Swami Haridas Tansen Sangeet Nritya Mahotsav — Delhi Classical Music Festival

Delhi’s most eagerly awaited classical music festival kicked off with a glittering start. Despite the biting cold of the season, the Modern School sports stadium was packed full to the brim with eager listeners who had arrived well before the  concert began. With the seats arranged in a completely egalitarian manner;  baithak style on the floor in the front, followed by rows of chairs, listeners were keen to be as far forward as possible.

Vishwamohan Bhatt opened the festival, accompanied by his son Salil on his version of the modified guitar, which they both play. Additionally, they were accompanied vocally by folk singers from Rajasthan, the Manganiyars. They also brought their own percussion instruments, the morsing and khartaal. On the tabla were  Ram Kumar Mishra and his son Rahul from the Banaras gharana. Starting with  Rajasthan’s most renowned  song, Padharo mhare des, the team then went to a folk song in raga Desh. Seamlessly merging the folk and classical traditions, the next piece was  in raga Vishwaranjini, created by Vishwamohan Bhatt. In this they played alap jor jhala before bringing in the tabla. The performance concluded with Vishwamohan’s Grammy-winning song.

One did wonder about the inclusion of the Manganiyars at a serious classical music festival, and that too as the opening act with folk songs. The over-amplification of Salil’s instrument created a hugely distorted sound, almost a cacophony.

No wonder Shujaat Khan, who followed, was compelled to point out the difficulty of performing a solo recital, after the loud soundscape of the earlier item. He gently reminded the audience that classical music had to create an ambience of peace, as well as exhilarate through speed. Effortlessly, the maestro held his audience captive with  raga Shuddha Kalyan. In the composition, he sang a khayal associated with the Kirana gharana, Bajo re. Catering to audience requests, Shujaat sang snatches of a few songs before settling into the popular devotional song O paalanhaare. Our classical music tradition has always been above religious divides. He was accompanied on the tabla by Zuheb Ahmed Khan and Shariq Mustafa. As expected, Shujaat received a prolonged standing ovation; he remains one of the most popular classical musicians of the time.

The evening concluded with a performance by Jaipur-Attrauli vocalist  Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, accompanied on the tabla by Vinod Lele, on the harmonium by Paromita Mukherji, and vocal support by her Delhi-based disciple, Rindana Rahasya. She started with raga Jog, and brought the concert to close with Bhairavi. The concert proved to be truly satisfying.

The second day started with sarodist Amaan Ali Bangash, accompanied by Sai Girdhar on mridangam and Yashwant Vaishnav on the tabla. He began with an alap in raga Sree, followed by two compositions in Jhaptaal (10 beats) before moving into drut Teen taal (16 beats). One missed the jor and jhala, sections so intrinsic to sarod or sitar. For instrumentalists trained in the North Indian classical tradition, with its distinct playing techniques, reducing a presentation to an echo of the vocal tradition proves disappointing. Next Amaan played raga Jhinjhoti, a composition in nine-and-a-half beats before ending with raga Rageshwari. One could not help but wonder at the decision to play three ragas within 90 minutes.

Hari Prasad Chaurasia was unable to attend, so instead his disciple Rupak Kulkarni played, accompanied by Ram Kumar Mishra. Accompanying him on the flute was Ghanshyam Chand, another disciple of  Hari Prasad Chaurasia. The soothing rendition of alap, jor jhala, gave way to a composition in nine beats. In raga Desh, Rupak played a composition set to Arha Teen taal followed by his own composition, a dramatic drut piece.

Ulhas Kashalkar brought the evening to a close, with vocal support from his disciples, Ojesh Pratap Singh and Anshuman Bhattacharya. On the tabla he was accompanied by Suresh Talwalkar and on the harmonium by Vinay Mishra. The maestro chose to sing raga Bageswari. After a vilambit khayal, he moved into a racy Ek taal khayal with beautifully embellished gamak taans. One admired his ability to shape his music in different ways — at times focusing on opening the raga, at others on intricate taans, engaging layakaari, or powerful gamak taans phrases. His composition in Khamach was a suitable piece as the lyrics dealt with  Krishna going out to graze with his cows; given that this festival originated in Vrindavan, the land of  Krishna. The tarana presented by Ulhas  was set in Teen taal. He concluded with a bandish thumri in Bhairavi. This was vintage Kashalkar.

The concluding day commenced with the Kathak doyen, Uma Sharma presenting bhava, seated, as her frail health did not permit movement. Redolent of an earlier era of unhurried art, Uma was in her element. Her disciples danced raasleela, in the typical costumes and style of rural Vrindavan. The simple tinsel headgear and flower garlands remain in use even today  in raasleela performances in Vrindavan. The item concluded amid audience’s resounding cheers of “Radhe Radhe”.

Rahul Sharma, made his debut at this festival on the santoor, choosing raga Bhupali. After an alap, jor jhala, he moved on to a composition in nine beats. His slick movements and carefully thought-out time management were highly appreciated. On the tabla was Ram Kumar Mishra, who brought a fresh energy to the accompaniment, echoing Rahul’s layakaari in different beats. He concluded with a dhun in raga Pahari, impressively maintaining the raga’s distinctness from Bhupali, which has the same notes.

The festival concluded with the senior most vocalist of today, Parween Sultana, who is now in her 75^th year. Age has not diminished her powerful voice, straddling four octaves, in perfect pitch. She chose Kalavati and Hamsadhwani, both ragas being amongst her most popular concert repertoire. Recordings of these ragas, made over four decades ago, remain evergreen even today.  She concluded with a Kabir bhajan. On the tabla she was accompanied by Akram Khan, on the harmonium  by Vinay Mishra and with vocal support from her daughter, Shaadab.      

This festival remains Delhi’s largest and most popular, with over 2,000 listeners, owing to the inclusive handling of the organisers. Anybody was allowed to sit in the front; the stadium was warmed by tall heaters to keep the arena warm; the food outside was fresh, hot, and affordable. Listeners travelled from as far away as Agra for the festival, which presented the senior most popular artists of North India.

SHAILAJA KHANNA
(Writes on music, musicians and matters of music)