ITC Sangeet Research Academy presented an Indian classical music concert a few months ago that the city cherished for days. The event commenced with a vocal recital by Sreemoyee Acharya in Raga Puriya followed by a thumri in Raga Sohini. Prattyush Banerjee charmed the audience with Raga Chhayanat. His rendition of the rare Raga Maluha Kedar was beautiful as well. Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar’s vocal recital of Tilak Kamod set the mood for the night and was the highlight of the evening. He perfectly expressed the raga’s depth as well as its structural intricacies. He was enchanting in compositions in the ragas, Vasant Kedar and Hindol Bahar. Yogesh Samsi on the tabla, Gourab Chattopadhyay on the harmonium, and Sarwar Hussain on the sarangi proved to be skilled accompanists.

Kalapini Komkali, the daughter of the vocalist, Kumar Gandharva, performed compositions by her father in Raga Puriya Dhaneshree, followed by a traditional Hameer. She was ably assisted by Ramendra Singh Solanki on the tabla. Raga Yaman flourished on Amaan Hussain’s sarangi. He followed this with a tappa in Kafi along with Bibhas Sanghai on the tabla.

The most captivating performance of the evening was the duet by Tejendra Narayan Majumdar on the sarod and Shashank Subramanyam on the flute (picture). They played the ragas, Behag and Charukeshi, giving listeners a taste of both Hindustani and Carnatic music. They were gracefully supported by Ojas Adhiya on the tabla and P. Falgun on the mridangam. Uday Bhawalkar’s dhrupad in Darbari Kanada and Adana was mellifluous; Pratap Avad supported him on the pakhawaj. The senior vocalist, Ajoy Chakraborty, performed Raga Ramkeli, a thumri and a bhajan with Yogesh Samsi on the tabla and Gourab Chatterjee on the harmonium.

Sai Eishwary Maha­sha­bde’s vocal rendition of Raga Multani evoked a calm­ness with able support from Asoke Mukherjee and Rupasree Bhattacharya on the tabla and the harmonium, respectively. The percussion ensemble in aditaal by S. Shekhar (mridangam), Arup Chattopadhyay (tabla), and Gopal Burman (srikhol) with Sanatan Goswami on the harmonium was follow­ed by Raga Maru Behag by Srijanee Banerjee on the sitar. The event was brought to a perfect close by Sajan Mishra and his son, Swaransh, performing Raga Jogkauns and a bhajan with assistance from Tanmoy Bose on the tabla and Vinayak Sahai on the sarangi.