Devnandan Yuva Sangeet Utsav has emerged as one of the most esteemed music festivals of our country. The 25th anniversary of Devnandan Yuva Sangeet Utsav was indeed a stupendous tribute to the glory of the guru-shishya parampara. The festival commenced with the Bansuri recital of Bangalore-based artiste S. Akash, the youngest musician featured in this year's youth music festival. Akash, disciple of Jayatheerth Mevundi, in his delineation of Poorya Dhanashri showed commendable artistic maturity and aplomb. The fluidity, clarity and velocity of his ‘taankari' in the fast paced drut ektal composition of 12 beats was truly alluring. Akash demonstrated his versatility in his skilful execution of musical phrases in the Rajasthani dhun. He was accompanied by Gurumurthy Vaidya on the tabla.
The next concert was the dhrupad recital by Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar, nephew of the renowned Dagar brothers. He commenced his recital with the popular night melody Raga Malkauns. As the ‘alap' is the very soul of this musical form and in fact a dhrupad ‘alap' is perhaps one of the supreme examples of pure music in that it explores the boundless contours and configurations of sounds in copious detail and with the greatest possible finesse, Wasifuddin Dagar began with an unhurried, expansive ‘alap' in the raga, showcasing the many subtle dimensions of Malkauns. “Nom-tom” syllables enunciated in the lower, middle and upper registers sometimes surging turbulently and at other times gliding gently, enhanced the contemplative character of his alap. His chaste rendition of the Ganesh Stuti “Jayati jayati Shri Ganesh, Shankara Suta Lambodara” set to the traditional Chautal, a cycle of 12 beats was marked by some remarkable ‘layakari'. The skilful negotiation of complex “dugun, tigun, chaugun” patterns was enhanced by the energetic Pakhwaj accompaniment by Pt. Mohan Shyam Sharma.
On Sunday, the morning session commenced with the Carnatic violin recital by young Ambi SubramaniamAmbi enthralled the listeners with his immaculate rendition of a varnam in Raga Natakuranji and a composition in Raga Saurashtra. He won great applause for his spirited and lively rendition of a composition by his legendary father in Raga Hamsadhwani. Ambi concluded his recital with the composition “Karina” in raga Ramapriya. He was accompanied by Vidwan T.A.S Mani on the Mrudangam and Kartik Mani on the Ghatam.
This was followed by a unique vocal-sitar duet, a rare kind of jugalbandi by vocalist Debapriya Adhikari and sitarist Samanvaya Sarkar, disciples of Girija Devi. Their rendition of the morning melody Raga Jaunpuri was marked by a very innovative approach. Debapriya's vocal passages in ‘alap' synchronised harmoniously with the dulcet and intricate alap –jod-jhala sections of Samanvaya's sitar. The artistes also regaled the audience with a complex light-classical genre “tappa”, “O miya Janewale” in Raga Mishra Kafi. It was a highly stylised, intricate rendition where Samnavaya negotiated convoluted phrases with tremendous ease and expertise, eliciting applause from the audience. Uday Kulkarni provided the tabla accompaniment.
Debanjan Bhattacharjee, disciple of Ameena Perera and Ustad Ashish Khan of Senia Gharana, rendered Purya Kalyan. His delineation was marked by solemn depth, grand spaciousness and meticulous structure. Debanjan concluded his recital with an immensely moving rendition of the monsoon melody raga Miyan ki Malhar. Meeta Pandit commenced her recital with the night melody raga Kedar. A neat rendition of vilambit and drut khayals in the raga Kedar was followed by a brilliant execution of the “tarana” which was so characteristic of her idiosyncratic style. Meeta concluded her recital with a lilting Dadra composition “Sawan Jhar Lage dhire dhire” invested with lyrical grace and vitality in raga Manch Khamaj.
