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Stirring strings

Well begunPratap Kumar, a disciple of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan

The positive side of a debut concert is its unexplored potential to appeal. Concert goers to the debut sarod recital of Pratap Kumar would definitely have rated it a rewarding experience. In his maiden concert on the Delhi performing circuit, this talented disciple of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan chose to regale the Capital’s sarod lovers by an opening recital in the raga Maru Bihag. The steady, contained and graduated patterning of the raga’s dual nature showed thorough preparedness coupled with an understanding of the exploitation of the Madhyam note for bringing out the flavour of its Maru Bihag characteristic.

What placed Pratap Kumar a cut above was his uncanny understanding of the tonal strengths of his musical medium. This gave versatility to the jod and jhala passages of his piece, where the nuanced stretch to the upper octave reaches wafted a pathetic peal instead of the more common strident forcefulness that most young sarodiyas of today seem to prefer.

Also, the gayaki ang of his school of sarod playing came off distinctly as a conscious inclusion in his patterning of the gat. The cluster formation of taan patternings too, was carried across the entire range of octaves, giving the rendition a status of maturity, because of its well formulated intrinsic value. Such coordinated playing showed an innate understanding of musicality and the total absence of over presentation, making his play a sensitive, well rounded layout. Thus even the limited repertoire showed complete tayyari and despite its copybook styling, on the lines of his gharana, the rendition did not degenerate into predictable and adulatory imitation.

The tala variations displayed in the gat showed good grasp of layakari, though the sam stress in the play was dimmed to the point of nullification through most of the playing. The abrupt intermissions for tabla stretches, the hallm ark of the concerts of his guru, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, bore a contrived personality in Kumar’s rendition as his patterning in those stretches sounded more like the lehra rather than a continuous flow of bandish notes. However, the smooth crossover from the medium paced to the faster bandish was a delight, as it displayed no flash effects of overreach.

The vivacious conclusion in a flurry of vivid tihais brought the rendition to a resounding close, suggestive of the gharana to which he adheres.

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