The highlights of Baitalik’s annual evening were the understated performances of “Eki labonye purna prano” and “Amar e poth tomar pother” on the violin by the guest of honour, Durbadal Chattopadhyay. The pathos in the strokes, which almost had a subtle vocal overtone, drew loud cheers from the audience. The event was held at Rabindra Sadan. At the beginning of the programme, Chattopadhyay was fêted for his contributions to music.
The evening was flagged off with three robust choral performances, of which “Amalo kamalo sahaje” stood out. The music academy presented songs from Rabindranath Tagore’s Prabahini almost 100 years after it was published. Heralding the evening’s segment on solo songs were Swapan and Debarati Shome (picture), and a motley chorus, which often burst out with a sudden surge but remained quite in sync. Swapan Shome’s oft-hushed and sometimes-drenched-in-reverb style made complementary approaches to “Sur bhule jei ghure berai”, “Deep nibe geche momo” and “Jibono moroner simana chharaye”. It was his mature outer layerings that drew attention. However, he sounded less guarded in his duet, “Amar hriday tomar apon hater dole”, with Debarati Shome.
Debarati Shome followed a narrative arc in her solo songs. She gave languid touches to “Amar moner majhe” and “Haye go byathaye kotha”, often catching the rhythm at cliff-like edges, but ending the tail lines with a flourish. She has a bold style, which has not diminished over the years and comes out now as a yearning emotion. The lower notes possibly needed an uplift but “Ebar dukkho amar” and “Tumi toh shei jabei chole” had their own robust moments that were captured beautifully in her voice. Once again, the choruses were well sung, particularly the not-so-often-heard “Pathiko hey”. Ratna Mitra’s readings, Swagatam Das’s percussion and Debashish Saha on the keyboards provided unobtrusive accompaniments.