A decorous curtain call

Drawing the curtains on this year’s Sawai, the evening session on the final day lived up to its expectations and gave Puneites a fitting farewell and a great set of memories to latch on to until the next edition. The evening witnessed the only jugalbandi at this year’s festival and ended with a recording of Pt Gandharva, the inspiration behind it.

T he extended evening session which saw the performances by Apoorva Gokhale and Pallavi Joshi. And after Shounak Abhisheki’s unmatched gaayaki, was a performance by Parmeshwar Hegde, a disciple of Pt Basavraj Rajguru of the Kirana gharana. Hedge presented a two traditional bandishes set in ektaal and teentaal in Raga Shuddha Kalyan, a favourite raga in the Kirana tradition. Presenting a bandish later on in Raga Shahana Kanada set in teentaal, he concluded with a bhajan. He was ably supported on the tabla by Ravindra Yavgal and on harmonium by Avinash Dighe.

The vocal recital offering of Pt Upendra Bhat, one of the seniormost disciples of Pt Bhimsen Joshi, followed. He opted to sing Raga Darbari Kanada, again a pet raga of the Kirana gharana. Having a deep sonorous and cultivated voice spread over a range of two and a half octaves, Upendraji presented two traditional bandishes set in ektaal, a teentaal followed by a fast tempo sargam geet set in teentaal expertly in the kirana format. After presenting two bandishes in Raga Basant set in teentaal and ektaal respectively, he concluded his concert with a medley of some popular abhangs. He was ably supported by Omkar Gulvady on tabla, Sudhir Naik on harmonium and Dr Rajendra Durkar on ektari-chipli.

The audience then witnessed a jugalbandi, which was the sole item of its kind at this edition of the festival. The only jugalbandi at the Sawai, was between sitar doyen Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan and violinist Atulkumar Upadhye. Shahid bhai, an artist of global fame, is the 7th generation sitarist in the illustrious lineage rooted in the Itawah gharana. The duo chose Raga Charukeshi to open their concert. Shahid bhai’s tuneful and soulful delicate alaaps which sustained over long ghaseets, had the aura of a gracefully adorned woman.

A musically peaceful and aesthetic Alaap by Shahid bhai was a reflection of his calm and composed temperament. His mastery over the baayaa could be missed in the jhala phase. Though Upadhye made a good effort, his pace seemed out synch and content of phrasing simplistic. The duo went on to present two gats, the former in medium tempo roopak while the latter being in fast tempo teentaal. Shahid bhai’s command over volume, laykari and all aspects of tantakari were delivered with masterly ease. The result was a thunderous applause from the mesmerised audience.

The penultimate performance of the festival was by the internationally renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Dr Prabha Atre, a performer who has also excelled as a brilliant thinker, academician, author, composer and a teacher of music. She is the seniormost, front ranking vocalists in the country representing the Kirana gharana, today. Trained in the traditional ‘guru-shishya parampara’ system by the Pt Sureshbabu Mane and his famous sister, Hirabai Badodekar, both stalwarts of the Kirana gharana, Prabhatai has also drawn inspiration from the styles of renowned maestros — Ustad Amir Khan and Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.
Elegantly dressed in a red bordered sari, and her trademark big bindi and long chain, she opened her concert with Raga Jog, a soulful night melody presenting a khayal followed by a jod bandish, both being her self compositions set in ektaal. Inspite of a restrictive range, the 81-year-old veteran, with her intricate and well crafted phrasing, appealed both to the head and hearts. With every avartan being well designed, she embellished it with choice sargams, bol-banav and speedy clear taans. Thanks to the earlier artiste exceeding his time limit slightly, she was left with little time for her concert and wrapped up her performance with two self composed bandishes in Raga Bhairavi, the former set in Jhaptaal while the latter set in teentaal, which she had composed just a couple of days ago. In line with her pioneering thought, she maintained a connecting thread in the textual contents of the consecutive bandishes that she presented in both Jog as well as Bhairavi.

The final curtains were drawn over this year’s festival with the traditional playing of a recording of Pt Sawai Gandharva in Raga Bhairavi. The entire festival is a tribute and an homage to the master, in whose memory the festival is held. The Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav and its 60 years of legacy are an inheritance to musicians, music lovers and the city of Pune — an inheritance that they must nurture and be proud of.