|
The buildup to the ITC SRA Sangeet Sammelan
in Hyderabad, which was held at the Ravindra Bharathi
Auditorium on April 3 & 4, 2010 started amidst political
tension in the region. The Press attendance at the pre-event
Press Meet was initially doubtful but later turned out to be a
success.
The 2-day Sammelan also evoked the same tensions initially, but
the paucity of such concerts in Hyderabad ensured that people
turned up in large numbers, put all reservations to rest. The
Sammelan started with an Invocation by Guru Ajoy Chakrabarty
followed by the traditional lamp lighting by some of our Gurus,
senior managers from ITC Ltd. and local artists.
True to the Academy’s tradition, the evening’s program was
started by ITC SRA scholar, Sameehan Kashalkar. The 45 minute
recital saw him demonstrate a vilambit bandish in Tilwada -
"Beet gayi mori", in Raga Marwa followed by a Tarana in Drut
Teental. A Madhyalay bandish in Addha teental - "Kanha rangava
na daro” in Raga Basant followed. He was accompanied by Pt
Samar Saha on tabla and Pt Jyoti Goho on tabla.
The next recital was the innovative Chaturangui (Indian
classical slide guitar) by Pt Debashish Bhattacharya. His
skillful demonstration of the ragas Hameer and Kirwani
enchanted the audience. He was accompanied by Pt Samar Saha.
The evening’s finale was provided by the highly respected
artiste, Hyderabad’s own Vidushi Malini Rajurkar, She
enthralled the audience with her performances in ragas
Chakradhar, Durga, a Tappa in Mishra Bhairavi and a sargam geet.
She was accompanied by Sri Surendra Bharati on Tabla and Sri
Suhash Shastri on the harmonium.
The second day’s ambience was a performer’s delight. The hall
was thronging with people, dignitaries and music lovers alike.
The evening commenced with a performance by our past scholar,
Aniruddha Bhattacharya. He started his performance with Raga
Multani - "Kavan des gayi" in Vilambit and "Nainan me aan baan"
in Drut ektaal. This was followed by a bandish in Drut teentaal
in Raga Kamod. He was ably accompanied by Pt Samar Saha on
tabla and Pt Jyoti Goho on tabla.
The next performer was Pt Tejendra Narayan Majumdar on the
sarod. Tejendra’s outstanding performance commenced with an
Alap, Jod and Jhala.in Raga Puriya Dhanashri, followed by a Gat
in Raga Gauri-Manjiri in 8 1/2 maatra and drut teental. He was
accompanied by Pt Subhankar Bannerjee on the tabla.
Preceding the ultimate performance of the evening was the
felicitation of the ITC SRA Awardee for 2009, Dr M
Balamurlikrishna. To honour and felicitate him on stage were Mr
Ravi Mathur, Executive Director, ITC SRA, the chief guest, Mr S
Janardhan Reddy, Div. Chief Executive, ABD-ILTD , ITC Ltd and
ITC SRA Gurus, Pt Ajoy Chakrabarty, Pt Ulhas Kashalkar and
Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan.
Following Dr Balamuralikrishna’s acceptance speech, musicians
and music lovers of Hyderabad, led by Smt Malini Rajurkar and
Mr Mohan Hemmadi, felicitated our Guru, Pt Ulhas Kashalkar on
his recent Padma Shri Award. The audience applause was
tremendous.
The grand finale of the evening was the much-awaited jugalbandi
between Dr Balamurlikrishna and Pt Ajoy Charkabarty. The
evening’s demonstration by the two maestros was a memorable
performance of the ragas Mahati and Abhogi, followed by a
Tillana composed by Balamurli ji. Then followed an awe
inspiring Hari Om Tatsat and finally, a bhajan in Raga Bhairavi.
The Carnatic accompanists were Peri Sreerama Murthy on Violin
and DSR Murthy on Mridangam while the Hindusthani accompanists
were Pt Subhankar Banerjee on Tabla and ITC SRA Scholar
Brajeshwar Mukherjee on the harmonium. |
