As winter gives way to spring, the city got a chance to bask in the melody of Amaan Ali Khan’s sarod. Amaan conquered the hearts of Calcutta’s music lovers, once again, with his harmonious and colourful performance. The Inner Wheel Club of Calcutta organised a solo recital by Amaan to raise funds for the Ektara Foundation, which is working for the uplift of girl children, especially from the slums of Topsia. Amaan began his recital with Rageshree, evoking a jovial mood with his alaap. He played compositions set to jhamptaal and ada chowtaal in vilambit and madhyalay and highlighted the exquisite nuances of the raga with long vistaars and taans. Amaan was accompanied by Satyajit Talwalkar on the tabla whose spontaneous and intelligent assistance added a new dimension to the presentation. They took their time both with the strings and the beats, playing at a medium tempo, especially in the gat of the ada chowtaal where Amaan showed his depth and maturity. His Raga Rageshree flourished in the drut teentaal gat and Amaan’s predisposition for playing high-speed and powerful taans elicited a sense of fulfilment among the audience.

Raga Nandkauns was Amaan’s next choice and, in this, he mesmerised the audience with his innovation and originality. The raga, created by the musicologist, Suresh Chandra Chakraborty, is integral to his gharana and its inner essence came to life in Amaan’s hands. He focussed on the ‘gayaki’ style and was able to convey his intention with full clarity, rendering the teentaal compositions in different tempos. The mellifluousity of his technique and his musical intellect were reflected in the tihais. Amaan’s absorption in the raga resulted in a free-wheeling performance. The sparkling vistaars and taans, covering three octaves in the vilambit gat, followed by the drut revealed Amaan’s insight into artistic sensibility and his ability to express it onto a larger canvas. His unpredictability in each and every rendition depicted the inner quest of an artist in search of an unknown beauty.

Amaan outdid himself in Raga Lalita Dhwani, which is a creation of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, weaving a rhythmic verse with an ektaal composition in this raga. This exceptional and rarely-heard raga was beautifully introduced to the audience by the artist through a balanced expression of emotional upsurges and tranquility. The alaap was a portrayal of his thorough command over the raga, which bloomed with the appropriate escalation and rotation of the keynotes. The raga flowed like a quiet river with well-balanced waves in consonance with the tabla. The depth of feeling and charm communicated by the raga was a result of Amaan’s dedicated scholarship, hard work and commitment to his craft.

Amaan concluded his recital with Raga Kirwani, which had an innovative structure in his rendition. Instead of playing its regular sequence, Amaan emphasised the rhythmic movements and the audience got to experience a unique side of the raga. The pacy combination of taans, tihais and the tabla’s beats came as a true surprise for listeners. Amaan’s effortless energy was evident throughout. Satyajit Talwalkar ably demonstrated his skills as the perfect accompanist and added significant shades to Amaan’s musical spectrum.