The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark, celebrated monsoon with its annual Malhar Festival, which was held at the Vivekananda Hall. Vocal and sarod recitals of traditional monsoon ragas evoked the perfect mood for the season. Brajeshwar Mukherjee commenced his vocal rendition with Miyan ki Malhar. The textural intricacy of his voice was perfectly suited for this popular raga, which flourished in taans and vistaars of the kheyals. He also sang a melodious thumri in Raga Desh. Mukherjee was supported by Gourishankar Karmakar on the tabla and Gourab Chatterjee on the harmonium. Parthasarothy Chowdhury’s sarod recital, too, was steeped in monsoonal flavour. He played an alaap, jor and jhala in Raga Megh, concluding his performance with a brief piece in Raga Jaijaiwanti. Abhijit Banerjee beautifully captured the seasonal mood on the tabla.
The Yatrapath Music Festival was held at Birendra Mancha recently. The veteran sitarist, Pandit Manilal Nag, was felicitated with a lifetime achievement award at the festival. The programme began with a choral presentation by the group, Pukar. This was followed by an orchestral sitar performance under the supervision of Abhirup Ghosh. Next came a choral bhajan by the artists of Yatrapath. Ghosh also sang an interesting bhajan in Raga Nand with Abir Mukherjee on the tabla. The sitarist, Susanta Chowdhury (picture), performed an alaap and jor in Miyan ki Malhar; his expertise was evident in the gats. He finished with a drut teentaal gat in Desh. The performance was enjoyable. Parimal Chakraborty accompanied him on the tabla.
The vocalist, Mousumi Sen, sang a vilambit and a drut kheyal in Yogkauns, followed by a thumri in Mishra Pilu and a dadra in Bhairavi. Sen was supported by Amit Chatterjee on the tabla and Subrata Bhattacharya on the harmonium. Meghna Nandy wove these diverse performances together with her narrative thread.
Yogesh Samsi’s tabla solo
The world of Indian classical music is still reeling from the shock of the untimely demise of the tabla maestro, Subhankar Banerjee. This was discernible at the tribute to him on his birth anniversary held at the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture. Students of the Taalsen Music Academy, which was founded by Banerjee, paid homage to him with Taal Tarpan; the maestro’s son, Archik Banerjee, also performed with them. The Kathak recital by Sandip Mallick and his troupe was crafted for the occasion. Mallick’s solo performance as well as the ones with his son, Shuvom, and other students were pleasing too. Mallick also danced to a composition by the late percussionist. Able assistance was provided by Aniruddha Mukherjee, Nirmalya Chakraborty, Kuntal Das and Avijit Kastha on the tabla, Sunando Mukherjee on the sarod and Arindam Bhattacharya on vocals.
The real treat for the audience, though, was Yogesh Samsi’s tabla solo (picture). The spontaneity and ease with which he played complicated relas and kaydas revealed his skill and experience. Samsi excelled in a jhamptaal, bringing out its magic with rare tukras, parans and tihais. Nayan Ghosh’s tabla solo added a different dimension to the evening. He elucidated the varied aspects and moods of teentaal through his performance. His proficiency was perceptible in the various kaydas, parans, chakradhars and tihais. Both Samsi and Ghosh were deftly aided by Hiranmoy Mitra on the harmonium. The rhythmscape of this event was an appropriate tribute to the memory of Subhankar Banerjee.
