Artistes sing monsoon melodies at Barkha Ritu

Barkha Ritu captures the beauty of monsoon

Barkha Ritu, a festival dedicated to the beauty of monsoons and Indian classical music, was organised by the Banyan Tree recently in Chowdaiah Memorial Hall in Bengaluru. The festival commenced with the santoor recital of Rahul Sharma, the son and disciple of Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma, who undertook a series of experiments involving many minor and major modifications in the design and style of playing this instrument.

Assimilating the attractive features of dhrupad ‘ang’ and sitar ‘baaj’ into the santoor like his father, Rahul Sharma began with the alap-jod-jhala in raag Megh, the melody associated with the monsoon season. In the jod segment, instead of the pakhawaj, he was accompanied by Pt Ram Kumar Mishra on the tabla , enhancing the rhythmic appeal of the jod. Rahul Sharma took up a gat composition in Matt taal, a rhythmic cycle of nine beats, followed by an Ek taal composition, a rhythmic cycle of 12 beats, in the medium tempo (madhya laya) followed by a briskly moving composition in Dhrut Teen taal (16 beats).

The twinkling and aqueous nature of the Santoor’s tone blended harmoniously with raag Megh to produce a lyrical expression which was richly evocative. Melodic charm rhythmic verve , Rahul Sharma’s rendition, which was marked by melodic charm and rhythmic verve, was backed well by Pt Ram Kumar Mishra’s precision and elan. Graciously yielding to the requests of the audience, Rahul Sharma played a dadra in raag Mishra Pahadi, providing glimpses of many ragas in a kaleidoscopic motion. The vibrant laggi in Keherwa taal executed in a commendable manner by Pt Ram Kumar Mishra drew applause.

Sanjeev Abhyankar, a star disciple of the legendary Pt Jasraj, began his Hindustani vocal recital with the Vilambit Ek taal composition ‘Kaun gat bhayi, piya na pooche ek baat’ in the ‘nishakaleen’ raag Bageshree. His raag vistar in the Vilambit khayal had awe-inspiring improvisations in the alap sequence in the rhythmic avartans. He embellished his rendition with intricate sargams.

Abhishek Shinkar on the harmonium matched Sanjeev’s exuberance, meticulously keeping pace with the vocalist, teasing out the succulent strands of Bageshree on the samvadini with fluency, producing dainty meends that seamlessly blended with the lyrical articulations of the vocalist. The Teen taal composition ‘Ras bhari bajayi re bansuri’ was marked by impressive taankari, showcasing the vocalist’s fine enunciation and eclectic approach.

After Bageshree, Sanjeev, in keeping with the theme of rain raags, took up raag Miyan Ki-Malhar. His delineation of the Teen taal bandish ‘Umand ghumand ghan garaje’ had ebullient gamak taans and phrases. His composing skills came to the fore in this concert when he rendered ‘Ghan ghor ghata chaaye’ in the fast-paced Dhrut Ek taal in raag Ramdasi Malhar. Rohit Mazumdar on the tabla accompanied him with zeal.

Concluding the concert with a soulful bhajan ‘Matwaro badal chayo re’, again his own composition in raag Maru-Bihag, Sanjeev Abhyankar captured the longings of the saint-poet in the piece.