Sudeshna Chattopadhyay

It’s raining everywhere — both outside and inside the city auditoriums. And once again Rabindrasangeet is providing the means to convey the euphoric high that we are experiencing. Three recent programmes underlined this natural tendency in different fashions.

First, Sravaner Amantrane, at GD Birla Sabhaghar (10 August). This presentation by California-based Shruti featured Sudeshna Chattopadhyay in a solo recital. The Suchitra Mitra protégé is now a mature singer. Despite a strained timbre that initially handicapped her languorous movements in the lower octave, Chattopadhyay was otherwise in full flow. Numbers like Hriday amaar nachere ajike were pleasantly reminiscent of her illustrious mentor. Controlled modulation was the key to her rendition of Sakhi amaari duare and Bujhi elo. The rhythmic Ami takhan chhilem magan was accompanied by Biplab Mondal on the tabla.

Chattopadhyay, however, needs to get rid of the lyric sheets that tend to create a barrier between the singer and the song. Poetic interludes, although recited commendably by Sutapa Bandyopadhyay, also seemed to play a spoilsport.

Enakshi Chattopadhyay’s solo recital at Madhusudan Mancha (25 July), titled Sravaner Gaan, was a study in contrast. As a torchbearer of the Sailaja Ranjan Majumdar school of Rabindrasangeet, Chattopadhyay is a grammarian’s delight. Unperturbed by a loud acoustics, an unimaginative tabla player and a timbre that showed edges in the upper register, this seasoned performer regaled in a recital that delineated the agony and ecstasy of monsoon in 22 numbers. The emotions were amply articulated in the brooding optimism of Aji godhulagane and the unrestrained melancholy of Ashrubhara bedana. The alternative version of Amaar ki bedana was also presented.

The annual Varsha Utsav organised by Samaroha found a collaborating partner in Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre this year. The concluding evening, named Varshar Gaan, offered a mixed fare. Achin Mukhopadhyay struck the Tagorean note early. The romance of the monsoon as captured in Utal dhara badal jhare is not remote from urban sesibility. Haimanti Shukla was in good nick. Travelling through her own Adhunik hits, she flirted with classical melodies in style. Our preoccupation with the rains found a new expression in Manomay Bhattacharya’s rivetting rendition of Brishti, an Ajoy Chakraborty composition.