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Cultural extravaganza
JAYARAMAN V
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‘Vasanthotsavam’ saw maestros in the field of dance and music create an aural and visual feast.
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For cultural buffs: Viswa Mohan Bhatt and Ravi Kiran
‘Vasanthotsavam,’ organised by the State Tourism Department at Durbar Hall Grounds, Kochi, saw a large gathering of cultural buffs.The festival took off on a high note with Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s sarod recital. He started his concert with a carol in Major Scale (Bilawal) or Shankarabharanam.
Eschewing the traditional Jhod-jhala-ghath of the Thanthrikari Ang (instrumental pattern), the Ustad switched over to an exotic scale, sensing the pulse of the audience.
The raga ‘Shubha-Lakshmi,’ coined by the Ustad in honour of his spouse Subbulakshmi, resembled the Karna Ranjini of the South. It had glistening sequences of melody. He wrapped up the concert with folk tunes (dhun) from Bengal and Assam. Mithilesh Kumar Jha and Dilip Vyas played the tabla .
‘Ghazal Sandhya’ by Talat Aziz had the maestro demonstrating his vocal prowess. ‘Sanchaaris’ in Mohiniyattom by Deepthy Omchery Bhalla was followed by a nritha prabantha on the deity Aadi Keshava in Tiruvattar.
Talat Aziz
A choreographed Kuchipudi performance by Vaijayanthi Kashi was appreciated by the audience.
Bhava, raga, thala
How the harmonious blending of bhava, raga and thala could elevate the art of Bharatnatyam to its zenith was demonstrated by Malavika Sarukai; each item was punctuated with applause.
Can a Hawaiian guitar and Gottu Vadyam (Chithra Veena) go hand in hand when presented through a jugalbandhi? Gottuvadyam had been enriched by maestros of the past like Tiruvidamaratoor Sakh Rama Rao (who trained Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer), Budallur Krishnamoorthy Sastrigal, (who advised Ravi Kiran on the subtleties of Gottu vadayam), Mannargudi Savithri Ammal, K.S. Narayana Iyengar ( paternal grandfather of Ravi Kiran).
When Viswa Mohan Bhatt came up with ‘Nat Bhairav,’ popularised by Pandit Ravi Shankar, Rudra Veena swung into action with Sarasangi, the South Indian equivalent of Nat Bhairav.
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan
Bhatt probed the raga from all angles in the typical ‘gaayaki’ style and Ravi Kiran delved deep into lower tetra-chords, the emanations resembled intonations of a human being.
A raga malika would have added lustre to the programme. Subhash Chandran (younger brother of T.H. Vinayaka Ram) was scintillating on the ghatom and Ramkumar Mishra handed the tabla with ease.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
