The annual event of the Kajalrekha Musical Foundation reminded the audience of the vibrancy of the tabla maestro, Subhankar Banerjee, whose absence still haunts the music fraternity. The hard work of his wife, Nibedita Banerjee, took the shape of a two-day musical event, Subhodhwani, in memory of Banerjee’s dedication to Indian classical music and to inspire budding talent as well as help musicians in need of financial aid.
This year, the first day was held at Madhusudan Mancha. The programme commenced with a santoor recital by Sandip Chattopadhyay, who played Raga Bhupeshwari with Parimal Chakraborty on the tabla. The alaap was followed by a soulful madhyalay composition set to rupak and drut in teental. Santanu Bhattacharya’s vocal recital (picture, left) was a treat for the audience. He started with Raga Marwa and demonstrated his expertise in three octaves, featuring various taans in a vilambit and a drut kheyal. He also rendered a composition by Meera Bandyopadhyay in Raga Miyan ki Malhar and an interesting tarana. He was well-supported by Hiranmay Mitra on the harmonium and Subir Gharai on the tabla. Debashish Bhattacharya entertained listeners on the innovative instruments, gandharvi and pushpaveena. He played Raga Megh on the gandharvi and Raga Kirwani on the pushpaveena with perfect assistance from his son, Suryadipta. Aarchik Banerjee’s tabla accompaniment added another dimension to the performance.
The second day was held at the Triguna Sen auditorium. The evening began with an arresting musical ensemble by the students of the Taalsen Music Academy. The first presentation was Raga Megh set to rupak taal in madhyalay and drut in teentaal, followed by a piloo dadra. Indranil Mallik’s tabla recital in teentaal had clarity and he was beautifully accompanied by Hiranmay Mitra on the harmonium. The finale by Anindya Chattopadhyay was mesmerising; he amalgamated the attributes of different gharanas, their ways of playing, and complicated compositions. His deft hands brought out the magic of the tabla with Amaan Hussain on the sarangi. His “Lucknow rang” was perhaps the most appropriate tribute for the tabla maestro.
Yatrapath Cultural Society organised a two-day sitar festival at Daga Nikunj under the supervision of the sitarist, Abhirup Ghosh, in association with the Alka Jalan Foundation. The first performance of the first session was “Om jai jagdish hare” and it featured Srijan Chattopadhyay, Anushka Das, Ghosh and other members of the organisation. Ajay Bhattacharya’s narration of Sanskrit verses was a unique experience. Niladri Sen played Raga Puriya Dhaneshree with Debashish Sarkar on the tabla. The sitarist, Partha Bose, was sparkling in his rendition of Raga Madhu Kaus with able accompaniment on the tabla by Samar Saha.
On the second day, the students of Yatrapath presented a sitar ensemble in
Raga Kafi. Ghosh evoked the essence of evening with Raga Yaman Kalyan and continued with a dhamar gat in Raga Maru. Rohen Bose provided the artist perfect support on the tabla. Abhishek Mallik took an offbeat approach with the alaap in Raga Nageshwari followed by a gat set to adachowtaal as well as a tarana with Bikram Ghosh on the tabla. Mita Nag’s melodic and mellifluous rendition (picture, right) with Kumar Bose adding verve with the tabla was the perfect conclusion to the festival. She played an intricate alaap in Raga Marwa and went on to play a vilambit gat in teentaal. She also performed a drut gat in Raga Sohini and her spontaneity and expertise were evident.