A matter of bright beginnings
SUBHRA MAZUMDAR
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Delhiites got a chance to savour some rare Sufiana kalaam at a recital by Vidya Shah the other day.
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The classical patterning of the numbers that had made a promising beginning was absent towards the end.
The two streams of Bhakti and Sufi sangeet have an uncanny commonality that is universally acknowledged in certain circles. Yet rarely does one get the opportunity to listen to the twin streams from the same artiste and on the same platform. This was the winning stroke in the recital of Vidya Shah, who held audiences enthralled with her rendition of a selection of such numbers at the India International Centre, the other day.
As an artiste with a sound grounding in the classical form, Vidya Shah engaged her listeners to a khayal rendering at the start. This introductory piece gave a chance to gauge her expansive repertoire and her ability to exude the devotional rasa through her chosen medium of rendition.
The depth of her timbre gave vocal content to the music and the skilful taan patterning was well rehearsed, showing full command of layakari in her music.
Thereafter, she chose to feature a selection of Sufiana kalaam from leading composers and poets, chief of whom were the compositions of Nizamuddin Aulia, Amir Khusro and a charming inclusion from Shah Hussain that had been translated from the original Punjabi by Dr. Madan Gopal. These numbers bespoke of academic delving into the Sufi treasury and a happy departure from the usual cycle of populist choices that are often heard at college dos and cassette outlets. In addition to the careful selection of numbers, the evening displayed a well-rounded character with the use of miniature and company paintings and relevant writings, on a screen in the backdrop. The accompanists on the harmonium, tabla and dhap made for an interesting rhythmic inclusion to the singing.
Fading away
Though much thought had gone into the visual and tonal engagement of the evening, the artist displayed a degree of diminishing preparedness as the evening progressed. The numbers were rendered more and more around the same raga format of Des, Sarang and the like and the voice, too, let past a false note in its upper reaches. The classical patterning of the numbers that had made such a promising beginning earlier in the evening was completely absent towards the end. Thus the final numbers virtually became a recitation of the text in lyrical terms, instead of a well-formatted rendition of a Sufiana kalaam. Of course, rhythm, the strong point in her oeuvre, was utilised in interesting variations even for the end numbers.
The attempt to collate, and render such emotive numbers evocatively was certainly worth complimenting. But it appears there was a greater emphasis on choosing appropriate and expressive pieces rather than spending much time on their compositional quality.
The music had a ring of originality and definitely needs to be encouraged and heard more regularly, for their innovative slant, at concert platforms.
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