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It was an honest endeavour by Kolkata Music Forum. The organization arranged a programme at the Birla Academy of Art & Culture to present the new generation of Indian classical music. The show opened with Koyel Dasgupta Naha, who performed Raga Puriya Dhanashree. Initially, she was a bit stiff but as she progressed, she was able to create the perfect atmosphere for this evening raga. The clarity and spontaneity of her voice attracted the audience. She started with vilambit ektaal, followed by madhyalay and drut teentaal in the same raga. Her voice has the capacity to express all the nuances of this particular raga. She explored the raga with appreciable vistaar, taan and boltaans although her performance lacked the spice of variety.
After this, she presented a thumri in Raga Desh — “Saiyaan bulawe parades.” Although her style of presentation was not unique, her voice was praiseworthy. Koyel is a budding singer and she has talent. Hopefully, her style will mature with time and experience.
After Koyel’s performance there was a sarod recital by Debashish Bhattacharya. He started with Raga Gorakh Kalyan. His alaap was not very attractive. But his style of playing the gaat was up to the mark.
He tried to express the magic of the raga sincerely, but it did not bloom fully. After this, he played a beautifully composed bandish in the same raga. His presentation of the taan and the vistaar was enjoyable. His next composition made for pleasurable listening. It was brief and smart.
In the last phase of the programme, singer Manojit Mallick presented vilambit ektaal in Raga Jog Kosh.
His voice was sweet, smooth and he has a natural capacity to expose the intricate characteristics of a raga. His vilambit presentation with the vistaar emphasizing the key notes touched the heart of the listeners. He did not take much time to finish his performance with the drut kheyal in the same raga, but it was ornamented with complicated taans.
Although the performance was brief, Manojit’s charming voice brought out the true spirit of Raga Anandi Kalyan. His was the last performance of the evening. These kinds of show must be hosted more frequently to encourage young artists and to spark an interest in Indian classical music among young listeners. |
