59th Sawai: Smt. Prabha Atre (vocal)

Sangat: Tabla: Madhav Modak
Harmonium: Suyog Kundalkar
Tanpura and Vocal Support: Ashwini Modak and Arti Thakur-Kundalkar
Swaramandal: Atindra Sarawalikar

Prabhaji started her performance with raga Saraswati - bada khyal in vilambit Ektal - jago he jagamate. The bada khyal was followed by chhota khyal in drut Ektal - mata saraswati devi. This was followed by a tarana in drun Teental.

Prabhaji continued her performance with a composition in raga Kirwani - nanda nandana mana mohana set to Jhaptaal. This followed by a bandish in drut Ektal - tore bina mohe chaina nahi brij ke nandalala.

Prabhaji sang a dadra - basanti chunariya lao more sainya.

All sangatkars provided very good sangat.

Good performance!
The 59th Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Sangeet Mahotsav concluded with thw customery playing of Sawai Gandharva's recording.

That's all folks!

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Shri. Venkateshkumar (vocal)

Sangat: Tabla: Bharat Kamat
Harmonium: Pramod Marathe
Tanpura: Ramesh Kumar and Arun Gunari

Venkateshkumarji began his performance with raga Bageshree - bada khyal in vilambit Ektal - sakhi mana lage na. The ragavistar was systematic and unhurried. The swara lagav was full throated and powerful yet surel. The tar shdja was sung with a lot of power. The sargam was innovative. The taans were well rehersed and extremely well presented. The bada khyal was followed by the chhota khyal - kauna karat tori binati piharawa. The fast taans were simply amazing and sung to perfection. This was by far the most power packed Bageshri I have ever heard.

Venkateshkumarji continued his performance with raga Basant - fagawa brij dekhan ko chalo ri - madhyalaya Teental followed by pashupathi girijapathi har in drut Ektal.

Next Venkateshkumarji sang a Kannada bhajan.

Bharat Kamat and Pramod Marathe provided excellent tabla and harmonium sangat.

Overall an amazing performance.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Dr. N. Rajam (violin)

Sangat: Tabla: Ajit Pathak

Violin: Sangita, Ragini and Nandini Shankar

Tanpura: Neela and Rajashri

Rajamji started the performance with rag Jog. Brief alap was followed by bada khyal in vilambit Ektal. The ragavistar consisted of simple, surel and exceptionally beautiful alaps. The play around tar shuddha gandhar was quite remarkable. The taans were simply superb. The effect of well composed and rehersed taans coming from four different violins one after other was awsome. The bada khyal was followed by the famous chhota khyal - sajan more ghar aaye - in madhyalaya Teental. This was followed by a composition in drut Teental.

Rajamji continued the performance with the bhajan payori maine ram ratan dhana payo.

This was followed by the natyageet - ghehi chhand makarand - the dhani version made immortal by Pt. Vasantrao Deshpande (composed by Pt. Jitedra Abhisheki).

On 'one-more' request Rajamji played the natyageet naravara krishnasaman.

Ajit Pathak provided excellent tabla sangat. The solos he played were crisp and tasteful. However I enjoyed his simple madhyalay Teental theka the most.

Overall an an absolutely masterly performance which will stay etched in the memory for ever.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Dr. Nagraj Rao Hawaldar (vocal)

Sangat: Tabla: Kedarnath Hawaldar
Harmonium: Avinash Dighe
Tanpura: Rajesh and Mukund
Vocal Support: Omkarnath Hawaldar

Nagraj-ji began his performance with raga Yaman - bada khyal in vilambit Ektal - sakhi kaise karan. The khyal was started after elaborate alap in mandra saptak and purvang. The badhat was systematic. Especially the play around pancham was very pleasing. Taans were clear and sung in a full throated manner. The bada khyal was followed by chhota khyal in madhyalaya Teental - shyam bajaye aaj muraliya.

Nagraj-ji contonued the performance with the kannada bhajan - karuniso ranga karuniso.

This was followed by the abhang - tirtha vitthal kshetra vitthal.

All sangatkars provided very good sangat.

Overall a very good performance.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Smt. Padma Deshpande (vocal)

Sangat: Tabla: Prashant Pandav
Harmonium: Dr. Arvind Thatte
Tanpura: Bageshree and Shruti

Padmatai started her performance with raga Shyamkalyan - bada khyal in vilambit Ektal - jiya mero lal. The taans were crisp and clear. Sargam based layakari was well done. The bada khyal was followed by a chhota khyal in madhyalaya Teental - sawan ki sanja bhayee. Many fast taans in this part were extremely well sung.

Padmatai continued her performance with an abhang - mala padak vitthal.

This was followed by the natyageet - mala madan bhase ha mohi mana.

Prashant Pandav and Dr. Arvind Thatte provided very good tabla and harmonium sangat.

Overall a very good performance.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Omkar Dadarkar (vocal)

Sangat: Tabla: Prashant Pandav
Harmonium: Suyog Kundalkar
Tanpura: Mohsin
Taal (bells): Vasant

Omkar started his performance with raga Multani - bada khyal in vilambit Jhoomra - kavan des gaeel balam re. Ragavistar was systematic, surel and well thought. Tar shadja was well sung. Interestingly the vistar in tar saptak was done while singing the mukhada of the sthayi. The antara was sung just for the sake of completing the bandish. Taans were gamakdar, clear and well rehersed. The bada khyal was followed by a chhota khyal in madhyalaya Teental - more mandirwa me.

Omkar continued his performance with the natyageet - radhadhar madhu milind jay jay. Omkar sang this in madhyam. I really liked and enjoyed this piece.

On a 'one more' request Omkar sang the bhajan - baje re muralia baje.

Prashant Pandav and Suyog Kundalkar provided very good tabla and harmonium sangat.

Overall a very well planned, well rehersed and well executed performance.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Ustad Amjad Ali Khan

Tabla: Vijay Ghate

Ustadji started his performance with raga Ganesh Kalyan - his own creation. After a brief alap Ustadji played a dhun in Kehrwa (Bhajani theka). The only major difference I could spot between Yaman Kalyan and Ganesh Kalyan is the occasional use of komal nishad in addition to shuddha nishad. I also noticed some unusual phrases but I could not understand enough details to write about them. The gat in Kehrwa was followed by a gat in drut Ektaal.

Ustadji continued his performance with a dhun in raga Zilla Kafi - set to Deepchandi taal - played very beautifully. The laykari was done very skilfully.

After this Ustadji played a folk dhun composed by Ravindranath Tagore.

Ustadji continued his performance with a Mishra Bhairavi dhun in Dadra which also included a ragamala and concluded with a Bhairavi gat in drut Teental. The clarity and tunefulness of his playing even at a ver fast lay was commendable.

Vijay Ghate's tabla sangat was excellent as usual.

Unfortunately due to time constraints Ustadji had to cut his performance short and the audience including me were left hungry for the elaborate rendering of one raga.

Overall a masterly performance by a maestro.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Bharatnatyam and Kathak Performances

I decided to sit back and enjoy these amazing performances. Hope you will pardon me for being very brief.

Sudhir Rao and performed Bharatnatyam based dances coreographed on five bhajans in Kannada, Marathi and Hindi sung by Pt. Bhimsen Joshi.

The Kathak performance 'saakaar niraakaar' was also basted on innovtive improvisation/mixing of Pt. Bhimsen Joshi's old recordings. While the dances were superbly coreographed and performed to perfection, the musical experiment deserves a special daad.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Smt. Malini Rajurkar

Sangatkar: Tabla: Bharat Kamat

Harmonium: Dr. Arvind Thatte

Malinitai started her performance with raga Narayani - bada khyal - bamana re vichar. The ragavistar was systematically and beautifully done. Especially the vakra use of komal nishad in aroha was presented in a sublime manner. I have not heard this beautiful raga from anybody other than Malinitai. This raga has beautiful shades of Jhinjhoti as well as Durga (S R M P D n D P D S - S n D P M R S). Malinitai's voice was in a superb form. Absolutely tuneful, powerful, laydar yet nazakatdar taans were a treat to the ears. Bada khyal was followed by chhota khyal in madhyalaya Teental - sahelariya gao ri aaj.

Malinitai continued her performance with a tappa in raga Bihag - dil da pyar. This was a hair raising experience with many electrifing taans. Malinitai sang a sargam in drut Teental which despite being in Bihag did not feature rishabh and dhaivat.

Malinitai mentioned that the tappa as well as the bandishes in Narayani were composed by Pt. Ratanjankar.

Dr. Thatte's harmonium sangat was outstanding. Bharat Kamat provided excellent tabla sangat as usual.

I am a big fan of Malinitai. Today's was yet another of her out-of-this-world performances.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Shri. Shriniwas Joshi

Sangatkar: Tabla: Prashant Pandav
Harmonium: Avinash Dighe
Tanpura: Mohsin Mirajkar and Shivanand Swami.

Shriniwasji started his performance with raga Puriya Dhanashree - bada khyal in vilambit Ektal - sumiro tero nam. Ragavistar was systematic and leisurely. The bada khyal was followed by chhota khyal in madhyalaya Teental - payaliya jhanakar mori. This was followed by a tarana in drut Ektal.

Shriniwasji continued his performance with the thumri - piya ke milan ki aas.

Shriniwasji concluded his performance with the abhang - kanhoba tujhi ghongadi changali re.

Prashant Pandav and Avinash Dighe provided very good tabla and harmonium sangat.

Overall a very good performance that was well rehersed and well planned.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Smt. Yojana Shivanand

Sangat: Tabla: Udayraj Karpur
Harmonium: Suyog Kundalkar
Pakhawaj: Gurunath Gharat
Tanpura: Neela and Rajashree

Yojanaji started her performance with raga Madhuvanti - badakhyal in vilambit Ektal - tuma to mere nahi. Ragavistar was systematic and surel. Taans were well planned and well rehersed. Bada khyal followed by a chhota khyal in drut Ektal - janama virath gayo. This was followed by a tarana in drut Teental.

Yojanaji continued her performance with a kannada bhajan karuniso ranga karuniso based on raga Jogiya. This was sung very well and created a very nice effect.

All sangatkars provided good sangat.

Overall a good performance.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Pt. Jasraj

Sangat:
Tabla: Ramdas Palsule
Harmonium: Mukund Petkar
Mridangam: Parthasarathy
Bansuri: Shashank Parthasarathy
Vocal Support: Ratan Mohan Sharma and many other shishyas

Panditji started his performance with raga Jaijaiwanti (bada khyal in vilambit Ektal - jai jai siddhi followed by chhota khyal in madhyalaya Teental - daras deta yunhi). This featured the long three saptak meends and taans as only Pt. Jasraj can do.

Panditji continued his performance with mero mana saware (I think the raga was Des or Des Malhar) in Deepchandi.

Panditji concluded his performance with the popular Sanskrit bhajan - govinda damodara madhaveti in Nata Bhairav.

Overall it was good to have Panditji at Sawai. I personally enjoyed the rendering of 'govinda damodara madhaveti' a lot.

- Bansuriwala
PS: Due to internet connectivity problems I could not post this review immediately after the performance. Sorry!

59th Sawai: Shri. Shankar Mahadevan

Sangat:

Violin: Smt. Padma Shankar
Mridangam: Shridhar Parthasarathy
Ghatam: Giridhar Udappa
Tanpura: Meghana and Manasi Ektari: Dr. Rajendra Doorkar
Harmonium: Avinash Dighe
Tabla: Bharat Kamat

Shankarji started the performance with a varnam in raga Natakurunji. Shankar's voice was in superb shape right from the beginning and immediately captivated the audience with powerful yet surel singing.

Shankar continued his performance with raga Hamsadhwani. He sang brief alap followed by alap on the violin played beautifully by Padma Shankar. This was followed by a composition - namo namo shree maha ganapate set to Adital. The saragam based jugalbandi with the violin was superbly done.
This was followed by a composition - nanaro dinaro set to Adital. This included some superfast saragam pieces which were sung with a lot of clarity and finesse.

This was followed by raga Vakulabharanam. Shankar explained that this was like Charukeshi in the first half and the Carnatic version of Todi in the second half. To me it sounded a lot like Basant Mukhari (S r G M P d n S - S n d P M G r S). The alap were sung elaborately and beautifully. This was followed by exquisit alap by Padma Shankar on Violin. This was followed by a composition - kuniyadagar mani - set to Adital. Again here the improvisation jugalbandi with violin was very well done. This was followed by a brief taalvadya jugalbandi - done skillfully and tastefully.

Shankar paid a tribute to Bhimsenji and Shriniwas Khale by singing a medley of abhangs in accompaniment of ektaara and chiplya - indrayani kathi, namacha gajar, sawale sundar roop manohar, sundar te dhyan, jethe jato tethe tu majha sagati, soubhagyada lakshmi baramma, shewatcha disa god whava yachasathi kela hota attahas, majhe maher pandhari - where all the other instruments joined in and was sung fully.

All sangatkars provided excellent support. Padma Shankar's violin sangat was however simply superb.

Overall a fantastic performance by a great performer.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Shri. Kartik Sheshadri (sitar)

Sangat:
Tabla: Yogesh Samsi
Tanpura: Rajashri Mahajani

Kartikji began his performance with raga Hamsakankini. The alap was leisurely and developed the raga beautifully (n S G M P n S - S n D P M g R S). The jod and jhala was surel and laydar. The gat, Kartiji's own composition, was set to Char Taal Ki Sawari a taal of 11 beats.

Kartikji continued his performance with raga Simhendramadhyamam. Brief alap was followed by a gat in vilambit Teental. This was followed by a gat in drut Ektal. Both the gats were Kartikji's own compositions.
Yogesh Samsi provided excellent tabla sangat. The tabla solos and jugalbandi pieces were crisp and played tastefully.

Overall a very surel and beautiful performance.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Shri. Kumar Murdur

Sangat:
Tabla: Bharat Kamat
Harmonium: Suyog Kundalkar
Tanpura: Vinay Chitrav and Dushyant Joshi

Kumar started his performance with raga Multani - bada khyal in vilambit Ektal - gokul gaon ka chhora re. Kumar has a powerful voice which he uses beautifully to sing in a full throated manner. The ragavistar was systematic and leisurely. Tar shadja was sung with a lot of power. Taans including a few superfast ones were clear and weighty. The bada khyal was followed by chhota khyal in
madhyalaya Teental - kangan muraliya mori re. This was followed by the drut Ektal bandish nainana me aanbaan.

Kumar continued his performance with a Kabir bhajan - man phoola phoola phoola phire jagat me kaisa nata re. This was sung with a lot of nazakat and created a very nice effect.

Kumar concluded his performance with a kannada bhajan govinda nina ananda.
Bharat Kamat and Suyog Kundalkar provided very good tabla and harmonium sangat.

Overall an inspired performance by a very talented artist with a lot of promise.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna

Sangat:
Violin: P. V. Raghavendra Rao
Mridangam: Tiruvaru Vaidyanathan
Vocal support: Viraraghavan

Panditji started the performance with his own composition in raga Mahati - mahaniya madhur murti - set to Aditala.

The next piece was again his own composition in raga Arabhi - sakal ganadhish mahaganesh - set to Adital.
After this Panditji sang raga Lavangi (S r M P d S - S d P M r S). The alaps were sung elaborately. This was followed by a composition - omkarakarini madahamkarharini set to Adital. The saragam based jugalbandi with violin and mridangam was remarkable.

The next piece was a composition - madhuram gayati vanamali. This was followed by a tillana in the same raga set to Aditala. The tillana phrases with mridangam bols and sargam were quite interesting.

The next piece was a composition - hanuma ho manama. Panditji mentioned that the speciality of this song was that all occurances of letter ma in the lyrics were set to the note ma.

All sangatkars provided excellent sangat. Their solo pieces also were very well played.

Everytime I hear Panditji I am always amazed by his silky smooth yet powerful and extremely tuneful voice with a range of full three octaves.

Amazing performance by a great master!

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Ronu Mujumdar (bansuri) and Kadri Gopalnath (saxophone)

Sangat:

Tabla: Ramdas Palsule
Mridangam: B. Harikumar

The artists began the performance with rag Hamsadhwani. Alap were played delicately and very beautifully. Especially the effect of simple patterns being played in tandom was fantastic. After alap the artists played the famous composition - vatapi ganapati bhajeham in madhyalaya Teental.

The cross-jugalbandi patterns with saxophone being played with tabla and bansuri with mridangam were very skillfully done. The whole effect was superb and commendable in the sense that it did not sound noisey at all.

The artists continued the performance with raga Chandrakauns. The alaps were played quite elaborately. After this jod was played along with sangat in Teental. This was followed by a madhyalaya composition in Teental.

The artists continued their performance with the abhang - tirth vitthal kshetra vitthal to a completely mesmerizing and magical effect.

The artists concluded their performace with the bhajan - payori maine ram ratan dhana payo.

Ramdas Palsule and Harikumar were superb with Tabla and Mridangam respectively. The taalvadya solos and jugalbandi were tastefully played and were very enjoyable.

With all four seasoned artists on the stage and lot of collaborative impromptue improvisation, overall it was a very successful experiment.

Excellent performance!

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Smt. Shaila Datar (vocal)

Sangat:
Tabla: Samir Puntambekar
Harmonium: Rahul Gole
Pakhawaj: Prasad
Tanpura: Shilpa and Savani

Shailaji started her performance with raga Purvi - bada khyal in vilambit Jhumra - diliya lagao. Ragavistar was systematic and layadar. This was followed by chhota khyal in madhyalaya Teental - dhan dhan dulhan bhag na tero.

Shailaji continued her performance with a bandish in Mishra Dhani (madhyalaya Teental) composed by Devgandharva Bhaskarbua Bakhale and taught by him to Balgandharva. She told the audience that Bhaskarbua introduced both dhaivats in dhaivatless Dhani to suite Balgadhrva.

Shailaji concluded her performamce with the popular abhang - amrutahuni god nama tujhe deva.
All the sangatkaars provided very good sangat.

Overall a good performance.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Shri. Mahesh Kale (vocal)

Sangat: Tabla: Bharat Kamat

Harmonium: Sudhir Nayak

Tanpura: Nilesh Pande and Sneha Deshpande

Taal (bells): Mauli Takalkar

Maheshji started his performance with raga Madhuvanti. After brief alap he sang bada khyal in vilambit Ektaal - e ho more sai kavan nagariya vasan tarap rahi dina raina. The ragavistaar was systematic and surel. Mahesh has a beautiful and tuneful voice which he uses very well for clear swara lagav. During the ragavistar the play around komal nisbad and introduction of shuddha nishad was quite interestingly done. I found the use of komal nishad to be quite liberal - in fact a bit more than shuddha nishad especially in madhya saptak. Boltaans based layakari was done beautifully. Taans were crisp, well planned, rigorously rehersed and very well executed. Bada khyal was followed by chhota khyal in madhyalaya Jhaptaal - shiv aaj balawant. This was followed by a tarana in drut Teentaal. Tarana was sung with a lot of power.

Mahesh continued his performance with what I think was Raga Din Ki Puriya (Puriya with komal dhaivat) - kaise nike lage in madhyalaya Jhaptaal.

Mahesh sang the popular abhang - abira gulala to conclude his performance.

Mahesh's clarity of pronounciation and attention to lyrics throughout the performance was quite remarkable.

Bharat Kamat and Sudhir Nayak provided very good tabla and harmonium sangat.

Overall an excellent performance by a very promising vocalist.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Shri. Satish Vyas (santoor)

Tabla sangat: Mukundraj Deo

Satishji started his performance with raga Rageshwari. Alap was leasurely, systematic and well thought and created a very nice atmosphere of the raga. Alap was followed by a gat in vilambit Teentaal. Layakari was beautifully done. This was followed by a gat in madhyalaya Teental and another one in drut Teentaal. Jhala was played tastefully.

Mukundraj Deo provided excellent tabla sangat. The solo pieces he played were crisp and supportive to the mood of the performance.

Overall a very good performance.

- Bansuriwala
PS: For some technical reasons the initial posting made immediately after the performance failed and hence I posted it again after Pt. Ajay Pohankar's performance. Hence this is out of order. Sorry!

59th Sawai: Pt. Ajay Pohankar (vocal)

Sangat:
Tabla: Ramdas Palsule
Harmonium: Sudhir Nayak
Tanpura: Dhananjay Joshi and Sanjay Sonar
Vocal Support: Sanjay Garud

Panditji started his performance with raga Kaushi-Kanada - bada khyal in vilambit Ektaal - rajan ke siritaj. Right from the start panditji's voice was in great form. The ragavistar was captivating. Especially the play around pancham as well as rishabh was masterfully done. The sargam was innovative yet beautiful. The bada khyal was followed by chhota khyal in madhyalaya Teental - kahe karat mose barajori.

Panditji continued his performance with a dadra in Pahadi - sainya gaye parades. This piece also featured innovative sargam with excellent harmonium support by Sudhir Nayak.

Panditji concluded his performance and the 1st day's proceedings with Bhairavee thumri bajuband khul khul ja.

Ramdas Palsule provided very good tabla sangat.

Overall it was a very well structured performance with a lot of thought given to the big picture as well as the time constraint.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Smt. Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande (vocal)

Sangat:
Tabla: Bharat Kamat
Harmonium: Tanmay Devchakke
Tanpura: Sayali Oak, Dhanashree Ghaisas and Sayali Kalyanpur

Ashwiniji started her performance with raga Marwa - bada khyal in vilambit Teentaal 'piya more ananta'. Ashwiniji's voice was in a great shape right from the start. Ragavistaar was done very systematically. The meends landing on komal rishabh were sublime. The tara shadja was sung with great conviction and a lot of power. It has been a long time since I have heard such a well sung tar shadja in Marwa. Taans were tastefully composed and sung with a great finesse. Bada khyal was followed by chhota khyal in drut Ektaal 'mhayeere saanja bhayee' - a beautiful composition sung superbly.

Ashwiniji continued her performance with raga Bihagada (kahase tuma mada pi aaye ho saware - madhyalaya Rupak followed by raina dina kaise kate ri guiya).

Ashwiniji concluded her performance with an abhang (aata kothe dhave mana tujhe charan dekhaliya).

Tanmay Devchakke and Bharat Kamat provided excellent harmonium and tabla sangat respectively.

Overall a very well thought performance that will stay in memory for a long time.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Shri. Sanjay Garud (vocal)

Sangat:

Tabla: Prashant Pandav
Harmonium: Pramod Marathe
Tanpura: Dinesh Majhire and Ravindra Kalyankar
Taal (bells): Parag Pandav

Sanjayji started his performance with raga Patadeep. He sang bada khyal 'dhana dhana bhaga' in vilambit Ektaal after brief alap. The badhat was systematic. Tar shdja and antara was sung with a lot of power. Taans were well rehersed and well executed. Bada khyal was followed by chhota khyal in madhyalaya Teentaal - piya nahi aaye.

After Patadeep Sanjayji sang an abhang 'vitthala re vitthala' composed by his guru Shrikant Deshpande.
Pramod Marathe and Prashant Pandav provided good harmonium and tabla sangat respectively.

Overall a good performamce.

- Bansuriwala

59th Sawai: Shri. Tukaram Daithankar (shahanai)

Accompaniment:

Shahanai - Nitin Daithankar

Tabla - Mangesh Karmarkar

Swarapeti: Ashok and Ganesh Daithankar

Tukaramji started his performance with raga Madhuvanti. He played khyal in vilambit Ektal after brief but systematic alap. The badhat was simple and surel. The bada khyal was followed by a composition in madhyalaya Teentaal. Madhyalaya and drut taans were layadar and well executed.

Tukaramji played the famous natyageet 'vada jau kunala sharana' after Madhuvanti.

Mangesh Karmarkar provided good tabla sangat.

Overall a short and sweet performance.

- Bansuriwala

Live from 59th Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Sangeet Mahotsav

Namaskar! The 59th Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Sangeet Mahotsav starts today. As usual I will be posting review blogs after each performance.

- Bansuriwala