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| Masterly twist: Shahid Parvez on stage (Picture by Sanat K. Sinha) |
The romanticism of the Vilayatkhani Baaj was at its best when Shahid Parvez beckoned raga Gawati at a packed-to-capacity Kala Mandir on February 4. The soft undertones of the sliding sitar were apparently devoid of plucking in the alaap, but made their presence felt in the jod and jhala with the advent of intricate rhythmic patterns. Giving a masterly twist to a fading melody, taking a U-turn with a glide reeking of a raga after a long ekhara taan and flashing artistry a la Ravi Shankar, were the focal points of his recital. The layakari in slow jhaptal emphasised the different muka-ams and each tehai merged with the refrain before perfectly arriving at the sam. The beautiful uthaan and the sitarkhani gait of the fast teental gat were fully exploited in the taan-todas, albeit with creeping shadows of Bheem. The tabla of Kumar Bose sang no less. It was the Khamaj dhun with the lilting strains of kirtan, Maand and bold tones of sawal-jawab which saw the rhythm dance with the melody.
After the resurrection of the All Bengal Music Conference the Ballygunge Music Conference confirmed the beginning of an era of revivals. Patronised by the mayor of Calcutta, it brought the brightest of stars under one roof, but the stingy time limit left them jostling for space throughout.
Inaugurated by Usrad Imrat Khan, its 18th session began early with a neat Bharatanatyam duet by Malabika Sen and Shubhra Kundu, but Rashid Khan?s recital, the finale, began unusually late. The suspense lingered for another 12 minutes before his Maru Bihag revealed its contours. Once established, the intoxicating taaseer of the badhat wove magic with the filigree of taans ably supported by Shubhankar Banerjee on the tabla.
Parveen Sultana, the first star of the evening, presented a glitzy Madhuwanti with dizzying high-speed taans.
The invisible daanas, the slips in vowel taans, the jhala-like sargams did little to help the raga. The bhajan, however, extracted the best out of Sabir Khan, Deba Prasad Dey and Sultana herself.
The delightful English introductions by Shankarlal Bhattacharya did not require the unwarranted explanations.
The afternoon-evening session of the ONGC Sangeet Samaroh presented by the Arohan Foundation at the Birla Sabhagar on Sunday comprised a bouquet of rarely heard ragas and Kathak recital by an amazingly agile Chitresh Das assisted by his team of musicians.
Flautist Ronu Mazumder presented Gorakh Kalyan, taking full advantage of the chords provided by the raga. The beauty of the compositions in rupak, sitarkhani and teental were further enhanced by an expert gat-kari. The super-fast jhala could not deter Abhijit Banerjee?s supportive tabla. However, his pahadi dhun in deepchandi showed strange combinations of juxtaposed gandhars and dhaivats.
The session began with Bhimpalasi on the santoor of Satish Vyas. Accompanied by Arup Chatterjee?s tabla, he presented pristine tantrakari in rupak, ektal and teental. Vocalist Raka Mukherjee highlighted the pathos of Multani. She excelled in an emotive thumri and a lilting daadra. Sarathi Chatterjee?s good command of the rhythm was apparent in his khayals in Champakali and Basant, but his nasal voice-throw could do better with an open akaar, as displayed during his impressive taankari.