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A scintillating fest

The 37th Surashree Kesar Bai Kelkar Festival in Goa saw a rich fare of classical musicians

A scintillating fest

37th Surashree Kesar Bai Kelkar Festival

The 37th edition of the Surashree Kesar Bai Kelkar Festival that took place at the Kala Academy in Goa presented a seminar and musical concerts, featuring Indian classical musicians from across the country. The annual festival is dedicated to the memory of Kesar Bai, one of the outstanding vocalists of the 20th century. She was born and grew up in Goa, and in her memory the government-sponsored Kala Academy holds the beautifully-run festival, with careful artist selection, punctual concerts and excellent sound arrangements.

The festival opened with a seminar aptly titled, “The Future of Indian Classical Music”, moderated by renowned music aficionado Mukund Sangoram. The speakers were scholar musician Aravind Thatte, vocalist Shashank Maktedar and teacher-musician Chaitanya Munde. Discussions on music by musicians always make sense, as music as a subject cannot be adequately analysed only intellectually; a certain degree of practical knowledge is required.

In essence the talks revolved around the challenges in the world of classical music today, how the genre itself was in a state of transition due to changes from everywhere — technology, audience expectations, training process, lack of patronage and much else. The next 50 years would probably reveal which direction classical music takes. Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar said, “Every generation feels the standards in classical music are going down; this is not necessarily true. Someone like Ustad Zakir Hussain proves the contrary is true.”

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The first concert was by Kashalkar, who through his music, paid the ultimate tribute to the memory of Kesar Bai. He sang only Jor (combination) ragas popularised by the Jaipur Attrauli gharana and while the compositions were those she had recorded, the style was pure Jaipur Attrauli. The first raga was Lalita Gauri — it is an evening Raga Gauri with the addition of an element of the morning Raga Lalit through the two madhyams. The Pandit sang it in a truly grand way, as only a master can. The discerning audience was spell-bound.

The first composition “Preetam saiyan…” is perhaps the most heard khayal in Lalita Gauri as Kesar Bai’s recording still resounds in the ears of music lovers. Yet Kashalkar managed to leave his imprint on the composition with his expertise. In the vilambit, he lovingly caressed each note used to reach his muqam (home) from different angles; the sudden use of the shudha madhyam had drama, the progression was, as always, totally systematic and intellectually stimulating. The gamak-laden taans were spectacular. The second composition, also in teen taal, was “Piya bin more karat nahi chain…”

The next raga, Basanti Kedar, a combination of Kedara and Basant, was again executed with precision and mastery. The third Raga was Pat Bihag, a combination of Patdeep with Bihag. Indeed Kashalkar’s music satisfies one at a deeper, intellectual level, not just at the level of the senses. Apart from passion, technical expertise, raga knowledge, he also has the ability to touch your soul. Accompanying him most ably on vocals was Dr Shashank Maktedar and on the tabla the venerated Taal Yogi Pandit Suresh Talwalkar.

Initially, it was hard to listen to the unusual instrumental combination of Carnatic Saraswati Veena by Jayanthi Kumaresh and flute by the ever popular Rakesh Chaurasia after such a completely magnificent vocal recital, but gradually the undoubted and total mastery of the extremely difficult instrument by Kumaresh cast its spell over her audience.

The duo started with Raga Madhuwanti or Dharmawati in the Carnatic idiom; an alaap jor jhala played in the Hindustani style. The handling of the aalap tended to be a trifle trite in phrases, with repetitive predictable sequences to create an easy recall. It does not make for great music, which both these wonderful artists are capable of. It is very easy to dilute your presentation by taking easier, simpler music options, to lull your audience, but in the long run the level of satisfaction gets lessened.

The effect of harmonics that both artists displayed separately was superb and enhanced the presentation immensely. The gat compositions were played separately by each, in their respective taals, and were very pleasing. Satyajit Talwalkar is an impressive tabla player but he was equally matched by the very dexterous Anantha R Krishnan on the mridangam. The next raga was the Carnatic Hansadhwani with both artists playing together, followed by the percussion interchange. The extremely fast laya and tihais were exhilarating.

The next morning’s concert featured a third generation singer from the Jaipur Attrauli tradition, the extremely affable Devaki Pandit. Surprisingly, she started her mid-morning recital with Raga Lalit, which is actually a pre-dawn raga, following it up with Raga Hindol, ending with a chaiti “Kaise jiya tarapat”. She has a well-honed, melodious voice, with a series of impressive taans that her gharana is famous for, the slow as well as the fast ones; in fact, the mainstay of her concert was her taans. Her pieces were in different taals adding to the interest in the concert.

The concluding recital was a percussion ensemble comprising Yogesh Samsi of the Punjab gharana on tabla, mridangam player Vijay Natesan, and khanjira player G Guruprasanna.
Accompanying them on the harmonium was the brilliant Tanmay Deochake. The two Carnatic percussionists are masters in their own fields, the brilliant Yogesh Samsi truly in a class apart, combining a fantastic virtuosity with immense knowledge. His scholarly nature incites him to dig out the provenance of what he assimilates, making him a virtual dictionary of the tabla. As he humbly announced from the stage, “Please don’t call me Pandit; I have been learning as a student all my life, and want to continue that way, constantly learning.” In khand jati, (arrhythmic variation) he also played a rare composition of Ustad Feroz Khan, a contemporary of the tabla maestro Ustad Maseet Khan of Calcutta. The Carnatic artists also played typical Punjab gharana tukras together, in addition of course to their own pieces. The taal remained teen taal or Adi taal, in the Carnatic nomenclature. Truly, an exciting, racy concert!

The author writes on music, musicians and matters musical

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