Winters are the hottest season of cultural activities in India, wherein traditional art forms take the lead. Kolkata’s internationally acclaimed annual classical soirees were at spate in January 2025. This year quite a few brilliant musicians’ artistry left a deep impact.

To welcome the New Year, the disciples of Guru Anjan Majumdar organised a compact ‘Baithaki’ in collaboration with Kolkata Centre for Creativity (4th January). The sweet-toned sitar of Ashim Chaudhuri embellished Bageshri with Kousic Sen’s proficient tabla. Khayal exponents Siladitya Banerjee (Bhimpalasi), Kingshook Mukherjee (tabla), Samrat Bhattacharya (harmonium) got noticed for his deep, soulful voice, and Moumita Mitra (Marwa and Jhinjhoti), Utpal Das (tabla) and Debashish Adhikary (harmonium) for their innovative style. But the most enjoyable was Purab Anga Gayaki with all its rhythmic glory. Credit goes to Anirban Bhattacharya (vocal accompanist of kathak maestros) with co-artistes Pritam Polley (tabla) and Debashish Adhikary (harmonium).

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Swamiji’s birthday 

All roads lead to Vivekananda Hall, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, on 12 January. The three sessions of the day-long soiree, efficiently hosted by Biplab Ganguly and Korak Basu, showered plaudits on all participants of this musical homage. Most of the items were duets. Young kathak exponent brothers Saurabh and Gaurav Mishra (afternoon session) topped the list. Their primary asset was Sanju Sahai’s tabla with remarkable tonality and dexterity. With him, Guru Ravi Shankar Mishra’s padhant and broad-faced tabla blended Lucknow and Benares styles with an eye on aesthetically zestful movements. Sitarist Chandrachud Bhattacharya and vocalist cum harmonium expert Saurav Chakraborty also helped the duo to begin with a powerful Shiv Stuti in pure dance, followed by bhaav depicting shy, playful and proud nayikas. The concluding bhajan portrayed Shiva as a musician. Their neat footwork and chiselled body lines were in perfect sync. Pandit Sajan Mishra, shadowed by his son-disciple Swaransh, painted Jaunpuri that was bright and cool like morning sun. It was more so due to the unparalleled support of tabla maestro Swapan Chaudhuri and veteran harmonium player Jyoti Goho. Encores led to a tarana with vistar and taans. The intellectual appeal of another father-son duo, celeb violinist L. Subramaniam and Ambi, was irresistible. They played Abhogi (varnam, ragam-taanam-pallavi) by blending traditional and modern techniques and contents. They were assisted by maestros Phalgun Parupalli (mridangam), Tanmay Bose (tabla), Radhakrishnan (ghatam) and Satya Sai (morsing). Guru-bhais, renowned Rudraveena expert Bahauddin Dagar and dhrupad maestro Nirmalya Dey, supported by pakhawaj wizard Sukhad Munde, evoked imposingly majestic Marwa. To match the pitch of the Rudraveena, the vocalist had to compromise and started the alap at the corresponding upper octave, though later he sang in the lower pitch. Dagar was in elements in alap-jod-jhala but took a backseat as the pada lyrics bloomed in Dey’s voice in slow chautal. Another beautiful dhrupad, set to Tilak Kamod in fast chautal, was their parting gift.

Earlier, Sabir Sultan Khan’s rather restive sarangi played raga Todi. Parimal Chakraborty’s seasoned tabla anticipated most of the melodic moves and offered befitting accompaniment. Sitar maestro Nishat Khan, aided by tabla virtuoso Shubhajyoti Guha, played Bilaskhani (alap) and Gurjari Todi (teental gatkari) and Alhaiya Bilawal. He persistently continued to sing and play several ragas to display different techniques of playing Gayaki Anga before sealing the morning session with Bhairavi. Well-known vocalist Jayateerth Mevundi and flautist Praveen Godkhindi chose Madhuwanti (slow rupak, drut teental tarana), Vrindavani Sarang (fast teental) and Pahadi. They showcased their amazing skills with the supportive tabla and harmonium of Abhijit Banerjee and Hiranmay Mitra, respectively.

Chowdhury House 

The Calcutta Performing Arts Foundation staged its 10th Chowdhury House Music Conference rather early (10-12 January), causing overlapping events. Despite some substandard selections, there were several noteworthy debutantes like Farooque Latif Khan. His sarangi recital, superbly supported by Bilal Khan Salonvi’s tabla, had nostalgic old-world charm, dipped in modernity with well-rounded tonality steeped in sur. His masterly portrayal of Shuddh Sarang revived the hope that sarangi, albeit dwindling, is very much here to stay if intellectuals like him come to the fore. The tagline of his recital was ‘stay away from the obvious’, as there were many elements of surprises and emotions. The concluding dadra dhun, punching other ragas and extra-fast taans, was a good skill show.

Like him, gifted vocalist Supriyo Dutta too follows Kirana-Indore’s Amirkhani style that demands a longer stretch of time slots, super-sensitive aesthetics and corresponding accompaniments due to its introspective, peaceful nature wherein even a tiny tirkit feels like a hammer blow. Bereft of all this, he etched the outline of Bhimpalasi very quickly before lyrics-based badhat set to slow ektal. His melodious baritone vibrated in the depths of Mandra with emphasis on Karam Karo Morey Sai. An emotional repeat of the same lyrics in the middle octave was soul-stirring. His well-edited display of all the gharana features spoke highly of his competence to face any challenge with confidence.

The unconventional style of Bhuvanesh Komkali’s rendition of Shuddh Kalyan, aided by Ashish Sengupta (tabla), had its own charm, simply because faith in one’s belief does the trick. The same simple honesty transformed a plain violin duet by Praveen Sheolikar and his daughter Chaitali Sheolikar into an extraordinary recital. Relying on Soumen Sarkar’s expert tabla, the ragas’ key phrases and their violins’ soothing tonality, this tradition-bound duo exhibited the emotive aspects of ragas Puria Dhanashri and Desh. The solo tabla of Kausic Sen reflected all the virtues of the style of his guru, Kumar Bose. To the accompaniment of Subrata Bhattacharya (harmonium), he played a power-packed teental that painted different bol-based aural colours.

The vibrant hues of Vasant-ritu sprang from a Bhimpalasi composition in dhurpad-anga ektal of Haveli Sangeet and Paraj-Basant played on surbahar by Souravbrata Chakraborty with Parthapratim Das’ Jodi (larger tabla-pair).Kathak danseuse Suprabha Mukherjee began with ‘Timiro-bidari akhilo-bihari’ to invoke Shri Krishna’s blessings. Followed by usual pieces in teental, it ended with bhaav, based on thumri. Among other renowned talents, vocalist Bharati Pratap may like to work on the femininity of voice-throw, replacing Agra’s typical manly expressions. Satyaki Dutta’s Puriadhanashri could do better with a well-tuned sarod.

Debut

2024 was about to bid adieu when Brahmananda Art and Soul Foundation, Bharuch, organised its Sangeet Manch at Birla Academy on Sunday, 29 December. ‘We Indians are losing cherished virtues and values,’ V Vyas, the beacon of the Foundation, lamented. To revert this trend, he relied on performing arts and began streaming online events during lockdown. For the last four years the Foundation has organised live events all over India.One was charmed by the even tonality of the violin of maestro Kailash Patra. Lalita Gauri, as portrayed by him, arrived with a whiff of Shree; but once he established shuddh Ma, the complexion changed and the desired raagroop bloomed. He chose ektal in Gwalior, like Chadhilaya. With Rupak Bhattacharjee’s deft tabla, melody flowed in the vistar segment, embracing every nuanced piece gently and at its natural pace. By acknowledging every passing sam (milestone) with its due respect, he established his hold on both melody and rhythm.

Interestingly, Sangeet Manch debuted in Kolkata with a sarod recital of Siddhartha Bhose, a local talent. He selected Chhayanat and etched the raga’s features briefly in a melodious alap and jod. The slow teental gatkari was focused on technique. Arkadeep Das (tabla) rose to the occasion with equal calibre. A beautiful medium teental gat, adorned with a few sharp, short taans, was followed by a simpler composition showcasing faster taans that led to a long spell of jhala. Janaki Mithaiwala, the sole vocalist of the evening, sang Shyam Kalyan, showcasing her guru, Prabha Atre’s compositions (slow ektal, medium teental khayals and drut ektal tarana). Ably assisted by Kamalaksha Mukherjee’s harmonium and Nabarun Datta’s tabla, she closed with a dadra.

The writer is a senior music critic.