Sursarita Rout and group perform Odissi chhanda and champu and (right) flute player Sameer Rao’s Hindustani recital at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, July 18: Rain songs drenched the audience at a Bhubaneswar Music Circle’s concert on Sunday. The theme of the concert, which took place at Rabindra Mandap, was monsoon.

The programme featured two young musicians, who regaled the crowd with some classic recitals. Odissi singer Sursarita Rout gave the music aficionados of the city an opportunity to travel back in time to the golden era of music and poetry of ancient Odisha. From rendering Jayadev’s Gitagovinda couplets that romance the monsoon including Meghei medura mambarang on raga Shankarabharan to the 18th century poet Kavisurya Baladeba Rath’s compositions in the Odissi genre of Champu, the melodious vocalist left her listeners spellbound. She also performed Labanyabati by legendary ancient Odia poet Upendra Bhanja.

Following the series of immortal classics, Sursarita, who was accompanied by her well-known musician father Kesab Rout on the harmonium, presented Rasraj Narayan Prasad Singh’s composition Barsa barsa jhara jhara. The vocalist’s rich voice and style created the perfect ambience for the audience to enjoy the monsoons.

The flute recital by Sameer Rao transformed the mood to an even more hypnotic plane as the disciple of flute exponent Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia presented a recital of monsoon raga Mian ki Malhar. Starting with a soothing alaap (introductory phase), Sameer went on to bind the listeners to his music during the following phases of jor and jhala (the faster-paced phases). He then enchanted the audience by playing a composition based on the raga.

Another highlight of his recital was the rendition of a folk tune from Assam on flute. “This is an inspiration from a folk song performed in Assam during the Bihu festival,” said Sameer.

Responding to a request from the audience, the flautist played Vaishnav jan toh.

“The monsoon is a romantic season and music just lends a touch of magic to the natural beauty of the rains. The vocal and flute recitals were both fascinating and allowed us to cherish the season by creating the perfect mood through music,” said Parikshit Das, a member of the audience.