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. 

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