The two-day Malhar festival organized by the Faculty of Music and Fine Arts, University of Delhi was a virtual event that began on a gloomy note when Dr. Deepti Bhalla, Dean and Head of the Department of Music dedicated it to whose memory? Pro. Debu Choudhary and Prateek Choudhary, two important faculty members who died of COVID.
Inaugurated by Dr. Vikas Gupta, Registrar, DU, the festival based on monsoon ragas was an opportunity for the students to understand the importance of seasonal ragas and how to deal with them in different musical traditions.
Carnatic vocals were offered by Abhiram Unni on the opening day, live streamed from Kerala, and Pt. Shubhendra Rao Dixit in music by N Priyadarshini from Delhi, trained under Mangar Natesan, and further composed by Pantula Ram, Unni gives ample description of his music. On mridangam by Saroj Pungad and violin by Gokul Alankod, Unni debuted with the popular Tyagaraja work ‘Ramabhiram’ in Dhanyasi and went on to present ‘Satileni Guruguha…’, set to the prekalani composition Mishra Chapu by Ponnaiya Pillai done. The cadence precedes with a wide sigh. The composition was decorated with imaginatively decorated kalpanaswar and niraval. Abhiram concludes the recitation with a padam by Maharaja Swati Tirunal in the Nilambari raga, Rupakam. One only wanted his repertoire to have something to do with the monsoons as he was performing for the Malhar festival.
Pt. Shubhendra Rao, Internationally acclaimed sitar player, Pt. Ravi Shankar compensated for this with the elaborate alap-jod-jhala in Mian Malhar, Malhar’s principal son produced by Mian Tansen. The first narration of Shubhendra’s Aalap with the defining combination of Rishabh and Pancham, moving the Komal Gandhar and descending from Mandra Nishad to Pancham and then softly caressing both the Nishads formed the authentic sketch of the raga before reaching the destination of Shajja. The rest of the painting was complete with his multicolored strokes through the jala and the picturesque jhala.
The favorite ragas of the rainy season, Vilambit in the soothing country and compositions of Dhruv. On top of this, Shubhendra culminates with a garland of myriad varieties of Megh-Malhar with a glimpse of a Madhur Malhar-Mala, Megh-Malhar, Gaur-Malhar, Nat-Malhar and even Surdasi Malhar did. The perfect atmosphere of a romantic monsoon. Musicality of Tabla Sangat by Pt. Ashish Sengupta added the sweetness of the instrument.
The guest artist on the second day was Bismillah Khan award winning singer Samihan Kashalkar and renowned tabla player Ustad Rafiuddin Sabri. Samihan, son and disciple of Pandit. Live Streaming from Pune Ulhas Kashalkar opens with Miyan Malhar and does full justice to the raga. The important feature of his performance was the clarity in the concept of the raga, which was sung carefully, except for the repetition of the raga, as it had been played on the sitar the previous day, which Samihan may not have been aware of.
His flamboyant voice with a clear tone and technical flair proved his training and understanding of rhythm and phrases. The big Khayal ‘Ata Dhoom…’, ready to slow down the Ektaal and the smaller Khayal ‘Ab Ghan Barse…’ pledged his beauty to the Khayal singing in the medium tempo of the Teentaal, while the concluding Kajri, ‘Ghir Aai Hai Curry Badaria.. Sung in typical Dadra style, his other guru, Vidushi Girija Devi had the Purab Anga singing taste. Akshay Kulkarni on Tabla and Ameya Bichu on Harmonium applauded with the scintillating singer.
The closing concert of the festival was a tabla solo by Ustad Rafiuddin Sabri, who opened with Peshakar and played a variety of qaida, rela, tukda and laggi-ladi in slow and medium tempo of three talas. Despite his laudatory quality, there was no scope for performing monsoon ragas on the tabla, but one wanted Shambhu Sisodia, who accompanied him on the sarangi, to think about it and choose a suitable raga for his lehenga.
The students of Sargam Choir were delighted to see them inaugurating the festival with Subrahmanya Bharati’s composition in the Carnatic Raga Amruthavarshini, composed and conducted by Prashant G. Pie did it. Similarly, on the second day the choir with Mangal-Dhwani performed compositions in various Malhars conducted by Vineet Goswami. The ‘Auchar’ (introductory alap) of the raga sung alternately by male and female vocals, ‘Garaj Ghata Ghan’ in Jhaptal, ‘Garaj Ghata Ghan’ and Gaur Malhar Bandish in Teentaal, marked the beginning of ‘Bijuria Chamak Lagi’. This was followed by the folklore composition, ‘Barse Badaria’, followed by the famous ‘Bol Re Papihara’ in Miyan Malhar and culminating in a Dhrut Ada Chautal Tarana with Sargam Taan, which creates a Jhala-like effect in Dhoot Teentaal, which reaches a climax with a vigorous third. The engaging group performances on both the days assured the audience of the promise of Gen Next.
Delhi-based writers write on classical music.
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