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.
