Voice of the soul
|
In the ongoing series on accompanists, meet Srinivas Satpathy, a popular musician.
|
Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma.
IN CONCERT Srinivas Sathpathy in New Delhi.
The flute is close to the human voice in more ways than one. Not only does it produce music akin to the voice, but the tone produced by each flautist depends on the quality of voice produced by the throat. In Western classical music, a skilled soprano singer, on reaching the higher octaves, can begin to sound like a flute. Then again, because it is so closely associated with the breath of the player, the flute is thought by some to be the `voice of the soul.' As such it might also be considered an ideal instrument for vocal accompaniment, both in Hindustani and Carnatic music. However, it is only in the rarest of cases that a vocal recital of Indian music is accompanied by a flute. Otherwise it is a solo instrument. The singers in dance performances, however, are regularly accompanied by flute. In fact, it is often the accompaniment of choice, especially since Indian classical dance is replete with stories of Krishna. No wonder flautists are in demand for dance performances.
The young flautist Srinivas Satpathy was for some years a regular part of the Odissi dance orchestras of eminent dancer Madhavi Mudgal and other Delhi dancers. He can take pride in being part of an orchestra under the wing of the Capital's first family of music. Satpathy is modest in his reply, saying he is lucky to have had the chance to work with Madhavi. Now though, he is soon to shift back to his native Orissa. Not before he performs at the Odissi Festival at Kamani auditorium starting this Friday though.
"I studied at the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya in Bhubaneshwar," he says. "Later I went to Nrityagram (in Karnataka) and worked there for a few years before coming to Delhi."
As the brother of noted Odissi dancer Bijoyini Satpathy, a disciple of the late Protima Bedi, Srinivas has seen multiple facets of Odissi. "Over there, they do use music that is a little more contemporary," he remarks of the institution founded by Protima Bedi.
Not that Delhi is any stranger to experimentation. Recently Srinivas accompanied Madhavi Mudgal in a programme that was part of Natya Tarangini's Parampara festival, in which Hindustani vocalist Madhup Mudgal joined hands with his sister Madhavi in a specially choreographed collaboration. For now, though, he returns to the source of inspiration, and Bhubaneshwar will surely be the richer!
ANJANA RAJAN
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
