The interlude of the pandemic has left followers of Indian classical music hungry for live concerts. It is this desire that the Annapurna Devi Foundation fulfilled by organizing a three-day music festival, Antarik, at G.D. Birla Sabhaghar. The event commenced with a vocal recital by Omkar Dadarkar, who rendered Raga Shree beautifully, adding great flourish to the vilambit kheyal. The full impact of his voice was evident in the variations of vistars and taans as well as other compositions in ektaal and teentaal. Dadarkar also sang two compositions in Bahaar and was ably assisted by Bibhas Sanghai on the tabla, Gourab Chattopadhyay on the harmonium and Sarwar Hussain on the sarengi.
He was followed by the sitarist, Kushal Das, who performed Jayjayanti — he opened with an alaap, jor and jhala and went on to the gats with his usual melodious spontaneity. Das was nuanced till the end. His presentation of Gorakh Kalyan added a different dimension to the performance. Arup Chattopadhyay accompanied him on the tabla perfectly.
The vocal recital by Ruchira Panda elevated the musicality of the programme. She chose Raga Vasant Pancham and performed both vilambit and drut kheyals. Panda brought a freshness to her style. Both the kheyals were enriched with taans and vistaars and a perfect rotation of the keynotes. Panda also sang a composition by her guru, Manas Chakraborty, in Birha. Soumen Sarkar and Anirban Chakraborty accompanied her on the tabla and the harmonium, respectively. The flautist, Praveen Godkhindi, and his son, Shadaj, enchanted listeners with Maru Bahaag. It was a well-coordinated performance followed by a rendition of Rageshree with vibrant accompaniment from Ojhas Adhya on the tabla.
Ruchira Panda Shilpi Sambhamurty
The sarod recital by Indrayudh Majumdar with Anubrata Chattopadhyay on the tabla was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Majumdar played Shyam Kalyan and revealed several layers to the raga with utmost care. After the smooth and spontaneous alaap, jor and jhala, he enhanced the mood of the raga with gats in different tempos. The festival concluded with a vocal performance by Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar, who presented Maru Behaag — the clarity and dominance of her voice combined with the melodic nature of the raga were striking. She sang vilambit and drut kheyals as well as a tarana and continued with Vasant Bahaar. She concluded her performance with bhairavi tappa and a tarana. Her renditions —with Samar Saha on the tabla and Gourab Chattopadhyay on the harmonium — were arresting and served as the perfect ending to the festival.
Kholaman celebrated the birth centenary of Vidushi Dipali Nag, an eminent proponent of the Agra Gharana. In a compact and well-organized programme at Shishir Mancha, Nag’s disciples and followers presented various shades of her style, including the distinct alaap of the Agra Gharana as well as its chaturang, thumri, hori kajri. The light classical genre, which included her compositions, was not left out either. Peter Bhuinya, Mousumi Das, Jhilam Roychowdhury, Pritha Roy Bardhan, Madhabi Majumdar, Saswati Bandyopadhyay and many others participated in the presentation.
Arpita Chakraborty’s rendition of Behaag with a nom tom alaap and dhamar with Anindya Mukhopadhyay on the pakhwaj elevated the mood of the programme. The highlight of the show was the performance of Jayjayanti by the vocalist, Wasim Ahmed Khan (picture, right). He brought out the best of the Agra Gharana and was perfectly assisted by Bibhas Sanghai on tabla and Gourab Chattopadhyay on the harmonium. The narration by Sabyasachi Roychoudhury recounting the life of Dipali Nag was nostalgic.
