There was a festive air at the Bharatiya Kala Kendra Grounds, where the Shriram Shankarlal Music Festival was held recently. The passage way leading to the open air stage was decorated with huge black and white photographs of doyens of the music world, performing live at the festival over the years – all taken by curator Shobha Deepak Singh.
The festival opened with the doyen of thumri, Vidushi Girija Devi. Eight decades have not diminished that tuneful voice, which easily soared into the third octave. She enthralled the audience with ease, moving seamlessly from a Purvi khayal into a des thumri, then a chaiti.
Pandit Ajoy Chakravorty representing the Patiala gayaki, spoke nostalgically about the festival and its prominence in the Delhi music scene. Bharatiya Kala Kendra was the place where his guru Ustad Munawwar Khan taught for years; Ajoy Chakravorty said he was privileged to be invited to sing at the same venue. He sang raga Maru Bihag, even though as he explained it was not traditionally a raga favoured by his elders in the Patiala gharana. The slow “barhat” (progression) built up a wonderful picture. After that he sang a thumri in Mishra Khamach, with brief flashes of other ragas like Jaijaiwanti, Tilang. His creative impulses in this piece took him into uncharted spaces; not strictly raga bound. He ended with the ever popular “ka karoon sajani” during which he dazzled with his expertise on the harmonium – an instrument he has learnt from his first Guru Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh.
The second day featured Manjari Asnare Kelkar, the rising star of the Jaipur Attrauli gharana. Her voice is rich, rounded and soars in the higher notes. Her Shudha Nat was tautly rendered, with the slow dignified, extremely difficult, to sing Jaipur taans. The first vilambit composition was “akhan more lagi”, followed by the equally familiar “ja re kandarawa”.
Tranquillity permeates
The evening ended with Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the man who has transformed the perception of the santoor. It was sad to see dwindling crowds, a fact commented on by the maestro himself. Before starting the concert, he said the sound of the whirring fans amongst the audience reminded him of the sound of the river lapping the banks, when he used to do riyaaz in Kashmir. He played Charukeshi, a raga of Carnatic origin. Alaap, jor and jhala was followed by two gats in rupak and then teen taal. The teen taal gat had an unusual construction, being picked up from the fourth beat. Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma plays with a deliberation, moving surely from phase to phase, creating a somnolent, languid ambience, not disturbed by any sudden dramatics in the music. One is lulled into a wonderful peaceful space. Pandit Ram Kumar Mishra, one of his favourite accompanists, maintained the ambience beautifully. His concluding piece was a pahari dhun.
Purbayan Chatterjee
On the third day, Pandit Biswajeet Roy Chowdhary on sarod was truly magnificent, carefully combining sarod craft with meticulous ragadaari. He played raga Sham Kalyan, carefully protecting it from both Shudh Sarang and Kamod. The aalap was grave, with a satisfying, old fashioned, frequent use of the mohra to signal the conclusion of a musical sequence. Sadly, this is not being done much nowadays. His jor and jhala sequences were beautiful. It is hard to come out of the shadow of the Guru when one has learnt from a Guru of the stature of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, but Biswajeet has managed this, over the years. The eight bol jhala with a pause after the “chikaari” string was indeed splendid, followed by an equally satisfying crystal clear ulta jhala, with dir dir bol on the baaj instead of the usual “da” plucking. He played two compositions in Hameer in the gat portion, followed by Kafi, in which he played three beautiful traditional old Senia gats. He concluded with Bahar – another unusual Senia gat in which each phrase is played twice (dopalli), and ended with a composition by his Guru.
After such a concert, it could have been difficult to adjust to the vocal concert by Ustad Rashid Khan, doyen of the Rampur Sahaswan gharana, but he sang brilliantly. Starting with a Bageshwari, he went onto Darbari before ending with a rather prosaic rendering of “kaa karun sajani”. The ambience created by his rich powerful voice, complemented by excellent accompaniment on tabla by Shubhankar Bannerji, sarangi Murad Ali harmonium Paromita Mukherjee is unforgettable, and unmatched. One sometimes misses the “daana” in his taans, as they are executed at such very great speed and intricacy.
The concluding day started with Purbayan Chatterjee on the sitar. He played a taut aalap, jor, jhala in Shudha Basant; his gamaks and work on the “kharaj” were particularly impressive. The dhammar gat which followed was chosen in particular as Shubh Maharaj (grandson of Pandit Kishan Maharaj) was accompanying him on the tabla. Next he played raga Kamod, an unusual teen taal gat composed by Ustad Allaudin Khan. The structure of the gat was particularly appealing and unusual, with a distinct use of “kari madhyam” and “nikhad”. Purbayan’s use of the “ga” in the raga was masterly. He ended with a dadra in Mishra pilu, which he also sang. Purbayan undoubtedly is immensely “tayyar” (practised) and clearly enjoys playing the sitar, getting visibly immersed in the music. It is a heady experience listening to him; there is a racy aspect to his concerts. Deservedly, he got a spontaneous standing ovation.
Pandit Jasraj, ever popular doyen of vocal music, concluded the festival; the highlight was his appealing Haveli Sangeet pieces, bringing a spiritual aspect to his music. Shashank Subramanyam on the flute enhanced the concert immensely. Undoubtedly, the festival proved that the “younger” generation represented by Rashid, Biswajeet, Manjari and Purbayan is well able to take over the mantle from the seniors.
