satish Vyas, Ustad Nishat Khan, Pandit Ronu Majumdar, Vidushi Kalapini Komkali and the young duo Ustad Jawaad and Mazhar Ali Khan in a five-day festival of classical vocal and instrumental music; the Raza Foundation showcased the worthy inheritors of the classical vocal and instrumental music in the dhrupad recital by Chintan Upadhyay, rudra veena recital by Venkatkrishnan and the impressive khayal rendition by Srijan Deshpande in their festival Uttaradhikar.
The Delhi classical Music Festival took off to a flying start with the soulful sitar recital by Ustad Nishat Khan, the worthy inheritor of the Itawa Imdadkhani Gharana. Nishat, the son and disciple of Ustad Imrat Khan and the nephew of Ustad Vilayat Khan. He had the distinct tonal touch and the ecstatic echo of both the renowned ustads from his gharana in his detailed delineation of the evening raga Yaman, Nand and the romantic Tilak Kamod. The unhurried hour-long Aalap-Jod-Jhala in Raga Yaman was followed by two traditional gat-compositions in Teen tala that continued with the bandish “E bare Saiyaan….” in Raga Nand that he sang too. This was followed with a Tilak Kamod Bandish in drut ek-tala, his own composition. Rashid Mustafa Thirakwa was brilliant in his tabla accompaniment.
Pandit Jasraj took the inaugural evening to its climax with his in-depth rendition of raga Jog, the spiritual aura of the Haveli Sangeet style Ashta-Chhap Pada and the concluding Krishna Naam Sankeertan with its individualistic devotional fervour which got him standing ovation. The sonorous strains of raga Bageshri on the melodious violin by N. Rajam was followed by the bandishi thumri in Khamaj “Na manoongi…” with the typical purab ang Benarasi touches and the concluding Bhairavi Dhun.
Kalapini Komkali, the gifted daughter and disciple of Pandit Kumar Gandharva and Vidushi Vasundhara Komkali, mesmerised the audience with her vibrant vocal recital. Her main raga Shuddha Kalyan with the traditional bada khayal “Bolan lage…”, the chhota khayal “Mora re…” and a drut ek-tala composition by Kumarji, had all the authentic grammatical ingredients of the raga, yet sounded refreshingly innovative. She specially sang the composition “Deep ki jyot jale…” welcoming the Diwali Festival in raga Dhana-Basanti created by Pandit Kumar Gandharva combining ragas Puriya Dhanashri and Basant. It was followed by his popular composition “Rang na daro Shyam ji…” in Sohni before she concluded with a Kabir Bhajan redolent with the Nirguni flavour of Kumarji.
Pandit Vishva Mohan Bhatt played Vishva Ranjani, his own combination of raga Madhuvanti and Shiva Ranjani, followed by his usual series of “Vande Mataram”, “Vaishnava Jana” to “Raghupati Raghav”, the Grammy tune and of course the “Kesaria balam” in which he also insisted to sing along. Vocal recitals by Ustad Iqbal Ahmad Khan of Dilli Gharana, Mazahar Javaad of Patiala Gharana, santoor by Pandit Satish Vyas and flute recital by Pandit Ronu Majumdar were some of the highlights of the five-day festival that concluded with the roaring applause for the star vocalist Ustad Rashid Khan.
Making their gurus proud
Raza Foundation’s Uttaradhikar Festival was the brainchild of artist and a great visionary Syed Haider Raza, , who wanted to promote young talents. Uttaradhikar showcasing the worthy disciples of the Raza awardees from the field of classical music and dance opened with the rudra veena recital by T.M. Venkatakrishnan. This talented disciple of Ustad Bahauddin Dagar, who came from a small village of Trichi, played a detailed Aalap-Jod-Jhala in raga Chandrakauns followed with Dhrupad Gat compositions set to Chautala. Chintan Upadhyay, the dedicated disciple of Pandit Uday Bhawalkar, chose the sombre evening raga Puriya and rendered alap in vilambit, madhya and drut followed by dhrupad compositions set to raga Chautala and Sool-Tala respectively, doing full justice to the serenity of the raga and the dhrupad style of singing.
Srijan Upadhyay from Mumbai, trained under his father Pandit Satyasheel Deshpande in khayal gayaki, chose to sing raga Bhimpalasi, the melodious afternoon raga one hardly gets to listen. Srijan hit the bull’s eye right from his first Swar-Lagaav of his introductory alap and rendered the slow composition set to jhumra tala, with systematic alap-badhat, bol-alap, boltana and aakar taans. This was followed by a beautiful tarana composition of Kumar Gandharva in teen-tala. The second raga Gaud-Malhar had a traditional bandish in teen-tala followed by a lovely composition of Pandit Satyasheel Deshpande in Drut Ek-tala “van me, saavan men, sakhi baras gayo Shyam Ghan tan men…”. It was difficult to believe that it was Srijan’s first stage performance for such a prestigious festival.
There were also a Kathak recital by Arti, a talented disciple of Prerana Shrimali on the inaugural day, Bharatanatyam by Jyotsna Jagannath, the worthy disciple of Malavika Sarrukkai and Odissi recital by Saumya Ghosh, the male dancer trained under Sujata Mohapatra. All these young artists made their gurus proud with flawless renditions by their chosen disciplines and assured the music lovers that the future of classical music and dance is totally secured.
