Ustad Imrat Khan

It?s been exactly a quarter of a century since he last played at the annual music conference of the Uttarpara Sangeet Chakra at the Jaikrishna Public Library Ground. That time his co-artiste was elder brother Aftab-e-Sitar Ustad Vilayet Khan. Memories of that jugalbandi continue to stir emotions all over for the musically attuned audience of Uttarpara. As Ustad Imrat Khan picked up his sitar on early Sunday morning, both the artiste and the connoisseurs were soaked in nostalgia. His sitar concert was the grand finale to the two-day meet (January 22-23).

Attending the conference evoked mixed feeling this time as most of the seats were found empty in spite of adequate publicity and funding. Not an encouraging sign for an annual event that celebrates its golden jubilee next year. Has the star-system taken its toll on the connoisseur count?

The second night-long session began on a promising note with upcoming sarod-player Ranajit Sengupta, a scion of the Maihar gharana, playing a wonderful ragamala on Mishra Mand. Once the kirtan tunes were incorporated into the creatively laid out canvas, one could catch snatches of an Atulprasad thumri derivative, and the auditorium filled with an air of expectation.

Odissi danseuse Nandini Ghosal could have taken more than an hour allotted to her. Besides doing the traditional vandana and pallavi, she enacted two stimulating abhinaya pieces. The first explored two facets of the nayika ? Radha, tormented by her passion for Krishna, and Chandrabali, engrossed in ecstasy. Her fluid gestures in encapsulating the Sita and Draupadi subplots within Nazrul?s Chiradin kaharo saman nahi jay was a novelty.

Swapan Majumdar?s guitar could not light up the midnight blues. Anirban Dasgupta played a rather tenuous piece before shining in a Gaurkalyan composition.

Things started looking up with Maskur Ali Khan?s vocal recital in raga Jogia. But it was Imrat Khan who cast a spell the moment he struck the fingerboard, taking raga Ahir Bhairav en route. The 40-minute alap elaborated the divine serenity of the morning melody through intoxicating glides and an array of enchanting phrases. The penultimate Bhiravi composition ? Mor piya sapne me aye/Sare rat gujari mori ankhiyan me ? had an unbearably sad strain etched on it. Sabir Khan provided able support on the tabla.