On a high note
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The three-day Flights of Fancy concerts by Ganjam and Sur Sagar cast a spell on the audience
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MELODIOUS APPEAL Pandit Kashalkar's erudite expositions were noteworthy
The preservation of the rich heritage of Hindustani Classical Music depends not only upon musicians who are its exponents but also on music sabhas and cultural organisations to promote classical music. Sursagar has accomplished this challenging, and rather daunting task successfully over the last 25 years in Bangalore. On this occasion of silver jubilee in association with Ganjam Jewellers, they organised a three-day Flights of Fantasy concert series. The country's most well-known musicians were showcased in this festival. Pandits Rajan and Sajan Misra, with their rich and well-cultivated voices have raised the duet form of singing to new heights of spiritual and aesthetic sublimity. Their recital began with Marwa, a Sandhiprakash raga, capturing the myriad hues of the twilight. The traditional Khayal composition (bandish) "Piya More Anat Des Gayilwa" in vilambit ektal, a leisurely tempo in rhythmic cycle of 12 beats was richly evocative, communicating the "vipralambha sringara" (song of separation from the beloved) of the nayika with poignant improvisations, especially on phrases like "unke daras dekh akhiya taras rahi" in the higher octave (tar saptak). The vocalists embellished their alaap passages with highly stylised meends (gliding notes) and creative landings on the vadi (dominant) and samvadi (sub-dominant) notes of the rag, namely rishabh and dhaivath. The audience was enraptured by the remarkable array of sargams presented with flawless clarity and skilful co-ordination. The concluding piece in Marwa was a sombre, philosophical Drut teental composition "Guru bina gyan nahi pave" popularised by the legendary exponent of Agra gharana Ustad Amir Khan.
Night melody
The next choice was Raga Jhinjhoti, a captivating night melody not usually associated with elaborate Khayal renditions. The exquisite lyricism of ancient bandishes in Madhyalaya "Karat ladayi kanhayi mose kahe" and "Jaaane do roko na gayla mohana mohe" in Drut teental left an indelible impression on the minds of the listeners. These traditional compositions in Jhinjhoti were followed by an inimitable masterpiece, "Kaise kahu more sakhi", a brilliant climax to the rendition of the raga. As Pandit Vyasmurthy Katti's nimble fingers moved deftly on the harmonium to capture the nuances of the bandish, Pandit Ravindra Yavagal on the tabla matched the layakari of the brothers with equal ιlan and gusto.
Sitar virtuousoUstad Shahid Parvez belongs to the seventh generation of the Etawah gharana. He was accompanied by Yogesh Samsi on the tabla. Ustad Shahid Parvez began his sitar recital with Shyam Kalyan. He took his audience through alap, jhod, jhala and presented three compositions set to vilambit roopaktal (rhythmic cycle of seven beats), drut ek tal and drut teen tal respectively. The drut teental composition in rag Shyam Kalyan was especially noteworthy for a masterful execution of the Gayaki ang. The creative dialogue between the tabliya and the sitarist in the faster drut composition mesmerised the audience with a spectacular display of complex rhythmic patterns in the teen tal. Begum Parween Sultana commenced her recital with the night melody Maru Bihag. A plaintive variant of Bihag, Maru Bihag uses both the madhyams and all other notes are shuddh, but what distinguishes it from Bihag is the predominance of the teevra madhyam and rishabh. Begum Parween Sultana presented a bandish "Kaise bin sajan" in vilambit ektal. Begum Sultana's vibrant rendition of the tarana in rag Hamsadhwani, adapted from the Carnatic melody of the same name won the applause of the audience. The soul stirring Meera bhajan "Maito Neelo govinda ki ho gayi mayiri" was followed by the devotional number in Bhairavi "Bhavani Dayani". Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar was accompanied by the legendary tabla virtuoso Pandit Suresh Talwalkar. Pandit Kashalkar chose the popular evening melody Yaman for his exposition. He delineated the raga leisurely in the anibaddh alap before the vilambit khayal composition in Tilwada (a rhythmic cycle of 16 beats) "Jiya Manat Nahi". The bol alaps, taans and sargams held the listeners spellbound. The tarana in drut teen tal was conspicuous in its glimpses of Yaman Kalyan which imparted a refreshingly new dimension to his rendition. The popular melody Yaman was followed by a rare rag Pat Bihag a combination of Patdeep and Bihag. The lyrical composition in Misra Kafi in adha teen tal "Kaise bijuri chamak rahi he" after a very erudite exposition of the two khayals was noteworthy for its melodious appeal.
The last session of the music festival was the piece de resistance of the three-day music festival. The Santoor recital by the maestro Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma cast a magical spell on the listeners. A hauntingly beautiful Jog with an exquisitely romantic delineation was a testimony to the creative genius of Pandit Sharma. The rendition of raga Misra Pahadi in Dadra created a haunting tapestry of resplendent flashes from many folk songs and old Hindi melodies.
VAISHALI SRINIVAS
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