Steeped in melody: Girija Devi on stage (Picture by Shambhu Hazra)

It was a treat to listen to Kushal Das on the concluding evening of the Gunidas Sangeet Sammelan held at the Birla Sabhagar on December 18 and 19. That he is influenced by Pandit Nikhil Banerjee, who in turn was an ardent admirer of Ustad Amir Khan, was evident in his Shuddh Kalyan, a favourite of the late Ustad. The first stroke of Kushal?s melodious sitar glided down from sa to dha of the lower octave but not before gently caressing the nishad. This turned the raga on.

His fingers thereafter sang the revealing notes most lovingly in the introspective alaap segment and slow ektal gat, highlighting the keynote glides all the while. Abhijit Banerjee displayed matching sensitivity on the tabla.

The same, however, was not possible in taan-todas and later in the treatment of the fast teental composition and the super-fast jhala. A sensitive musician like him can easily choose a different raga for gat-bandishes to display his virtuosity with artistic finesse.

Parveen Sultana?s prowess has been following a predictable path for quite some time now. She treats all her ragas with the same technique which plunges deep down in the lower octave for the introduction, fleetingly touches the middle for a while, creates drama around the tonic before landing there, and then takes a long flight to reach the far end of the higher octave.

Her gamak taans suddenly turn into fast ones. On this occasion her Maru Bihag and Hansadhwani were no exception.

Abhijit Banerjee and Deba Prasad Dey provided support on the tabla and harmonium respectively. What is sure to haunt her audience was an encore of the inevitable Bhavani Dayani. In this Bhairavi saadra of the Seniya gharana, styled and presented by her like a bhajan for decades, Parveen remains inimitable.

Satish Vyas, with Sabir Khan on the tabla, commenced the Sammelan with a restive but neat and technically correct Puria-Dhanashri on the santoor followed by Yaman. Pandit Jasraj was his usual spiritual self in Jaijaiwanti and a bhajan. Kumar Bose accompanied him on the tabla.

The Pandit Ravi Kichlu Foundation organised the finals of its Golden Talent Contest on December 24 at the Birla Sabhagar. The huge gift hampers presented to the winners were in keeping with the spirit of Xmas Eve. Girija Devi, with a glorious grey crown like Santa Claus, provided the finishing touch with her blessings steeped in melody. The doyenne of the Benaras Gharana began with a khayal in Kedar. The simple, direct approach delineated the raga in a few phrases and she moved on to the vistaar segment of the ektal bandish. The powerful tonic of the upper octave commanded respect.

Her fast taans, though, had the tappa flavour. A teental composition replete with interesting tehais completed the picture. Her emotive Mishra Khamaj thumri was more appealing but the laggi suffered a setback due to lack of coordination among the accompanying artistes. Otherwise Piu Mukherjee and Dipanjana Bose (supporting voices), Deba Prasad Dey (harmonium) and Shubhen Chatterjee (tabla) were very supportive. A traditional dadra, presented by her for the first time in her 55 years of singing career, turned out to be the most enchanting item.