The sitting sets the tone!
MANJARI SINHA
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Ustad Shujaat Khan gave ample proof of a fertile imagination during his sitar recital in the Capital recently, while Shobhana Rao delighted with her versatility.
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MASTER AT WORK Ustad Shujaat Khan presented some imaginative variations during the recital.
The traditional format of listening to classical music in the baithak style has been the principal source of nourishment that kept our music alive over the centuries. The VSK baithaks are doing just that. The mutual give and take, which is the essence of this art, is produced firstly by the physical proximity of the performer and listeners and then by the informality of the creative environment. This was once again evident during the unforgettable sitar recital of Ustad Shujaat Khan this past week.
A dedicated disciple of his father and guru, the legendary Ustad Vilayat Khan, Shujaat has not only sustained the Imdaadkhaani baaj and its gayaki ang (vocal approach to instrumental music), but has also evolved as a sensitive artiste who plays and sings with the authority of his own experience directly, and gives the essence of himself in his art. It needs an inspiring atmosphere of a VSK baithak and an artiste of the calibre of Shujaat Khan to play only one raga for two-and-a-half hours.
He started with raga Shuddha Kalyan and dealt with it in the chaindaari of Ustad Amir Khan in such a way that the detailed alap-jod alone lasted for over an hour. The elaboration of the initial statement Pa Dha Pa Dha Sa, Dha Re Dha Sa had so many hues in its imaginative variations, specially in the lower octave, as if a painter were giving deft touches of the brush. He would take Ga Re Ga, Re Sa Re, Ni Dha Sa as a refrain and weave such a colourful web of notes around it that one kept marvelling at his fertile imagination. The subsequent jod and jhaala were also adorned with variations, and followed by a captivating cluster of difficult gamak taans.
Glimpse of the legacy
The Maseetkhaani gat that started in Teen tala had just the lavish gatkaari for 15-20 minutes where only the first line of the composition would be presented different ways, decorated with meend, or by krintan or zamzama. Then came a glimpse of the way Vilayat Khan played in the `50s, leaving one `avagraha' at the beginning of each maatra, as if going away from the laya or dodging the tempo.
After the detailed elaboration of the raga in the vilambit gat (slow composition) for nearly 45-minutes, he proceeded to the madhya laya (medium tempo) bandish, the famous "Baajo re baajo... " immortalised by Kesarbai Kerkar.
He also sang the bandish to explain the intricate beauty of the swar-sanyojan concept, where swaras highlight the meaning of the lyric. There was a spray of small taans after which he would stealthily pick up the refrain and give a lovely sense of wonder.
He concluded with a delightful Bhairavi, singing "Bhawaani Dayaani" and the romantic "Dadara Hamari Ataria Pe... "
He had Arunaanshu Chaudhuri and Shankar Devnaath to accompany him on the tabla. Deepankar Roy on the guitarplayed the lehera when Arunaanshu played solo pieces on the tabla to give Shujaat. Sarathi Chatterji's vocal recital in the first half was a replacement for Pandit Baldev Raj Verma who could not make it due to sore throat, at the eleventh hour. But his Madhuvanti and Gavti were a treat.
Earlier this past week Shobhana Rao performed at the India Habitat Centre and delighted audiences with her light classical thumri, dadra and ghazals. She opened the evening with a thumri in Mishra Khamaj. The theka of Deepchandi tala was conveniently converted to a 16-beat cycle instead of the conventional 14, but the bol banaav manifested her imaginative artistry as well as her proper taleem in this genre. She also sang a dadra in Kaushik Dhwani and another in Mishra Keervani, "Diwana Kiye Shyaam... " in the typical poorab ang that showed her refined sense of presentation. She could have enjoyed herself during the laggi providing some time to the accompanists to display their talents. She had Salamat Ali on the harmonium, Sarvar Husain on the violin and Jayshankar Mishra on the tabla to provide her ablesupport. Shovana then went on to present a selection of ghazals, which once again proved her talent, training and temperament.
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