A memorable November of concerts to remember !

The month of November always brings in a treat of Classical Music Concerts. This month however , was really special with some wonderful concerts and festivals
November 2-5 , Panji Goa - Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Samaroha
November 17th (Saturday) Evening : Pannalal Ghosh Jayanti Sangeet Mahotsav  
November 18th (Sunday)  Evening : Melange by the Rithwik foundation
November 24-25 : Mitra Mahotsav 


The weekend of 17th and 18th November , two weeks after enjoying a full fledged 3 day Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Festival in Goa , it was a weekend that brought in two festivals over two evenings of Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th November, both at Shakuntala Shetty Auditorium in Pune.

November 17th (Saturday) Evening : Pannalal Ghosh Jayanti Sangeet Mahotsav   
Pt Nishindra Kinjak - Sitar and Pt Arvind Kumar Azad-Tabla  , Purbi Thumri dhun and Yaman
Pt Parasnath- Bansuri  and Pt Aditya Kalyanpur-Tabla , Madhukauns

November 18th (Sunday)  Evening : Melange by the Rithwik foundation
Brilliant Kathak by Rutuja Soman , accompanied on Tabla by Ojas Adhiya

A presentation of Yaman by Pt Pravin Godkhindi

A performance by Rutuja Soman , Ojas Adhiya and Pravin Godkhindi together that was truly a confluence of Taal , Sur and Nrutya together .. truly an entertaining "Sangeet"

Evening proceeded with a Sitar performance by the brilliant , young torchbearer of Senia-Maihar gharana ,Purbayan Chatterjee who presented  aalap , jod jhala in Kaunsi-Kanada ( Called Kaushiki by Senia-Maihar folks). It was followed by a short Mishra Shivaranjani Dhun. He was ably accompanied by Ojas Adhiya on Tabla

The vocal performance of Raghunandan Panshikar failed the expectation one would have from someone who is trained under Gaansaraswati Kishori Amonkar. Either he was really ill or he has serious problem with voice. Jaijaivanti and short Anand-Malhar occupied the hour he took the stage.

The final short but sweet presentation that was impromptu and was announced only during the earlier program was by Pt Jayteerth Mewundi-Vocal and Pt Pravin Godkhindhi-Bansuri jugalgayan-vadan. They presented the famous kannada bhajan "Saubhagyada Laxmi baramma" and a Bhairavi to end the evening , weekend and the festival !


After attending "Pulotsav"(पुलोत्सव) - evening of November 23rd , filled with "GuN gaain Awadi" (गुण गाईन आवडी ) and BhaDiPa che Valli (भाडीपा चे वल्ली )  , it was time for the मित्र महोत्सव 

November 24-25 : Mitra Mahotsav
Mitra Mahotsav in Pune over the weekend of 24th and 25th November was a treat of classical music, short but sweet event over two evenings with four good quality concerts
Sat 24th Nov 5pm-10pm
Anand Bhate - Vocal
N Rajam - violins

Sun 25th Nov 5pm - 10pm
Ayaan Ali Bangash - Sarod
Kaushiki Chakravarti - Vocal

Mitra Mahotsav 2018 kicked off with Puriya Dhanaashree by Anand Bhate .. सुमिरो तेरो नाम ..continued with .. पायलिया झन काये , a "non Kirana" style tappa and tarana from his earlier guru was followed by a "non Kirana" style thumri of Uts Nazakat and Salamat Ali Khan in mishra Kafi.. मोरे नैन लंगर बरसात ... Anand Bhate concluded with तीर्थ विठ्ठल ...

Pta N Rajam with her singing violin had the concluding session of Day 1 .. Bageshree Kanada , Jhinjhoti , Vaishnav dhun and Bhairavi..

Day 2 evening began with a soft but piercing aalap in Lalita-Gauri by Ayaan Ali Bangash - Sarod, in tune with the evening-twilight mood. The jod and jhala was spoiled by his tabalji with loud and fast tempo-ed bangs !
The concert continued with Jhinjhoti, Gaud Malhar,concluding with a Kirwani dhun.

A blissful experience of Mitra Mahotsav was offered in the finale by Kaushiki Chakravarty ... expansive Khyaal in raag Jog , with alaap, beautiful traditional vilambit bandish , tarana, sargam taans and priceless drut bandish "नन्द जोगन लगी नाम संजोग "
A traditional bandish ki thumri in Bihag was the icing on cake ! A true offering of Patiala gayaki with rich "Bhaav and ras" accompanied with powerful "Sahitya". Kaushiki is a beauty from within out and is undoubtedly the darling of crowd. She responded to the "farmaishes" of the crowd , that was mostly light classical.. I did not wait for that final half hour and proceeded with lingering melodies of Jog and Bihag !

Here is a link to the photo album with pictures and some good clips.

Annual sojourn to Goa - 38th Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Samaroha

Annual visit to Goa for Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Mahotsav , in the first week of November, truly marked the beginning of festive season. Feast of classical music on Nov 2-3-4 was the beginning of the week that resulted into Diwali celebration Nov 5-6-7-8 .. food trails and leisurely walks along the beaches of Goa , visit to forts and also a night at casinos !

The 38th Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Festival began with a curtain raiser titled "Indian Classical Music and its Aesthetics". This was one of the best interactive session and curtain raiser event in last 4-5 years of festival. The key takeaways were :
1) Virah ras is a dominant ras in ICM
2) "Nayika" is the key player in a Bandish
3) Most bandishes are "Female oriented" ( स्त्रीवादी ) and explore the mind of the "nayika" , though the bandishes are written mostly by males!
4) The general "bhaav" of a thumri is common .. mostly romantic
5) The ultimate goal of Sangit or ICM is Anand (आनंद ) , achieve Bramhanand ( ब्रह्मानंद ), Kaivalyanand ( कैवाल्यानंद )
6) Creativity in ICM is most important , it goes through four stages generally : Copying the guru- Imitation , Inspiration , Imbibation and then creation

The main festival was in 5 session over three days. The first session was on Friday , Nov 2nd evening Arshad Ali Khan of Kirana , vocals kicked off with Puriya Kalyan and was followed by Pt Satish Vyas, santoor with Chandrakauns closing the evening.

Day 2 - Morning session
After the local artist Veena Mopkar's efforts at Lalat Pancham came the priced concert of Dr Arun Dravid , the first and foremost disciple of Gaansaraswati Kishori Amonkar, who presented Devgiri Bilawal and Khat - a Jaipur speciality.

Pt Vishwanath Kanhere with his singing harmonium entertained the connoisseurs with Bilaskhani Todi , Hindol-Bahar and a Sarang dhun to close the morning session 

Day 2 - Evening session 

Bharathi Pratap of Agra gharana started with Dhanaashree where her previous training in Carnatic style was apparent. She enthralled the audience with her spell binding Purvi alap and Nom-Tom, a trademark of Agra ! She concluded with a Tarana

 

Dhanashree Pandit Rai was next with her bouquet of Thumris.

Pt Arnab Chatterjee of Kirana started with Shree and concluded with Hansdhwani. A strong Patiala influence of sargam ( or may be Bengal influence) was apparent inspite of Kirana training.

The Final presentation of the evening was by Pt Kushal Das whose Sitar sang like a vocalist. The perfect soft accompaniment by Ut Mohd Akram Khan was icing on the cake. Bageshree alaap , Jod and Jhala concluded the evening.

Day 3 - Morning Session

The Sunday morning starter of the day was by Shobha Chaudhary who presented Nat-Bhairav , Bilaskhani Todi bhajan and Mishra Khambavati Thumri.

Anuradha Kuber of Bhendi Bazar gharana was delight of the morning, who presented crisp Bhupaal Todi and Vrundavani Sarang.

Sarangiya Ut Moinuddin Khan with accompaniment of Ut Mohd Akram Khan on Tabla was a concert that made the Sunday morning worthwhile on the banks of Mandovi. They presented Nat-Bhairav and concluded with Bhairavi that brought a kind of serenity.

Day 3-  Evening session 
After the opening concert effort by a local artist  ( that was worth a miss and should have been dropped to give more time to senior artists that were to follow ), came a young and promising Agra torchbearer , Waseem Ahemad Khan who presented the trademark Purvi alap and Nom-Tom , a madhyalay bandish "Paar Karo naiyya mori"(पार करो नैय्या मोरी ) and a rare Agra bandish "Mathura na Jayyo" (मथुरा न जैय्यो). With the applause of audience came an impromptu Barwa , an authentic Agra style presentation.

The final vocal concert of the festival was by Pt Kedar Bodas of Gwalior and Bhendi Bazar gharana,  who presented Bhoop-Kalyan , a tarana and a tappa in Khamaj.

I did not wait for the final concert of the festival, Instrumental Jugalbandi by Pt Kumar Bose and Vidwan Thiruvaarur Bakthavatsalam.

My observation about Surashree Kesarbai Festival over last 5 years is that it is a festival that brings together top class artists and concerts from diverse spread of gharanas. Also , the arrangements for audience and auditorium is excellent and world class. However , the quality of local audience and also their numbers is abysmally low.
The best part of the festival, as I mention every year, is the brilliant compere , Dr Roopa Chari. Her command over languages and rich store of words and philosophical anecdotes keeps the festival lively for all three days!
Looking forward to the 39th Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Samaroh in November 2019 !
 Adieu ! Viva Goa ! 

Here are the links to various related clicks and clips :

38th Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Samaroha-2018  - clicks and clips

Curtain raiser event : A Symposium "Indian Classical Music and its Aesthetics"

Beautiful Goa - 2018

37th Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Samaroha - Album of year 2017 

36th Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Samaroah Album of 2016

Previous Blogposts of year 2017 and Blogpost of year 2016     

Pt Jitendra Abhisheki Festival Sept 2017 and misc photos

Viva Goa 

Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary 

Goa - Miramar, Panji, Don Paula 2016