Shanti Sharma evoked admiration at Kala Kunj on December 21 through the melodic appeal of her badhat in Puria Kalyan, delving deep in the lower and middle octave, and then taking a little time to impress. But the impact of the speed and variety of her taans was virtually electric. The delicate, soothing voice and virtuosity of this Kirana exponent from Delhi was at its best in a Kedar bandish. A Dhamar-Dhrupad recital by Prakriti Dutta, at the Gorky Sadan on December 23, exemplified why Dhrupad is an endangered genre today. She could do without the extra-vigorous voice-throw, which destroyed the mood of the lyrics, and unrestrained glides with vivadis, which distorted the ragas.
Meena Banerjee
Vinod Sharma?s current exhibition of rockscapes raises the question of how interesting certain specific genres of landscape painting can have an aesthetically ennobling effect on the viewer. It turns out that the more numerous the exhibits that are otherwise devoid of any other accompaniment, the more monotonous is likely to be the observer?s experience. This thing, surrounding once again the Delhi- and Baroda-trained Vinod Sharma?s deftly executed oil paintings, would have been hard to treat as inessential had there not been some outstanding inclusions of great aesthetic and lyrical value in the show. The most impressive pieces, though, were less explicitly descriptive of rock textures or formations, but more so those of water falling at great speed.
Samir Dasgupta
The tsunami is raising a wave of funds from all quarters. Prajna?s fund-raiser at the Birla Sabhagar on January 4 was a mixed bag of songs and readings. Sudeshna Basu sang her old favourites from Tagore?s compositions ? the likes of Shokol janam bhorey and Krishnakali. They were devoid of tunefulness and melody. Anjan Basu?s esraj coupled with Biplab Mandal?s tabla propped up her shakiness. Sunil Gangopadhyay?s readings from his own compositions ? Maayer Chithi and Aloka Biswas Tumi Ke ? proved to be popular talking points for the urban audience. Rajeshwar Bhattacharya replaced Dr Ananda Gupta, unwell and with a failing voice. The former?s rendition of Pinaketey lagey tankar raised a fair degree of audience appeal. Saonli Mitra?s readings from Tagore?s stories were, sadly enough, run-of-the-mill.
Mohua Mitra
