Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, one of the most outstanding vocalists of Hindustani classical music representing the Jaipur-Atrauli Khayal Gayaki tradition, held connoisseurs of music captive with her enchanting and soulful renditions at a live concert here on Thursday evening.
The concert was organised as part of KLE Society’s ongoing year-long centenary celebrations. She was accompanied by seasoned percussionist Bharat Kamat of Pune on the tabla and Sudhanshu Kulkarni on the harmonium.
The vocalist took off with the seasonal melody, Gaud Malhar from the Khamaj thaat, which was a momentous and melodious welcome to the monsoon showers that have set in this part of the country.
Taking off on a meditative note, the elaboration of the raag came over vilambit teen taal and further developed in the madhya laya, finely signifying the essence and nuances of the Jaipur-Atrauli tradition. The melody was concluded with a drut composition set to ek taal.
Later, the vocalist rendered a few more compositions, including a captivating composition in Prateeksha raag, a new name for Bhupeshwari or Bhupkali which replaces Shuddha Dhaivat with Komal Dhaivat, eventually manifesting as a highly soothing resonance. Later, she rendered a popular Thumri in Dadra and concluded the session with a composition in the evergreen Bhairavi raag.
Before the concert began, a heartfelt condolence was observed in silence in honour of vocalist Veena Sahasrabudhe who died in Pune on Wednesday.
