Like every year, the Dover Lane Music Conference celebrated the achievements of young talents who were successful in their respective arenas throughout the year. The two-day music session in Birla Academy commenced with the performance of Ankita Chowdhury. She sang bhajans in Mishra Piloo and Bhairavi and enthralled the audience with her sweet voice. The Benarasi thumri and dadra by Debroop Chakraborty showed the care he took and the clarity of his presentation, and were pleasant to the ears as well.
Hindola Sinha’s violin recital was interesting and full of variety. She started with Yaman, followed by a brief presentation of Mishra Dhup, and concluded with Rabindrasangeet. Surela Nandan enchanted listeners with Bageshree. The performance, with well-organized vistaars and taans, was enjoyable. The presentation of ragpradhan songs by Sanchari Mukhopadhyay could have been better. High expectations were evoked with Palash Kuri’s kheyal presentation in Behaag, as he began with control over the raga. But the performance could have been more concise as it went on. His performance of Kirwani, however, was short and sweet.
The rendition of Puriya Dhaneshree on the slide guitar by Ratan Bharati was absorbing, but lost compactness at the end. The concluding performance by Sanjukta Das was mature and arresting. The taans and vistaars in Raga Anand Kalyan showed the power and prowess of her voice. The tabla accompaniment by Bibhas Sanghai, Arkodeep Das, Ujjwal Bharati, Tamaghna Chakraborty, Ujjwal Roy and Bilal Khan Salonvi as well as the harmonium accompaniment by Hiranmoy Mitra, Pradip Palit, Santabrata Nandan and Bishnudeb Chakraborty enhanced the effervescence of the musical session.
The Bhattacharya House of north Calcutta maintained tradition by organizing a concert of classical music at the end of Durga Puja. The vocalist, Wasim Ahmed Khan, spread the warmth of the celebration with his performance of Purvi. As a sincere follower of the Agra gharana, Wasim began the raga with Nom Tom alaap as per tradition, and went on with the intricacies in vilambit kheyal. The depth and generosity of his voice were evident in the smooth, expert movement of the keynotes in three octaves. The taans and vistaars were full of variety and brought out the serene beauty of the raga. He continued with the drut kheyal followed by some back-to-back compositions in the rarely-heard Raga Barwa. The charm of the raga flourished in a short span of time. Sarwar Hussain was on the sarangi with Wasim.
Omkar Dadarkar gave an enchanting performance in Raga Durga in a vilambit kheyal set to jhumra taal, followed by drut kheyal in teentaal and a tarana in ektaal. The efficient presentation created an enjoyable ambience in spite of the limited structure of this raga. The sitar recital of Ayan Sengupta in Hem Behaag created a resonant thread between the two vocalists. Sanjay Adhikary on the tabla assisted all the performers perfectly.
Ayan Sengupta played Raga Puriya Dhaneshree in a programme at Kalamandir, organized by Sangeet Ashram (picture, right). His intricate technique demonstrated the depth of his training. There was a perfect blend of sweetness and expertise. He was ably accompanied by Debjit Patitundi on the tabla. The vocal recital of the senior artist, Harish Tiwari, went on with Raga Shudh Kalyan. The raga’s structure and profundity were well expressed, although a vivaciousness was missing. The tabla of Samar Saha and the harmonium of Pradip Palit resonated with energy. The show ended with a bhairavi bhajan.
Ayan Sengupta at Kala Mandir Sangeet Ashram