Harmonious flights
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The Harmonium Habba was an evocative experience with four generations of artistes sharing the dais
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Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy
Indefatigable Pandit Rambhau Bijapure took the audience to heights of sublime bliss
Attempts have been made to establish the harmonium as a solo instrument on the Hindustani Classical concert platforms. Dr. Ravindra Katoti, the Bangalore based harmonium virtuoso, a noteworthy disciple of the legendary harmonium exponent and guru Pt.
Rambhau Bijapure has established the unique forum Bijapure Harmonium Foundation. The Bijapure Harmonium Foundation organised a spectacular Harmonium Habba. Connoisseurs of music thronged the auditorium in great numbers despite the torrential downpour. The cynosure of the habba was none other than the harmonium veteran Pt. Rambhau Bijapure himself. The habba also marked the successful completion of 90 years of musical journey in the extraordinary life of Pt. Bijapure, known for his outstanding dedication to harmonium as a teacher and a performing artiste. “Swara Yana”, a biography of Pt. Bijapure by the writer Shirish Joshi was also released on this occasion.
Non-stop feast
The morning session commenced with a richly evocative harmonium solo recital by Deepak Marathe, the young disciple of Pt. Bijapure. He delineated Raga Nat Bhairav in madhyalaya ektal (rhythmic cycle of 12 beats in medium tempo) and drut teentaal (rhythmic cycle of 16 beats in faster tempo) compositions. The rag vistar in alap sequences was marked by imaginatively insightful improvisations. In the rhythmic avartans of the composition, Deepak showed his remarkable mastery over layakari by precise landings on the ‘sam’ that were embellished with very intricate gamaks . His rendition of the famous thumri “Yaad piya ke aye” popularised by Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was noteworthy for its emotional intensity. The skilful execution of “laggi” by the tabla artiste Keshav Joshi in synchrony with melodious strains of harmonium rhapsodised the audience.
In his solo recital, the septuagenarian Carnatic harmonium vidwan R. Paramasivan held forth on the role of the harmonium in the early years of regional theatrical traditions in India, during the middle of the 20th century. Referring to its nomenclature as the “ranavadya” which was played in order to herald the appearance of the “rakshasa” character on the stage, the vidwan opined that harmonium had come a long way to its transformation as a “mrudu vadya”. Vidwan Paramasivan began with Ganesha stuti “Gajavadana beduve Gowri tanaya” in raga Hamsadwani followed by Thyagaraja keertane in Kalyani and Khamaj. He concluded his recital with “Venkatachala nilayam vaikunta puravasam.”
This was followed by a vocal recital of Sri Sridhar Kulkarni, disciple of Pt. Bijapure who has also trained under Pt. Yashwant Bua Joshi belonging to Pt. Jagannath Bua Purohit Parampara. Sridhar Kulkarni’s short recital was marked by a sensitive albeit a subdued rendition of the beautiful afternoon melody Shuddh Sarang in vilambit ek taal bandish “Sundara Kanchana” followed by the vibrant drut teentaal bandish “Pathikava mora le javo sandesava” .
The last recital in the morning session was the harmonium solo by another octogenarian harmonium maestro Pt. Vasant Kanakapur. He mesmerised the audience with his hauntingly melodious, poignant rendition of the Raag Patdeep, reminiscent of some of the famous songs in Kannada and Marathi theatre. His rendition of the Thumri in Misra Pahadi “Sajan Bina Ghar Suna” was soaked in romantic melancholy that many in the audience had tears in their eyes.
The evening session featured an interesting harmonium duet by Dr. Sudhanshu Kulkarni , another illustrious disciple of Pt Bijapure and his young son Sarang Kulkarni. The habba showcased four generations of harmonium artistes on the same platform, a truly stupendous feat. The father-son team explored the popular evening melody Yaman by turns, moving in measured pace to the tabla accompaniment of Pt. Vishwanth Nakod.
The piece de resistance of the show was the brilliantly innovative “Harmonium-Accordion Milan” conceptualised by Dr. Ravindra Katoti, the man behind the Bijapure Foundation and the accordion players M.B. Prakash and P. Ravindra. Udayraj Karpur’s tabla accompaniment ushered in a vibrancy.
The audience warmed up to a soulful aalap in Kirwani played by Katoti on the harmonium matched by a beautiful piece in the D minor in close proximity with the contours of Kirwani chosen by the accordion players. The explorations in Rag Pahadi resonating with the harmonious notes of the symphony “Sailing on the silvery moon” described as its rough equivalent, the racy Ukranian folk dance number “Polka” enraptured the audience with a true flavour of the western instrumental recital, leaving them spellbound .
This was followed by the felicitation of the indefatigable nonagenarian harmonium maestro Pt. Bijapure by another nonagenarian theatre luminary of the yester decades, the 95-year-old Enagi Balappa. Pt. Bijapure flanked by his star disciples Sudhanshu Kulkarni, Ravindra Katoti and Deepak Marathe accompanied by Pt. Ravindra Yavagal on the tabla moved the audience to the heights of sublime bliss.
K.S. VAISHALI
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