Musical Wednesdays – October – December , 2004
In Kolkata, October is often replete with holidays because of Durga Puja. In 2004, only one Wednesday recital could be scheduled for the month. It featured a guest artiste from Varanasi, Dr. Ritwik Sanyal. Presently Head of the Vocal Music Department of Benaras Hindu University, Dr. Sanyal belongs to the famed Dagar gharana of Dhrupad singers, trained by Ustad Zia Moinuddin Dagar and Zia Fariduddin Dagar Beginning his recital with an elaborate alap in Raga Jog, he presented a dhrupad by Nayak Bakshu set to choutala, “Pyari tere nainan”, following it up with a Baba Kali Das bandish set to teevra tala “Ved so nad”. Invoking the Goddess Durga, he sang “Daya kar dayani” in Raga Yaman, set to sooltala. His concluding item was a dhamar in Raga Bageshree “Nath chale aavat”. Tapas Das accompanied him on the pakhawaj and Rupashree Bhattacharya on the harmonium.
ITC Sangeet Research Academy organised a Bijoya Sammelan on 3rd November 2004. As has become almost customary, ITC SRA Guru Arun Bhaduri sang for the occasion. In a jubilant mood, he began with khayals in Raga Multani and then presented khayals in Ragas Durga, Anandi and Adana. He concluded with a bhajan made popular by the late Guru A.Kanan “Main dwar khol kar baitha hoon”. His accompanists were Tarak Saha on the tabla, Jyoti Goho on the harmonium and Gourab Chatterjee on vocals.
The second week’s Wednesday recital presented instrumental music. ITC SRA scholar Supratik Sengupta, presently being trained by Guru Budhadev Dasgupta, began his sitar recital with alap, jod, and jhala in Raga Puriya Dhanashree, followed by vilambit and drut gats. He concluded with a gat in Raga Rageshree. Gopal Mishra provided tabla support.
In the last Wednesday recital of November, Omkar Dadarkar presented a vocal recital. Disciple of Guru Ulhas Kashalkar, He began the evening with khayals in Raga Shree, after which he presented khayals in Ragas Anandi and Sindhura. He concluded with a bhajan. Sandip Roy Chowdhury provided tabla support while Rupashree Bhattacharya was on the harmonium.
Wednesday recitals in December began with Ranjani Ramachandran’s vocal recital. Disciple of Guru Ulhas Kashalkar, she began with khayals in Raga Puriya Dhanashree and then sang khayals in Raga Chhayanat, concluding with a Thumri. Swapan Mukherjee was her tabla accompanist while Gourab Chatterjee was at the harmonium.
On 8th December, Samarth Nagarkar, disciple of Guru Ulhas Kashalkar, began with “E ma dhan ghan re”, a khayal in Raga Bihag set to vilambit tilwada tala, after which he sang the ever-popular “Aba ho lalan main ka” set to drut teentala. Turning to Raga Yaman, he presented “Tori nazaria lage pyari” set to teentala. He concluded with Raga Desh, “Firat na fere naina” set to jhaptala and finally “Eree bansuri” in drut teentala. Aslam Khan provided tabla accompaniment while ITC SRA scholar Sandeep Bhattacharya was on the harmonium.
On 15th December 2004, Rita Ganguli, noted thumri exponent who received talim from the famed Siddeshwari Devi and Begum Akhtar, gave a vocal recital. Beginning with the pragya virahini nayika mood, she sang “More shyam na aaye” in Raga Jhinjhoti. Turning then to a mugdha virahini nayika mood, she sang “ Ayo hai phagunmasa” set to rupak tala. She then presented the dadra “Aayila Banwari” and then the popular “Nirmohi tora jiya kaise jadu dala”, after which she sang ‘Raski boond pade”. She went on to present ghazals “Hava mein raksa hai”, “Tere karib aake’, “Aake hum bichhade” and “Nazar uthake”. She concluded with Bengali poet Shakti Chattopadhyay’s famous “Abani badi aachho”. Ananda Gopal Bandyopadhyay provided excellent tabla accompaniment while Sandip Bhattacharjee coaxed tunes on the harmonium.
22nd December brought ITC SRA scholar Pampa Banerjee to the dais. Smt Shruti Sadolikar Katkar is presently training her. She sang Raga Bihag, beginning with the bada khayal “Jogiya ne man bourayo”, after which she presented “Shyam mori bindiya na niharo”. She concluded with a thumri in Raga Khamaj. Gopal Mishra played the tabla while Rupashree Bhattacharya wa a t the harmonium.
The last Wednesday of 2004 was spent listening to instrumental music. Abir Hussain, ITC-SRA scholar being trained by Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta, presented a sarod recital accompanied by Sri Ashok Saha on the tabla. He began with Raga Rageshree, presenting alap, jod and jhala followed by vilambit and drut gats set to teentala. He concluded with an introductory alap and a madhyalaya teentala gat in Raga Pilu.