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The 37th ITC-SRA Sangeet Sammelan was held on
the 17th and 18th of April, 2010 at Kamani Auditorium in New
Delhi. Artists and stalwarts, both young and elderly, from both
North and South India performed in the Sammelan, including the
likes of Pt. Birju Maharaj, Vidushi Aruna Sairam, Dr.
Vyjayantimala Bali and recent Padma Shri awardee, Pandit Ulhas
Kashalkar. The ambience, attendance and overall mood of the
Sammelan were beyond magnificent. It was like a breath of cool,
fresh air in the midst of the searing weather of New Delhi.
The event started off at around quarter past five in the
afternoon with a packed audience, beginning with past ITC-SRA
scholar, Omkar Dadarkar. A student of Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar,
accompanied by tabla maestro, Pt. Ananda Gopal Bandopadhyaya.
Omkar sang a vilambit and drut gat in Raga Puriya. He sang with
effortless fluency, to which the audience showed much
appreciation. Following the young artist’s performance was that
of a young college going girl, who has already made a name for
herself : Rimpa Siva. She presented a teentala tabla solo. The
audience was completely awe-struck by such a scintillating
display of technique by an artist so young.
The third act was performed by Padmashri Vidushi Aruna Sairam, a
renowned Carnatic vocalist. She began her performance with an
invocative Sloka followed by a Kriti in Raga Mohanakalyani set
to Adi tala, This Kriti, “ Bhuvaneshwariah” was a composition of
Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagvatar. This was followed by another
Kriti composed by the famous Muthuswamy Dikshitar, one among the
Trinity of carnatic music, in honour of Lord Ardhanarishwara
during his visit to Varanasi (travelled by foot all the way from
the south). The kriti “Ardhanareeshwaram” was set to the Roopak
tala and was in raga Kumudapriya. She then presented a very
complex and challenging Raga Todi. A traditional format of
Ragam-Taanam-pallavi was demonstrated with detailed alap and
taanam followed by “Ninne Nammi”, a kriti in Tala Misra Chaapu,
a Shyama Shastri composition. This presentation also included
the Niraval, Sargam and Tani Avartanam by Ghatam and Mridangam.
She concluded her performance with a folk based composition
kavdi VHindu by Uthukkadu Venkata Subba Iyer. Accompanying her
were Raghavendra Rao on the violin, Dr. S Kartick on the ghatam
and B.Ganapathyraman on the mridangam. Although it was a sudden
shift from North Indian to South Indian music, the music lovers
of Delhi were completely captivated by Aruna ji’s mesmerizing
voice blended with mellifluous instrumentation.
The fourth and final performance of the evening commenced with a
lamp lighting ceremony followed by the felicitation of the
ITC-SRA Awardee for 2009, Pandit Birju Maharaj. Both Mr. Ravi
Mathur, Executive Director, ITC SRA and Chief Guest, Mr. Anil
Rajput, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, ITC Ltd., gave
speeches honoring Pandit Birju Maharaj, and showed their
appreciation to both the performers and the audience.
A jugalbandi of Vidushi Girija Devi and Pt. Birju Maharaj was
the much-awaited grand finale. It was truly a privilege for the
crowd to perceive such an aesthetically refined partnership
mingled with liveliness, exuberance and energy between the two
doyens of both Hindustani classical music and Kathak
respectively. The execution of Pt. Maharaj’s dance steps and
body movements to the sweet voice of Girija ji and the
accompanying instrumental music was a rare treat to observe and
absorb. They were both given a standing ovation at the end of
the performance. All in all, it was the ideal conclusion to a
musically joyful evening.
The second evening of the 37th ITC SRA Sangeet Sammelan
commenced at the same time as the previous day, starting off
with Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, a Guru at the ITC-Sangeet Research
Academy. The concert hall had already been packed half an hour
earlier for this performance, for Ulhas ji is one of the leading
vocalists of North Indian classical music of all time.
Accompanied by Pandit Suresh Talwalkar on the tabla, Sarwar
Hussain on the sarangi and Shri Jyoti Goho on the harmonium,
Ulhas ji began with a hypnotic and soulful rendition of Raga
Multani in vilambit tilwada tala, and drut teen tala. He then
moved on to a short, yet powerful rendition of Raga Marwa in
rupak tala. After he had ended his second rendition, the
audience were left craving for more and pleaded with him to
continue singing. Pt. Kashalkar granted their wish with no
hesitation, and sang an intoxicatingly beautiful bhajan in Raga
Tilang in madhyalaya jhaptala.
Next in the impressive lineup was Dr. N. Rajam, renowned North
Indian classical violinist, accompanied by her granddaughter,
Nandini Shankar. There are few who have been able to render
North Indian classical music on the violin as proficiently and
effectively as Dr. Rajam. Her ability to execute the many subtle
nuances of North Indian vocal music on the violin is beyond
description. Her grand daughter, Nandini, also showed tremendous
promise through an intuitive sense of accompaniment and
technical execution. They played Raga Yaman followed by a dhun
in Raga Khamaj and a bhajan. Providing rhythmic support for them
on the tabla was Shri Samar Saha, who added to the musical depth
and impact of the performance with his unparalleled creativity
in exploring the various rhythmic patterns that blended in
perfectly with Dr. Rajam’s melodic interpretations.
Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, world-renowned Hindustani classical
vocalist, and a product of and current Guru of ITC-SRA, gave the
third performance of the evening. Accompanying him were Shri
Subhankar Banerjee on the tabla and Brajeshwar Mukherjee, Pandit
Chakrabarty’s student and a scholar of ITC-SRA, on the
harmonium. Pandit Chakrabarty performed in vilambit jhoomra tala
drut teentala in Raga Malkauns, a raga well suited to the late
hours of the evening. He sang with graceful ease and fluidity,
weaving a magic spell around his listeners with his charming
voice and music. The audience, on several occasions, broke into
spontaneous applause, during the course of the performance.
The final act of the evening was presented by Dr. Vyjayantimala
Bali, erstwhile actress and famous Bharatanatyam dance
specialist, and a very well-known figure in India for many
decades. Dr. Vyjayantimala Bali, inspired and dazzled the
audience, perfectly and gracefully executing each and every
move, whether through her body or her facial gestures, and
adding to the musical and lyrical content of Bharatanatyam.
Tremendous appreciation and a standing ovation were expectedly
given to her by the audience.
Performances on both days ran to an overflowing auditorium and
continued well beyond 10pm, thanks to the constant demand for
encores from an eager, spellbound audience. |
