Pandit Shivkumar Sharma

The main attractions of Sutanati Parishad’s nightlong 11th annual classical music festival at Lahabati were recitals by santoor pioneer Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and singer Shubha Mudgal. At Mudgal’s recital, the third of the night, it was the accompanists who impressed more. Playing the tabla, Aneesh Pradhan produced the best round of laggi heard for a long time in the city. This came in final part of the Tilang thumri, the third item. Harmonium accompanist Puroshottam Walawalkar also stole the show whenever he soloed.

The words of the Tilang thumri exemplified the banality of many such compositions: Tuma bina jiya ghabdae, Ratiya needh na aye. Such lyrics are unlikely to evoke memorable bol-banao unless the singer is an inspired one. Mudgal did not appear inspired. She sang the compositions well, including that of the opening ati vilambit ektal khayal in Bihagda, but did not develop them impressively. Her vilambit and drut ektal khayals also lacked variety, as they comprised minimal phrase development and monotonous taankari. The taans were of the same type and did not develop as the best do. She also sang two more compositions briefly. Among these was a Hori thumri in Desh, also another occasion for briefer but excellent laggi from Pradhan.

Before starting his recital, the fourth of the night, Shivkumar Sharma noted that this was a rare gathering (the audience mostly sitting on the covered floor of a large old courtyard) but said he would wait till the other kind of music subsided before playing.

This was the crackling noise of plastic bags provided by the organisers to enable the audience to store their footwear themselves as they sat on the floor. People returning from their trips outside were packing their shoes and then moving on to take their seats. This created the noise.

His Kaunsi Kanada alap meandered a bit at the beginning but soon gathered enough momentum to give a glimpse of the vintage Shivkumar. The rupak tala gatkari with its rapid-fire stroke work and excellent rhythmic patterns was even better though Kumar Bose on the tabla seemed a little constrained initially. He did open up and bring the house down later though. The drut teental gatkari and jhala were in the best Shivkumar tradition. He ended with a Pahadi dhun with Punjab-style chromatic movements.

The nightlong festival had opened with an excellent Odissi dance recital by Sutapa Talukdar. This was followed by a sarod-sitar duet in raga Charukeshi by Shri and Sharbani Ganguly, the daughters and pupils of the late sarod maestro Pandit Shyam Ganguli. I have heard these the duo perform on their own or with Shyambabu when they were little girls and it is heartening to note that they have kept the tradition going. Ustad Sabir Khan accompanied them on the tabla with vigour.

The festival ended with a recital by young vocalist Sandipan Samajpati who sang khayals in Bilaskhani Todi and the famous Jogia thumri — Piya milan ki aas.