ITC Sangeet Research Academy ushered in winter in the city with its annual musical soirée. The three-day festival commenced with a vocal recital by Shreya Chatterjee in Raga Shudh Kalyan, followed by a thumri. Kala Ramnath’s performance on the violin was one of the attractions of the evening. She chose Raga Gorakh Kalyan, playing an aochar and a gat in different tempos and beats. She was melodious and in perfect harmony was the accompanist, Abhijeet Banerjee, on the tabla. The senior vocalist, Ulhas Kashalkar, began with Malgunji, a raga that is rarely heard, and proceeded to play the melodious ragas, Nat Behag and Paraj Kalingada. These recitals were supported by Yogesh Samsi on the tabla and Gourab Chatterjee on the harmonium.

The duo, Sabina Mumtaz Islam and Sanjukta Chatterjee Biswas, enchanted listeners with kheyals in Raga Purbi, followed by a dadra and a thumri along with Ashoke Mukherjee on the tabla and Rupashree Bhattacharya on the harmonium. The sitarist, Ayan Sengupta, played Raga Jhinjhoti, while the veteran vocalist, Ajoy Chakraborty, chose Raga Chandra Kaushiki, followed by Raga Bageshree and a thumri. Yogesh Samsi and Jyotirmoy Banerjee accompanied him on the tabla and the harmonium, respectively. Shubha Mudgal’s presentation of the ragas, Chhayanat and Nayaki Kanada, was powerful and Aneesh Pradhan on the tabla and Sudhir Nayak on the harmonium added to its strength. She also played a sonorous thumri in Raga Tilang.

Pratyush Banerjee

Ojas Adhiya on the tabla and Giridhar Udupa on the ghatam performed an enjoyable recital in teentaal. Rakesh Chaurasia’s performance on the flute was ornamented by the vibrant beats of Satyajit Talwalkar’s tabla. Uday Bhawalkar’s dhrupad presentation in Raga Bhairav was followed by one in Raga Bhairavi along with Pratap Awadh on the pakhawaj. The vocalist, Anagha Bhat, presented kheyal in Raga Shree and an abhang with Bibhas Sanghai on the tabla. Koustav Roy’s Raga Marwa on the sarod and Brajeswar Mukherjee’s vocal rendition in Raga Gawati were both enjoyable. Budhaditya Mukhopadhyay stole the show with serene renditions of Raga Puriya Dhaneshree and Raga Mishra Pilu. He was accompanied by Soumen Nandy on the tabla.

Sangeet Piyashi’s annual event at Uttam Mancha had some unique features. It began with Saraswati vandana followed by a Kathak performance by Sulagna Banerjee, a vocal rendition by Sanchita Mukhopadhyay and a sitar recital by Purnendu Banerjee. The tabla trio, Indranil Mallick, Subhajyoti Guha and Bibhas Sanghai, presented a one-of-a-kind experience along with Hiranmay Mitra on the harmonium. The vocal trio, Shantanu Bhattacharyya, Koushik Bhattacharjee and Tushar Dutta, enchanted with Subhen Chatterjee on the tabla and Rupashree Bhattacharya on the harmonium. Sugato Nag on the sitar, Debashish Bhattacharya on the slide guitar, and Rupak Kulkarni on the flute were mellifluous.

The veteran vocalist, Mandira Lahiri, was melodious in Raga Patdeep and in the other compositions by Pandit Chinmoy Lahiri in Raga Khamajh. She was ably accompanied by Kamalaksha Mukherjee on the harmonium and Amit Chatterjee on the tabla. Kushal Das on the sitar presented Raga Yogkauns with flourish and a dhun in Raga Shiv Ranjani. Pratyush Banerjee enchanted listeners with his skilful rendition of Raga Patdeep on the sarod along with Tanmoy Bose on the tabla. Sanju Sahai’s tabla lahara along with Dharamnath Mishra on the harmonium was pleasing. Piu Mukherjee sang Raga Yog and melodic thumris with Kumar Bose on the tabla. Samar Saha’s endeavour to find young talent and inspire them with awards at the end of the event was laudable.