Prabhakar Mohanta and (above) Chittaranjan Behera perform at the event. Pictures by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, July 22: The evening was unforgettable. It was an evening to reflect on life, to immerse in it’s joy and beauty and long for the moments that have passed.

The magic of the voices of veteran singers created an ambience of nostalgia and classical poetry rendered through music deeply touched the hearts of the audience.

The beats of the thumri on the emotional tunes of raga Bageshri by veteran Hindustani vocalist Pradip Patra was reminiscent of the pain of a grief-stricken Radha separated from her beloved Krishna. The melancholic raga — said to have first sung by Tansen of Akbar’s court — enchanted the listeners present at Jaydev Bhawan on Wednesday at the veterans’ special programme organized by Orissa Sangeet Natak Academy.

Patra’s recital of Kab aaoge and Aaj balam ghar aaja had already received a large applause for his long and complex aalaps.

His singing of the Surdas-written bhajan, Akhiyaan Hari darshan ko pyaasi was also appreciated.

“It was a mesmerising and enchanting session by Patra,” said veteran musician Sikander Alam who presided over the cultural evening.

Urmila Pradhan’s ek taal presentation of Raga Kamodi was exuberant as the Akashvani artiste recited some old bhajans in the Odissi genre of classical vocal.

Her Champu recital of Kavi Surya Baladeb Rath’s poetry on raga desh got the audience on their feet for its vibrant notes.

Guru Prabhakar Mohanta’s energetic performance of Jhumar overwhelmed connoisseurs of music in the capital city. “The event gave me a wonderful opportunity to listen to maestros of the state and that too from all genres of classical music. It truly was a wonderful programme and an amazing experience, especially for us younger ones,” said Deepak, a tabla student.

“We wished reintroduce the maestros of our state to the younger generations. These performances should attract more youngsters towards folk, tribal and classical forms of music that once flourished in the state but now are among the lesser known arts,” said Pratap Kumar Sahani, secretary of Orissa Sangeet Natak Academy.

The cultural evening, titled Smrutiru Khiye (to pay homage to veteran vocalists and instrumentalists), also saw Chittaranjan Behera perform in Sambalpuri folk.

Biraj Tandi performed Sanchar sangeet and Seemanchal Mandal performed Radha premleela sangeet and Prahlad natak sangeet.

All the artistes were felicitated during the occasion.