Shalmali Joshi and Vaibhav Arekar make ‘The IIC Experience’ a memorable walk
Colorful rangolis and earthen lanterns illuminated the huge India International Center (IIC) in Delhi during the week-long ‘The IIC Experience’ festival, which returned after a year. In addition to music, dance and theatre, there were film screenings, exhibitions and gourmet spreads put together by the master chef. it was the same spiritual And physical giza (Feast for the soul and the palate). The festive atmosphere increased the enthusiasm of the artists and the audience alike.
The evening concerts proved that even the best virtual performances can’t match the energy of live concerts. Instant appreciation from the audience brings out the best in an artist. The synergy between the two adds to the joy of music. It was exciting to experience it once again at Shalmali Joshi’s sangeet ceremony.
training and practice
Trained in the Gwalior, Kirana and Jaipur-Atrauli gharanas, Shalmali was introduced to music by her mother Madhuri Kulkarni and later found Ratnakar in the intricacies of Chintu bua Mhaiskar and Pt. Jaipur Atrauli singing, who in their jod-raga (two or more Combinations of more ragas) and ‘Amvat’ (rare) ragas. No wonder she chose Khem-Kalyan, a rare variety of Kalyan thaat, to open her concert and presented it with appeal and grace.
The melody sounded quite close to the popular evening raga Yemen, but with a different flavour, the way the vocals were dealt with in the sequence of ‘Dha Ni Sa Ga Re’. And this interesting feature was retained throughout his unaltered and restrained depiction of the raga which included the early alap, the traditional big khyal set in vilambit (slow) tinatala, and the chhota khyal set in addition to the madhya (medium tempo) and druta (fast) thecha. Was. Tempo) of Tental.
Shalmali’s fine timbre and voice proved to be invaluable for conveying the underlying mood of the raga. ‘Piharva…’, Vilayati Teentaal Bandish, which was presented with great soulfulness and beauty piece de resistance, Her tonal is shrouded in elegance Shruti-Purity: Not only the melodious raga but also brought the songs to life. Visualized with clarity, the systematic treatment of the raga is gradual (sur-dar-suri, Bad: certified for its authenticity training (training) while his effortless rendering of complex tones told much about his rigor Riyazi (Practice). Vinay Mishra’s eloquent harmonium followed each note and nuance of Shalmali like a shadow, while Tejovrush Joshi (his talented son) provided a gentle Accompaniment On tabla via Bada Khayal. However, repeated increases in tempo during the Chhota Khayal could have been avoided.
Raag Jhinjhoti came with a mid-delayed khayal, ‘Eri Aali Bhag Jayenge, Mohan Aur Ghar Aaye’, a metaphorical rhythm of seven beats and a tarana composed by her husband Sunil Joshi, a challenging cycle in Drut Ada Chautal, a challenging cycle of 14 beats. Here, again, there was clarity and focus in her voice. He also paid attention to the texture and emotion of the raga. Due to paucity of time, Shalmali had to end the concert without singing thumri, bhajan or theatrical music.
Aspects of Shiva
The opening evening also featured ‘Shiva… Faces of Him’ by Mumbai-based Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer Vaibhav Arekar with dancers from his Sankhya dance company.
He brought to life the iconic representation of Shiva as an allegory of the universe. Vaibhava is produced through Alarippu, Varnam and Swarajati to portray Shiva as Nirguna-nirkar (formless) and Saguna-corporeal (with one form), Ardhanarishvara (Shiva-Parvati) and Hari-hara (Shiva-Vishnu). left for. The concept of merging identity into the principle of Advaita. He concluded with a depiction of Shiva as Nataraja, who represents the movement of life, creation, sustenance and dissolution.
The opening with the strains of the raga Kedar explaining the attributes and epithets of Shiva as Shankara, Gangadhar, Neelkanth, Chandravali, etc., conceived and choreographed, with dancers covering the entire stage in the open-air fountain lawn it was done. Vaibhav Arekar with compositions by Adi Shankara, Muthuswami Dikshitar, Vaidyanath Bhagavatar and Swathi Tirunal. Music for the production was given by Sudha Raghuram, Ambika Vishwanath, Satish Krishnamurthy and Himanshu Srivastava. At times the music did not match the movements, although the renditions of Sudha Raghuraman and Arun Gopinath were pleasing.
The critics of Delhi write on classical arts.
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