Suchitra Mitra

Calcutta, Jan. 3: Rabindrasangeet has lost the last of a generation of traditional exponents, Suchitra Mitra, in the 150th year of Tagore’s birth anniversary.

Mitra, 86, died of cardiac arrest at her Ballygunge home this afternoon.

“Her death has brought the curtain down on Rabindranath Tagore’s era. In everything that we did, every moment of our life, her voice had been with us,” said Trinamul leader Mamata Banerjee.

“For decades, she enthralled music lovers with her singing, and her distinct style would reflect the spirit of Tagore’s music,” said chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

Born on September 19, 1924, Mitra’s roots in Rabindrasangeet can be traced to her father Sourindra Mohan Mukhopadhyay, a close associate of the Tagore family in Jorasanko. Mitra’s talent in music was recognised by Pankaj Kumar Mullick, from whom she received her first lesson in Rabindrasangeet.

Weeks after Tagore’s death in 1941, she was inducted into Santiniketan’s Sangeet Bhavan on a scholarship.

After receiving her diploma from Santiniketan, Mitra returned to Calcutta in 1945 for a master’s degree in Bengali from Calcutta University.

Her love of Tagore songs prompted her to found Rabitirtha, one of the leading schools for Rabindrasangeet.

Among those enthralled by Mitra’s voice were Mahatma Gandhi and Bertrand Russell, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.

“We lost the last legend in Rabindrasangeet today,” said singer Srikanta Acharya.

Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan pays tribute to the singer who tutored him in Tagore:

I’m very shocked and sad at the news. I think it is a great loss for Indian music, especially Rabindrasangeet. She was so committed and dedicated and a great soul.

We had done an album together called Tribute to Tagore in 1990. Before that, I wasn’t very well versed in Tagore’s music but those days of music sittings, rehearsals and discussions with Suchitraji and the songs we recorded made all the difference. I then realised the genius of Tagore.

We had our recording sessions in the Saregama studio in Dum Dum when I had the opportunity to discover the perfectionist that she was. She also had a tremendous sense of humour.

That album is still popular around the world and almost everywhere I perform I get requests for Kon khela je, Chander alo, Jodi tor daak shuney. It was a revelation and realisation in my approach to Tagore, and Suchitraji was a pioneer in that tradition.

I remember performing at her school Rabitirtha when she presented me with a bronze idol of Tagore.

She will always be alive in the hearts of music lovers.