Come winter, the classical music fever catches the City of Joy. Numerous fests, big and small; by corporates, government bodies, institutions or by musicians offer a sumptuous spread for classical music buffs. Usually, events organised by eminent musicians try to offer the best possible combination on a shoe-string budget (for obvious reasons); and yet produce overwhelming results; simply because they also turn out to be ‘of the musicians’ and ‘for the musicians’!
The Swara Samrat Festival is one such annual event, organised by Shree Ranjani Foundation Trust under the stewardship of sarod maestro Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, his vocalist wife Manasi Majumdar and their enterprising son Indrayudh. The junior is fast emerging as a brilliant sarod exponent as well as a very capable event manager. His planning and efforts seem to have punched a lot of glamour quotient in this eagerly awaited event which is striving to push aside the 'invitation' system tagged along with classical shows. Instead they are inspiring the fans to buy tickets as a token of respect to their musical icons.
To achieve this goal the fest had showcased the brightest stars of Indian classical music since its inception and during its five glorious seasons. Ustad Zakir Hussain, the world renowned tabla maestro, had blessed this organisation’s aims and objectives with his active participation every year — either as a soloist or as an accompanist or both. Apart from his star-struck fans, the huge tabla fraternity of Bengal, led by eminent exponents, turns up to see their god in action. The final segment of this sixth season, to be held at Nazrul Manch on December 16-17, will see him opposite well known flautist Rakesh Chaurasia (nephew-disciple of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia belonging to Maihar clan).
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The two-day Festival, dedicated to Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (guru of senior Majumdar) also features renowned sarod exponent Ken Zuckerman, a senior disciple of the legendary Ustad, and Purbayan Chatterjee as two more representatives of the Senia Maihar Gharana, founded by Baba Alauddin Khan who, after keenly observing a young Ali Akbar, his son-disciple, sail through the gruelling riyaaz and stringent learning sessions with extremely impressive musical temperament, blessed him with ‘Swara Samrat’ sobriquet.
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Cerebral vocalist
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Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, one of the most cerebral vocalists of his generation who is nominated for this year’s Tansen Award (to be bestowed on him during the upcoming Tansen Samaroh); and Kaushiki Chakraborty, the iconic star-vocalist of her generation, are the main attractions of the first evening, along with sitar-wizard Purbayan Chatterjee and mandolin duo U Rajesh (Carnatic) and Snehasish Mozumder (Hindustani) who plan to churn up both the streams to create a well-blended Indian music. Celebrated Dhrupad maestros Gundecha Brothers, with Akhilesh Gundecha’s perceptive pakhawaj by their side, will cast the charm of peaceful mood while the inspired and energetic Kathak by Pandit Rajendra Gangani, to the accompaniment of Pandit Sanjoy Mukherjee’s table, promises to add the heady thrill.
A seasoned and versatile tabla maestro, Mukherjee is equally adept at going solo and also supporting vocal and instrumental music, but he is seldom seen with Kathak now which was his forte once! His fans are looking forward to this comeback thanks to Majumdars’ impeccable planning that has also placed the tabla support by such stalwarts like Pandits Anindo Chatterjee, Suresh Talwalkar, Subhankar Banerjee, Parimal Chakraborty along with the young and brilliant Ojas Adhiya to match the moods of every participating performer.
Though still in their prime, both Rupashree Bhattacharya and Gourab Chatterje are sought-after harmonium accompanists now, especially because their vocal training helps them to shadow and innovate in genres like khayal and thumri with effortless ease. While Rupashree is teamed with her guru-bahen, Gourab will be seen as a part of Ulhasji’s entourage. And last but not the least, Madhumanti Moitra, a trained vocalist-cum-celeb anchor, is going to thread this multi-hued melodic garland with her discerning overviews.