The immortal compositions of Pandit Ravi Shankar from “Chants of India” presented by the young students of Ravi Shankar Centre as the opening invocation of the recently held Classical Music & Dance Festival at the Centre once again proved that the core of Panditji’s music has been spirituality, which instantly touches the heart of listeners. It was heartening to see that the Centre still runs under the able guidance of Panditji’s senior disciple Pandit Barun Pal. He had taken care of all the harmonic effects originally created by Pandit Ravi Shankar for the prayer “Prabhu Ji, Aan milo...”, by making one group of singers keeping the unwavering Shadja, the other holding the Gandhar and the third focused precisely on Pancham. Instrumentalists like Debjyoti and Radhika on the sitar and Ramanan on hans-veena could play and sing simultaneously. The melodious touches of the flute by Pravar Tandon added depth to this mesmerising presentation the festival opened with.
The Centre was celebrating the 96th birth anniversary of its founder Pandit Ravi Shankar and also the 73rd birth anniversary of his disciple George Harrison. The festival was conceived and curated by Sukanya Shankar and Anoushka Shankar, with the choicest of senior and upcoming artists, including Carnatic vocal recital by Sudha Raghuraman, Kathak by Abhimanyu and Vidha Lal and Krishna Katha by Vidushi Sonal Mansingh who regaled the audience with her captivating storytelling, acting, singing and dancing the various episodes of Krishna-Katha.
Indrani Mukherjee from Kolkata left an indelible impression of her artistic sensibilities during her vocal recital that opened with the challenging raga Puriya. Trained at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy (SRA) under the able guidance of Pandit Arun Bhaduri, she was further groomed by Vidushi Purnima Chaudhuri and Pandit Ramashray Jha. Opting for a raga like Puriya and sarangi for sangat instead of the harmonium, marked high standard from the very beginning. The detailed delineation of the raga with a traditional Bada Khayal in Vilambit Ektala, the medium tempo Teental composition by Pandit Ramashray Jha and the tarana composed by Pandit Arun Bhaduri saw the vocalist in her elements during the varied Taans rendered with crystal clear notes at fast speed.
The effortless rendering of the intricate Taan patterns of Tappa in raga Kafi next, spoke of her intense training under Vidushi Purnima Chaudhury. She also sang a Bangla geet before concluding with Bhairavi. The sonorous touches of the sarangi by Bharat Bhushan Goswami and tabla accompaniment by Apurva Mukherjee enhanced the beauty of her vocal recital.
The inaugural day offered the vocal recital by Swarnima Gusain and sitar by Anupama Bhagwat. A disciple of Vidushi Kishori Amonkar, Swarnima chose raga Jait Kalyan for her main raga, since the Jaipur Atrauli Gharana is known for Jod ragas. Unfortunately due to the limited scope for elaboration in this raga, her rendering became over stretched and repetitive, despite the best of accompanying artistes in Murad Ali on the sarangi, Paromita Mukherjee on the harmonium and Sarit Das on the tabla. Swarnima sang a Thumri next, then a Meera bhajan “Mahro pranaam…” and then again a Meera bhajan composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar for the film “Meera”. It seemed as if she totally forgot the common courtesy about the other artiste waiting to perform after her.
Anupama Bhagwat is a senior disciple of Pandit Bimalendu Mukherjee, a doyen of the famous Imdadkhani gharana. Hence she has acquired the finesse and technical nuances of Gayaki Ang and its lyrical beauty through the emotive cadences of sitar. She opened her recital with raga Rageshree and rendered a reposeful Aalap-Jod-Jhala followed by a Vilambit and a drut composition in Teentala that had delightful musical sequences besides the neat and tuneful meandering over the strings and the frets. Her melodious presentation revealed her thorough understanding of the raga. Anupama concluded her recital with a Piloo Dhun with artistic insight. Vinod Lele provided perfect support on the tabla.
The sarod recital by Abhishek Lahiri from Kolkata had a judicious blend of the Shahjahanpur, Maihar and Senia Bangash Gharana from Gwalior. The festival concluded with a scintillating sitar recital by Gaurav Majumdar, trained under Pandit Ravi Shankar. He was accompanied by Ustad Akram Khan and his twelve year old son Zargham Khan on the tabla.
Opening with the melodious evening raga Shyam Kalyan derived from Kalyan That, he rendered a detailed Aalap-Jod-Jhala followed by a Masitkhani and a Drut Gat (composition) in Teen Tala. It was interesting to watch young Zargham taking turns with his renowned percussionist father in response to the seasoned sitarist.
