News & Notes
Sangeet Samarpan

More than thirty years back Prof. Dhyanesh Khan (1942 – 1991)
left this world but his contribution as
a guru, completely dedicated to music, still remains. When his legendary
father, sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan, shifted base to USA along with his Ali
Akbar College of Music, young Dhyanesh and sister Amina Perera (Baby), took the
responsibility of its Kolkata chapter. While Amina, who carried the legacy
alone after the untimely demise of Dhyanesh, remained in the background till
her last breath, it was her brothers who encouraged and groomed a generation of
bright young musicians initiated by their father.
In the absence of his younger siblings, now the onus lies on
USA-based Ashish Khan, the eldest son of Ali Akbar Khan, who was also trained
by his grandfather Baba Allauddin Khan, the founder of Maihar Gharana. Under
his guidance his nephew Shiraz Ali Khan (son of Prof Dhyanesh Khan) holds the
fort of Aashish Khan School of World Music, Kolkata. The
institution organised ‘Sangeet Samarpan’, a three day-long Hindustani
classical music and dance to celebrate Ustad Dhyanesh Khan's 82nd birth
anniversary at Satyajit Ray Auditorium, ICCR, Kolkata (9 -11 May 2024).
Vocalist Sandip Bhattacharya, flanked by Soumen Nandi (table) and
Debashish Adhikary (harmonium), etched the scene of a rain-soaked evening with bawat
(Content) and tariqua (Technique) while singing Miyan ki Malhar in Kirana
style. This matured approach was extremely delightful.
Shantanu Bhattacharya, groomed by several stalwarts including
vocalist Ajoy Chakrabarty, sang Kedar, studded with four diversely different
compositions set to Jhumra, Teental and Ikwai. This made his seasoned gayaki
more interesting. In steady hands of his guru-behen, harmonium player Rupashree
Bhattacharya and young tabla player Rupak Bhattacharya, he also ventured to
present a composition of Ali Akbar Khan set to his self-created Chandranandan,
a beautiful but complex raga. Its soulful rendition was touching.
Santoor virtuoso Sandip Chatterjee’s portrayal of raga Jhinjhoti
was delicately sweet. It reminded one of the legendary Shikumar Sharma’s style of
playing the instrument. The Jhaptal composition, with an intriguing mukhda,
mukam-based complex laya-chhanda and taans, was presented well. It was possible
due to the seasoned tabla support of Arup Chatterjee.
Skillful sarod player Indrayuddh Majumdar, son-disciple of sarod
maestro Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, now trains with Aashish Khan. His delineation
of Sree, with its unique rishabh, made the raga emerge out of reverie and its
long meends expressed its mood through expertly applied volume variations.
Flanked by two young tabla wizards Debjit Patitundi and
Aarchik Banerjee (disciples of Subhankar Banerjee), Indrayuddh’s
Jhaptal and Teental gatkaris scaled new heights of skill-show. The superfast
jhala could have been avoided.
Despite shouldering endless responsibilities as an organiser,
Shiraz Ali Khan was cool and collected while playing Kausi Kanada as the final
artist of the soiree. His tuneful sarod elaborated the raga in alap segment,
played with rhythm in jod and went ecstatic in jhala. Expertly supported by
Ojas Adhia on the tabla, he bedecked the gats with ornate finer nuances
treasured by his gharana. He concluded with a lilting piece in
Bhairavi.
Dwiptaneel Bhattacharya, a student and teacher with the school
and also a fast rising musician chose to interpret Desh on his melodious sarod
in a pristinely sweet style. The skillful slow and fast gatkaris, replete with
serious raga elaboration, lively layakari and cascading taans, received
sensitive support from Ujjwal Bharati on the tabla. The young sarodiya will be
more effective by reflecting inner bliss and receptive stage demeanor.
Dipanwita Ganguly, another young teacher with the school’s vocal branch, had an
eye for symmetry and a tendency to expose the upper reaches of raga Patadip.
Prangopal Bandopadhyay’s tabla and Debashis Bhattacharya’s harmonium helped
enhance the aesthetics of her brief recital.
It was heartening to see that the school still maintains the
tradition of Baba Allauddin’s Maihar Band as instrumental and vocal ensemble
now. The final day commenced with three ensemble showcasing the junior students
followed by seniors and a vocal chorus. It was followed by Kaberi Sen’s lilting
Orissi dance items composed by guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. Bharatanatyam
danseuse Oindrila Roy Mallick opened the festival with Mamavatu Sree Saraswati (Hindolam), a Siva-stuti and an ashtapadi
(Revati, Adi tala). She maintained neat bodyline with commendable control on
still postures. For a change, Kathak exponent Seema Mehta chose live music
featuring seasoned musicians led by Sabir Khan. With an enthralling introduction
to her dance he opened the second evening and later again, with sarangi player Allarakha
Kalawant as his companion, he concluded with an authoritative tabla solo
rendition.
Flautist Nityanand Haldipur, supported by tabla maestro Arup Chatterjee, harmonium expert Jyoti Goho with his son Sourabh on the tabla, Chaturangui player Debashis Bhattacharya and his son-disciple Suryadipta, accompanied by tabla player Shubhashis Bhattacharya, sitar exponent Anjan Saha, and tabla sensations Ojas Adhia and Ujjwal Bharati all participated to guide and bless the next generation.