Fresh as ever

The recent ITC Sangeet Sammelan in Kolkata gave a platform to young musicians alongside the veterans.

December 25, 2014 05:55 pm | Updated 05:55 pm IST

Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar.

Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar.

ITC was perhaps the pioneer in shouldering the corporate social responsibility when it took a resolve to preserve and promote Indian classical music. It organised the first ITC Sangeet Sammelan in 1971, at a time when the reputed musicians had lost royal patronage. Encouraged by the success of this initiative, the ITC decided to open a ‘gurukul’ of classical music, formalising the time-tested guru-shishya parampara, where topmost artistes would groom professional musicians living with them in the most congenial atmosphere to impart training and transmit their art. The idea crystallised in the year 1978 in the form of the Sangeet Research Academy (SRA), a residential gurukul, where the students lived and learned in close proximity of great gurus. The ITC-SRA thus, produced a number of distinguished musicians who in turn became gurus to carry forward the tradition.

It was a proud moment for the SRA when a galaxy of gurus adorned the stage on the inaugural evening of the recent ITC Sangeet Sammelan held in Kolkata, while this year’s ITC Sangeet Samman was conferred upon Taal Yogi Pandit Suresh Talwalkar. The three-day overnight festival offered a judicious blend of upcoming and well-established artistes presenting ragas of every hour from dusk to dawn. The Sammelan this year opened with a pleasant surprise when the children of Sangeet Piyase (5 to 12 years of age) gave a group tabla recital under the guidance of Guru Samar Saha, that sounded like a tabla-tarang, tuned to the swaras of raga Chandrakauns being played as the accompanying lehra in Teen tala.

Raga Chhayanat of Sanjukta Biswas, the gifted disciple of Guru Shubhra Guha, Jhinjhoti on the sarod by Malhaar Rakshit, disciple of Guru Pt. Buddhadeb Dasgupta or raga Puria Dhanaashree of Shatwisha Mukherjee, Yaman and Hameer of Shankhumay Debnath being trained under Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, had the authentic stamp of their gurus. Saket Sahu’s melodious violin, Allahrakha Kalawant’s sarangi solo, Ratan Bharati’s guitar, Sandeep Bhattachrya’s Rageshree and Sucheta Ganguli’s raga Jog and a Thumri in Kaushikdwani were the other remarkable performances. Musician tutors of the SRA belonged to the next category of brilliant performers where Abir Hussain impressed with raga Bihaag on the sarod, Arshad Ali with his khayals in Malkauns, Omkar Dadarkar in Jogkauns, Wasim Ahmad Khan with Baageshree and Aniruddha Bhattacharya with his Lalit welcoming the dawn.

Among the invited artistes, Ashwini Bide Deshpande’s Kaafi Kanhada and Chandrakauns, Kala Ramnath’s Natnaraayana on the violin, Shashwati Mandal Pal’s gaga Malgunji, Sohini Bhathiyaar and Tappa, Manjusha Patil’s Multani and Purbaayan Chattaerjee’s Miyaan Ki Todi as a sitar jugalbandi with his Guru and father Pt. Partho Chatterjee were some of the memorable presentations. Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia played raga Maru Bihaag and a couple of melodious folk tunes of Bengal. Kaushik Bhattacharya’s raga Jaijaiwanti and Kirwani Bhajan had more of decorative elements and less substance. Aliflaila had come from Bangladesh but her sitar could not match the high standards of this prestigious platform.

The real stars of the Sammelan were the Gurus of the SRA including Pt. Suresh Talwalkar who received the ITC Award this year and gave a brilliant performance on the inaugural evening. Vidushi Girija Devi’s Nayaki Kanhada and Thumri, Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan’s Darbaari Kanhada, Uday Bhawalkar’s Dhrupad in Adbhut Kalyaan, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar’s Vibhas and Khat and Pt. Ajay Chakravarti’s Bhairav welcoming the morning, were some of the memorable performances that transported the Kolkata music lovers to a state of bliss and fulfilment.

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