Fresh fragrance
|
Young talents take to the stage in Varanasi.
|
A new generation of classical musicians shows what the fragrance of the future will be. Rahul Deshpande (disciple of Mukul Shivputra, Gwalior gharana), Chetna Banawat (disciple of Prabha Atre, Kirana gharana), Arshad Ali Khan (disciple of Maqsood Ali
Khan, Kirana gharana) and Kaivalya Gurav (disciple of Pandit Sangameshwar Guravare, Kirana gharana) are a few names to reckon with.
Platform
Ashok Kapoor, through his organisation Kala Prakash in collaboration with ICCR, recently gave a platform to some of these young artistes in Varanasi. In the words of Anurag Singh, Regional Officer ICCR, “This is to promote young musical energy to further the legacy of Indian classical music.”
The first concert was by Bhuvanesh Komkali from Dewas, the son of Mukul Shivputra. Vasundhara Komkali and Madhup Mudgal are currently training him. He performed raga Kalyan in a familiar style but not with the required energy. While he could have explored the raga with his rich knowledge and heritage, he did not. He was very well prepared but listeners demand more than just a display of a good memory. They demand an aesthetic imagination and skilful improvisation. The Tivra Madhyam of Kalyan seemed louder than the other notes and hence unbalanced. Komkali is currently archiving and digitalising his grandfather Kumar Gandharva’s recordings. The next artiste was Manjari Asnare, disciple of Pandit M. S. Kanetkar of the Jaipur Atrauli gharana. Pandit Kanetkar received his training from Ustad Bhurji Khan Saheb, son of Ustad Alladiya Khan who established this beautiful gharana and trained Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur.
Manjari, with her low and soft energy, performed raga Gauri with the aesthetic embellishments of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, following the musical gestures of Ashwini Bhide Deshpande. Her effort to establish the essential nature of this raga was quite delicate. Her attempt to beautify the prominent notes of this raga appeared to be sourced in her practice only, and not her personal creative dynamism. After Gauri, she chose raga Tilak Kamod for her next rendition. While technically skilful, Manjari needs to enhance the intrinsic repose of her music — chaindari — and not allow the intellect to subsume emotion. It is sad to note that there was no young artiste from Varanasi on the list of young performers. After Rajan and Sajan Mishra, no young artiste has taken to Khayal singing. Kapoor acknowledges this vacuum, but says Kala Prakash is launching the next young master series from Kolkata.
GAUTAM CHATTERJEE
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
