Strings in sync
JITENDRA PRATAP
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Suvir Misra on the Rudra veena, Prateek Choudhury and Murad Ali on the sitar and the sarangi... New Delhi witnessed an evening of fulsome instrumental fare.
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CONTEMPORARY Prateek Choudhury and Murad Ali performed played contemporary instrumental music.
The late Ustad Ashaq Ali Khan was an eminent sarangi maestro who migrated from Madhya Pradesh to Delhi on being appointed as a staff artist at All India Radio. The Ustad Ashaq Ali Khan Memorial Society recently presented its sixth annual memorial concert of instrumental music at Kamani auditorium featuring a Rudra veena recital by Suvir Misra, a Joint Commissioner belonging to the Indian Revenue Service cadre, followed by a scintillating instrumental duet (jugalbandi) between the young duo of Prateek Choudhury (sitar) and Murad Ali (sarangi).
The evening was notable for the two different genres of instrumental music. While the elder Misra presented his Rudra veena recital by strictly adhering to the good old Dhrupad and Beenkaar traditions, the younger duo of Prateek Choudhury and Murad Ali performed with a gusto that was typical of the contemporary trend in instrumental music.
The evening's concert commenced with Suvir Misra's sedate renderings in the late afternoon raga Bhimpalasi. Interestingly, Misra is a left-handed player of both the sitar and the Rudra veena. Misra's rendering of Bhimpalasi indicated his in-depth understanding of the raga's intricate movements.
It was indeed remarkable on his part to steer clear of the nuances of the allied raga Dhani that can creep into Bhimpalasi if one is not very careful about it. He was at equal ease with his meanderings in the ati-mandra saptak — the lowest octave — as well as in the madhya and even in the highest octave. His renderings in the opening alap-jor had the distinct flavours of the Beenkaar tradition.
His rendering of a slow `Chautal gat' was rather in the form of the contemporary style normally adopted by the sitar-sarod players, which is also followed by most of the present-day veena players. One did miss the good old tradition of executing the `taar-paran' renderings of the earlier veena maestros who would, after rendering a brief jod-jhala sequence, enter into a battle royal with the pakhawaj player, thereby culminating their instrumental duel with each one being delighted with the rhythmic dialogue they had entered into.
This aspect was however well observed in the concluding five-beat Sul tala composition played at a super-fast tempo with commendable accompaniment on the pakhawaj by Harish Chandra Pati, a disciple of the noted pakhawaj maestro Pandit Dal Chand Sharma of Delhi.
Unusual combination
A sitar-sarangi duet is quite a queer combination since the former instrument is a plucked instrument while the latter is a bowed one. Yet the duo of young Prateek Choudhury and Murad Ali did acquit themselves rather well by taking good care of each other's musical temperament and by responding with an understanding and even restraint as the occasion deemed fit.
Their renderings at length of alap-jor, followed by the Maseetkhani composition, were notable for many a succinctly inserted melodic sequence with occasional posers and retorts entered into with pleasing melodic phrasings.
The concluding piece in Mishra Pahadi played in a lighter vein but with good melodic contents came in as a good finale to the evening's delightful fare.
The duo had excellent tabla accompaniment by Mithilesh Kumar Jha.
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