Tagore’s autumnal compositions, mostly commonplace, often do not yield any fresh insight into the bard’s vision. Amal dhabal pale legechhe is one such number. It requires a master like Enakshi Chattopadhyay to read between the lines and present a new melodic interpretation of the arrival of a fleet of white cloudlets driven by the fragrant breeze. Chattopadhyay’s treatment of the Ogo kangal amare in tappang was another treat for the connoisseurs. The tunefulness, backed by a through understanding of the song’s submissive temper, was overwhelming at times during her recital at the Bangla Akademi auditorium (October 8). This Sundandan programme also saw Chattopadhyay and her disciples presenting a brief musical discourse on Tagore’s take on western melodies.
Anshuman Bhowmick
Susmit Biswas’ exhibition titled ‘Improvisations’ at the Oxford Book Store is both impressive and depressive. The paintings are strictly two-dimensional and mostly non-figurative and done with acrylic on board and handmade paper. On the other hand, the drawings, in pen and ink, are of single figures who stand or rarely sit, gesticualting in theatrical postures. The lines are nervous, delicate and wire-thin, except for one in which the linear flow is accentuated with a spread of jet black to indicate a coat hanging from a man’s shoulder. In the paintings a single or a couple of figures seem to disappear amidst flourishing swirls of thick variegated brushwork or blobs of perturbed colours. Biswas is trying to resusicate abstract expressionism which has become a part of art history.
Sandip Sarkar
The Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Indian Museum jointly organised an evening of Odissi dance by Monalisa Ghosh and her troupe at Asutosh Birth Centenary Hall on September 30. Trained by Kelucharan Mahapatra and Ramani Ranjan Jena, Ghosh spent her childhood at Kala Vikash Kendra, Orissa. Her programme started off with mangalacharan, an invocatory number displaying devotion of the artistes. Ghosh blossomed in Pallavi, a pure dance number with intricate footwork and supple body movements. However, abhinaya on Tulsidas’s Ramayana was not so impressive. The programme concluded with Moksha, an Odissi number. Giridhari Nayek on pakhwaj and Chandrachur Bhattacharya on sitar gave good supports.
Sharmila Basu Thakur
