Bright notes

The 15th annual music festival of Paramparik, in association with The Telegraph, was striking because of the variations of technique and style. The vocal recital by Mahendra Toke was fresh. Although he could have been more in command, he touched upon the hidden beauty of Multani, which requires a tricky combination of keynotes especially during the rotation. Debashis Bhattacharya was interesting on the slide guitar, though his improvizations could have been more touching.

It was the vocalist, Manjusha Patil, who stole the spotlight that evening. She rendered Raga Shree with clarity and power, striking the perfect equation between komal re and tivra madhyam. Her vistaars, especially in the middle and lower octaves, were entertaining. The lower octaves in vilambit could be improved.

Tejendranarayan Majumdar evoked the scent of Maihar with his rendition of Hem Behag, a creation of Ustaad Allauddin Khan. He followed tradition and was charming in the gat of Madhu Malati. But one expected something more from someone with his expertise. The able accompaniments on the tabla and the harmonium added a spark to the music.