From top: Ajoy Chakrabarty, Girija Devi, M. Venkateshkumar and Alam Khan. Photos: shambhu hazra

Balancing an almost equal number of vocal and instrumental artistes the 14th ITC Sangeet Sammelan (December 8-10) offered a mixed bag of recitals by young and veteran musicians in the premises of the Sangeet Research Academy (SRA).

M. Venkateshkumar was the discovery of the year. When the final evening commenced with his vocal rendition, no one knew what to expect from this vocalist from Dharwad who belongs to the Gwalior school. The brief opening phrase etched raga Puriya, segregating it from its look-alike Marwa, with sparkling precision. The stark masculinity of his husky, powerful voice and open aakar, dipped in melody, was surprising as the Gwalior gharana is known for its honeyed, high pitched timbre. The step-by-step elaboration in slow-medium ektal, leaning towards Kirana, was a delighting blend of Pandit D.V. Paluskar and Pandit Bhimsen Joshi in an original pack. Flaunting his aesthetic intent with easy charm, the taans flowed like raining pearls and the tihais dazzled with their varied patterns.

SRA’s renowned accompanist duo Ananda Gopal Bandopadhyay (tabla) and Jyoti Goho (harmonium) enjoyed the confident rhythm-sense of the vocalist to the optimum as he settled with Yaman followed by a Pilu thumri set to deepchandi. Those who turned up in large numbers attracted by the star musicians slated for the rest of the evening were spellbound.

Young sarod player Alam Khan gave as commendable a performance as he did in his debut in the city last winter. The son-disciple of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan delineated a mellow, almost spiritual Yaman Kalyan. Along with the ma, he seemed to enjoy the serene Ma fraught with the fragrance of peace and meditation. Yogesh Samsi’s unobtrusive tabla helped him to keep the spirit of the raga intact through the whole gamut of gatkari with melody reigning supreme.

Rupak Kulkarni’s flute brought out the beauty of Bhupali with steady notes and gliding phrases in the alap. He followed in the footsteps of his guru Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia with dedication while playing the almost inevitable rupak gatkari embellished with rhythmic patterns, taans and tihais, supported by the tabla of Samir Chatterjee. His fast teental gatkari was in Maru Bihag.

Sitar virtuoso Shujaat Khan was trapped in a paradoxical situation. Apparently disturbed by the din of the road-traffic and inspired by the presence of senior musicians in the audience, his alap in Shuddh Kalyan kept reverting back from the jod and jhala but the inherent character of this solemn raga remained elusive. With Shubhankar Banerjee’s tabla, his gatkari focused on taiyari.

The Sammelan began with young SRA scholar Sameehan Kashalkar’s well rendered Yaman though the sudden appearance of Ma in tarana came as a jerk. Supported by Gopal Mishra’s tabla and Gaurav Chatterjee’s harmonium he sang another tarana in Tilak-Kamod. The evening of December 9 commenced with Sadhana Deshmukh Mohite’s disappointing Bhupali.

Rewarding recitals by celebrated maestros Swapan Chowdhury (tabla), Ramnarayan (sarangi) and Ajoy Chakrabarty, Girija Devi and Manas Chakraborty (vocal) were spread over the three-day soiree. The ITC Award meant for the Eastern region went to Pandit Dinkar Kaikini from Mumbai, Western region.