An occasion to remember
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At Ravi Shankar's enthralling concert in New Delhi the other day, the lively percussionists rose to the occasion, while Anoushka Shankar was an added attraction.
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Photo: PTI
CAPITAL TREAT Pandit Ravi Shankar performing with Anouskha at Siri Fort in New Delhi.
All roads led to Siri Fort this past Sunday where the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Oriental Insurance presented Magical Strings, a sitar concert by Pandit Ravi Shankar and daughter Anoushka, with Tanmoy Bose on the tabla and Pirashanna Thevarajab's additional percussions. The Siri Fort auditorium was overflowing with rasikas who had come to listen to the living legend playing sitar after a long gap. Anoushka of course was an added attraction.
The concert commenced with the emotionally pregnant raga Poorvi Kalyan and proved that part of the raga evolution takes place because great musicians leave their personal stamp on them. The maestro's stamp was evident in the evening melody, which is a combination of the ragas Poorvi and Yaman Kalyan, especially in the imaginative use of both the Madhyams.
The meditative alap unfolded the raga very slowly and gently, in a note by note delineation that had classicism as well as depth. Anoushka complemented his notes in the parallel octaves, for instance when he played in the madhya saptak she would follow in the mandra saptak, creating harmonic designs. After the leisurely alap-jod and scintillating jhala, he went on to play a composition in madhya drut Jhap tala, omitting the maseetkhani (slow) gat or composition, since it was not needed after the detailed treatment of the raga during the alap-jod sequence.
Then came his own creation, raga Tilak Shyam, in which he played a slow composition in vilambit Teen tala, and a madhya drut composition in Ek tala. The romantic aura of this vibrant raga created a good contrast after the previous serene melody. Delicacy of phrase, depth, design and decorative abundance embellished the compositions. The rhythmic playfulness was shared by Tanmoy Bose on the tabla. The raga had enough contrast of tone and colour both in melody and rhythm, which was a pleasure to mind and ears.
Rangila Pilu
The concert concluded with a delightful Pilu, which Pandit Ravi Shankar mentioned as "Rangila Pilu". Starting as a dhun in Keharwa and shifting to various ragas and taIas, it was colourful enough to be called `Rangila' with the ragamala and talamala adorning it with shades of Hamsadhwani, Kalavati, Kedar, Hameer, Durga Pahaari and Shivaranjani, et al, and talas like Jhap tala, Chancher, Teen tala and even a variation of the 10-and-a-half beat cycle.
Prasanna took turns on the kanjira along with Tanmoy's tabla. His morshank also added colour to the Rangila Pilu, which concluded with a super fast jhala in ati-drut Teen tala. The thoughtfully conceived concert was rich, power-packed and wide ranging in raga and tala, with no repetition even in the tempo. The imaginative use of the kanjira and the morshank added novelty. Tanmoy's tabla accompaniment was dignified enough for the occasion, with no unnecessary jugglery of pneumonics, parhant or funny sounds with the mouth, as seen on earlier occasions. Two of his students, Nik Able and Kengi Oeta played the tanpura along with Sanjay Sharma of the Rikhiram `dynasty' to help them tune the instruments.
MANJARI SINHA
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