A flashback series of Indian classical music concerts might give us a touch of freshness in this suffocating quarantine phase. The Behala Classical Festival, organized by Behala Sanskritik Sammilani, enthralled music lovers during its four-day session. The festival was inaugurated by the sitarist, Budhaditya Mukherjee, who presented Raga Puriya. His spontaneous expertise brought out the melody of the raga in both vilambit and drut gats. He also played Mishra Piloo and made a compact conclusion of his part. He was ably supported by Soumen Nandy on the tabla.
Tarun Bhattacharya’s santoor, Taufiq Qureshi’s percussion on the djembe and Abhijit Banerjee on the tabla drew a rhythmscape based on Raga Kirwani. The vocal recital of Ashwini Bhide Deshpande commenced with the Raga Bihagda. Her rendition was bright, with her skill of making unusual movements of the keynotes in vistaars and taans. In both vilambit and drut kheyals she showed depth, generosity and control. She also rendered an arresting Chandrakaus followed by a Kabir bhajan with assistance on the tabla by Abhijit Banerjee and the harmonium by Rupasree Bhattacharya.
The sarod and violin performance by Tejendra Narayan Majumder and Kumaresh Rajagopalan was a prominent part of the festival. They began the rendition of Jhinjhoti (Kamboji in Carnatic) with alaap, jod and jhala, which flourished as a perfect blend of Hindustani and Carnatic, distinct yet aesthetically united. The gat in Rupak (or Misra Chapu) was an adept continuation, followed by a popular raga, Simhendra Madhyamam. The melody was retouched by a Tagore composition on the sarod with a vibrant violin. Shubhankar Banerjee (tabla) and Satish Patri (mridangam) created a musical crescendo along with the instruments with a cyclic rotation.
The audience was also absorbed in the vocal magic of Venkatesh Kumar, who started with Shudh Kalyan and went on with vilambit and drut kheyals. He was compact in his familiar rendition in Behaag, followed by Basant Bahar with a perfect accompaniment by Samar Saha (tabla) and Jyoti Goho (harmonium). The Mohan veena of Vishwamohan Bhatt with the tabla of Shubhen Chatterjee could have been more interesting. Debapriya and Shuchishmita Chatterjee’s flute rendition in Yaman enchanted listeners for its smooth flow, followed by bhatiyali. The violin and vocal combination of L. Subramaniam and Kavita Krishnamurthy made for a gorgeous end to the festival. They evoked nostalgia, especially with some Bengali renditions with the tabla of Tanmoy Bose. It made for a gorgeous end to the festival. Deepshankar Bhattacharya’s sitar with the tabla of Archik Banerjee, Pratik Srivastava’s sarod with the tabla of Debajit Patitundi and the vocal recital of Sreetama Bandyopadhya with the tabla of Rupak Mitra and the harmonium of Jyotirmoy Hazra added a spark to the programme.
Kishalay, an initiative by Sangeet Piyasi, won the audience’s hearts as the kids enriched the ambience with their talent in the presence of senior mentors like Ajoy Chakraborty and Swapan Chakraborty. Arijit Banerjee played the pakhawaj in chowtaal with a surprising command and confidence with the assistance of Keya Bandyopadhyay on the harmonium. Arya Banik’s vocal recital in Behag caught the attention of the audience. His thumri and bhajan were sweet, with Sanatan Goswami’s able harmonium accompaniment. Anirban Ray’s flute was an exquisite exploration of ragas like Hamsadhwani and Pahari. His effort to make mature vistaars and taans in three octaves need a special mention. The tabla assistance of the young Suprabhat Bhattacharya and Nabagata Bhattacharya gave an appropriate touch to the programme.
