Music lovers of Delhi relished a rich fare of instrumental and vocal duet in Hindustani classical music during the recent “Concert for Harmony”. The Nadd Foundation in a collaboration with the National Foundation for Communal Harmony held seventh edition of its “Concert for Harmony”, a concert series spreading the idea of peace and harmony through the universal language of music.
Covering Delhi, Mumbai, Amritsar, Kolkata, Jhansi, Chhapra and other cities; it opened this concert with Pandit Rajan Mishra and Pandit Sajan Mishra in a vocal presentation and Saskia Rao de Haas and Shubhendra Rao in a cello and sitar jugalbandi, at Kamani auditorium recently.
Inspired with the changing hues of nature, the Hindustani music follows the time theory and abides by the rules of presenting ragas prescribed for a certain “prahar” of day or night. There are also seasonal ragas played or sung in a particular season. Malhar and its variants for example, are supposed to be the monsoon ragas, played or sung during the rainy season. It was apparent that both the duets that evening adhered to this rule.
Shubhendra and Saskia Rao de Haas opened their jugalbandi with a detailed aalap-jod-jhala in raga Miyan Malhar. It was a delight to listen to this husband-wife duo musically complimenting each other so well. Shubhendra is a senior disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar and Saskia, initially trained in Western classical music and then started learning Hindustani classical under Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia at the Rotterdam Conservatory, where he was a visiting professor. Later, she was groomed by Pandit Ravi Shankar and Dr. Sumati Mutatkar in India. She has modified the Western cello to suit the requirements of Hindustani classical music and is capable of expressing her musical thoughts while presenting the Indian ragas, where improvisation is the key factor of any performance.
The dhrupad ang of Maihar Gharana was evident in the “Laraj Kharaj ka Kaam” by both the artistes, especially during the treatment of both the nishads and the andolan on Komal Gandhar in the Mandra Saptak, the lower octave during the elaboration of raga Miyan Malhar.
The gradual progression of swaras during the alap-jod adhering to the grammar of the raga vouched for their in depth knowledge and talim.
After playing the leisurely alap, pulsating jod and a crystal clear jhala in raga Miyan Malhar, they moved on to raga Desh and played a slow, a medium and a fast tempo composition set to Teentala, where Ustad Rashid Mustafa provided them with excellent tabla support replying candidly to their intricate rhythmic patterns.
Although both sitar and cello were capable of traversing the three octaves; Saskia’s fondness and command over the lower octave was conspicuous not only in the alap section of the main raga but throughout the concert, presumably because of the guidance she received under Dr. Sumati Mutatkar, who had an equal command both in dhrupad and the khayal singing. The sitar at times had some problem with the microphone but the cello kept complimenting it with its sensitive touch and finally the duo received roaring applause.
Mishra Bandhu in flow
The Mishra Bandhu, Pandit Rajan and Sajan Mishra, opened their vocal recital with another popular variety of Malhar – the Gaud Malhar. The famous bada khayal “Kahe ho…” set to Vilambit Ekatala and the favourite chhota khayal “Balma bahaar aayi…” in Teentala got most favourable response from the music loving audience. Durjay Bhaumik on tabla and Sumit Mishra on harmonium gave perfect accompaniment. This impressive rendering of Gaud Malhar was followed by Surdasi Malhar, another melodious variety of Malhar, supposedly created by Sura Dasa.
The “Concert for Harmony” concluded with a bhajan rendered with great involvement by the veteran vocalists of Banaras Gharana.
