Namaskar!
Today's session also started with the customary clapping by the audience exactly at 4:00 PM. Anand Deshmukh commented on the clapping as the alarm that kicks off the proceedings and went on to introduce the first artist of the day, Prasad Khaparde.
Prasad Khaparde (Vocal)
Tabla: Bharat Kamat, Harmonium: Suyog Kundalkar
Prasad Khaparde (a disciple of Ud. Rashid Khan) took his time to tune the instruments (tanpuras, swaramandal, tabla) and started the concert with Raga Multani (khyal in vilambit ektaal - gokul gaon followed by bandish in drut teen taal - kangan muraliya). He sang elaborate aalaap in the beginning. Prasad possess a naturally beautiful voice which he has cultivated with good training and riyaz. But it did take some time for him to warm up. The raga badhat was well done - in ati vilambit laya exhibiting Ud. Rashid Khan's influence. I enjoyed his taans - crisp as well as weighty. After Multani Prasad sang Raga Patadeep (dhrut ektaal bandish - ranga rangila banara mora) and concluded his performance with a bhajan in kirwani - (tore bina mohe chaina nahi - drut ektaal - same tune as the natyageet sura sukha kari tu vimala).
Overall it was a good performance. Prasad Khaparde has good potential and good guru. I felt that there is a need for him to keep his feet on the ground. Some warning signs I noticed were - too much time spent in tuning the instruments even when his was the first performance of the day, many taans/swara lagav being quite sloppy - to the extent of sounding gross besur especially in Patadeep - or inconsistency in quality of singing (in spite of warm up allowances).
Bharat Kamat and Suyog Kundalkar provided supportive and appropriate accompaniment.
The sound system clearly had been attended to. It fared much better - in fact quite well almost all the time during the evening.
Devaki Pandit was scheduled to perform after Prasad Khaparde. However she came up on the stage and announced that she had a sore-throat (awaj basalela) and could not sing. She promised to come fully prepared for next Sawai. Mohan Darekar performed instead of her - and what a superb performance he gave! Another change in the schedule was that Shrikant Deshpande was to perform and Farhan Khan was not going to perform. (Sorry for not getting the details… I was using the announcement time for bio-break so as not to miss any musical content).
Dr. Mohan Darekar (Vocal)
Tabla: Arvind Kadgaonkar, Harmonium: Sudhir Nayak, Taal (bells): Mauli Takalkar
Mohanji started his performance with Raga Gavati (khyal in vilambit ektaal - aasa lagi tumare charanon ki followed by drut teen taal bandish - hamari par karo). Mohanji has a beautiful voice and his swara lagav, obviously having a huge influence of Abhishekibuwa is very good. The raga vistaar was very well done. Taans were crisp and balanced. He followed Gavati with a marathi abhang - santa bhara pandharita. The rendering of abhang was absolutely soulful and touching - without being a blind copy of Abhishekibuwa. Very nice indeed!
Overall an excellent performance. I was very impressed with the cool headed and balanced singing with emphasis on raga and bhava (and abhava of stunts!).
Arvind Kadgaonkar and Sudhir Nayak provided supportive accompaniment.
Shrikant Deshpande (Vocal)
Tabla: Hanumant Phadatare, Harmonium: Prabhakar Pandav
Shrikantji started the performance with Raga Puriya-Kalyan (khyal in vilambit ektaal - aaj so bana followed by a tarana in drut teen taal). He started a bit gingerly but warmed up quite quickly and performed in true Kirana style with unhurried badhat, full throated taans and the eekari tara-shadja. After Puriya-Kalyan he performed gopala meri karuna kyon na aaye, the bhajan made immortal by Late Pt. Firoze Dastur. It was a very soulful and emotional rendering with not a single dry eye from the folks who have heard this bhajan sung by Pt. Firoze Dastur. Shrikant Deshpande said that while it was impossible for him to reach Pt. Dastur's level, he hoped to revive the memories (aathavaninche tushar tari udatil …). He sang the abhang majhe maher pandhari for a "one more" request. Even after this people were asking for more but Shrikantji concluded his performance in the interest of time. All of Pt. Bhimsen Joshi's students (Shrinivas Joshi, Anand Bhate and others) came on stage to congratulate Shrikantji on his performance of gopala meri karuna kyon na aye. It was a very emotional moment.
Overall it was a very good performance - quite apt for the senior organizer of the event.
Hanumant Phadatare and Prashant Pandav provided good accompaniment.
Anuj and Smriti Mishra (Kathak dance)
After this the brother sister duo, Anuj and Smriti Mishra gave a stunning Kathak dance performance that was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. I liked the performance but I hope I will be pardoned for not writing more about it.
Malini Rajurkar (Vocal)
Tabla: Bharat Kamat, Harmonium: Dr. Arvind Thatte
Malinitai started her performance with Raga Bageshri-ang-chandrakauns (khyal in vilambit ektaal - tum bina nahi followed by drut teen taal bandish - naina ne nind hira li). Malinitai's rendering was true to her music as always, measured, crisp, soulful, unpretentious, respectful and most importantly simple! But as rightly put by Anand Deshmukh, Malinitai has achieved this simplicity with a lot of research and riyaz. Malinitai concluded her performance by singing a tappa in bhairavi (najara dilabahar re piya) followed by a sargam in drut teen taal (sa dha pa dh ma pa ga ma ni dha pa ma ga re sa).
I am a great fan of Malinitai. When it comes to vocal classical Malinitai has achieved perfection in terms of her music, performance and attitude! I absolutely enjoyed Malinitai's performance - and felt lucky for yet another fantastic musical experience. I just have a small complaint - Malinitai has stopped using real tanpuras during her performance over last few years… could she please rectify this?
Dr. Arvind Thatte's harmonium accompaniment demands a special mention. In my opinion he has cultivated a special style specially to accompany Malinitai. Especially during tappa - Dr. Thatte's harmonium was absolutely lajawab!
Bharat Kamat as usual provided excellent tabla sangat.
Bye for now, see you tomorrow!
- Bansuriwala
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