Anuradha Kuber of the Bhendi Bazaar Gharana from Pune brought alive the beautiful and enchanting features of this less heard tradition of raga-rendition within the horizons of the Hindustani classical music at a special music concert here on Saturday evening.
The concert was organised by the KLE University’s School of Music to pay tribute to musicologist late Pt. Hayavadan Joshi of Belagavi, who, along with orthopaedic surgeon Rajendra Bhandankar, was responsible for the establishment of the music school, which was inaugurated by the doyen of Kirana Gharana late Gangubai Hangal on April 12, 2008.
Taking off on a solemn note from the evening melody Bhimpalas, the vocalist set off to exploring and developing a khayal bandish through an unhurried but rhythmic alaap set to vilambit (slow tempo) ek taal.
Given that the mood of the chosen raga and the best of the salient features of the given gharana gayaki become apparent through the alaap, her elaboration of the bandish was clearly marked by the unique features of the Bhendi Bazaar Gharana, highlighted by fine aakaar-based phrases with explicit intonations, even as the improvisation was typically in the Merukhand style which uses only three or four notes to ensure an extended alaap.
Another feature of the Bhendi Bazaar Gharana is highlighted by delineation of raga in madhyalaya (medium tempo) where the Merukhand system for extended alaaps comes handy.
Accordingly, having captivated the audience, the vocalist switched to madhyalaya ornamenting the bandish with fine murkis, brief gammaks, and short and medium range aakar-taans. Elevating the rendition further, she presented a drut (fast tempo) composition set to teen taal, well embellished by fast tempo taans.
Before ending the evening concert, the vocalist rendered a composition in rag Durga, which was also a tribute to the late Ustad Aman Ali Khan, an exponent of the Bhendi Bazaar Gharana, followed by another composition. Incidentally, the day also happened to be his death anniversary.
She was accompanied on the harmonium by Soumitra from Pune and on the tabla by Narayan Ganachari from Belagavi.
