Rudra Veena, vocal concerts leave audience spellbound

Experience spellbinding renditions of rare Raag Gowri and Raag Khokhar by Mithun Chakravarty and Ustad Bahauddin Dagar at BEM High School.

Rendition of compositions in rare Raag Gowri and Raag Khokhar by vocalist Mithun Chakravarty, and performance by Ustad Bahauddin Dagar on the rare instrument Rudra Veena, left audience spellbound at the BEM High School auditorium in Mangaluru on Wednesday, February 20.

The concerts by Mr. Chakravarty and Ustad Dagar were part of Swaraanand Pratishthan’s ‘Baithak’ music programme series. The programme on Wednesday was ninth held by the Pratishthan.

Mr. Chakravarthy, a disciple of Pandit Rajshekar Mansur, first presented the composition ‘Rajana Aye’ set to the rare Raag Gowri. The composition is about the predicament of a subject of the way the King should be welcomed when he visits former’s house. With his meditative rendition, the vocalist succeeded in conveying audience the essence of the composition.

Then the vocalist presented a short composition ‘Aaj Anand Mukha Chand’ set to another rare Raag Khokhar. These two compositions were of Alladiya Khan, the founder of Jaipur Gharana tradition, to which Mr. Chakravarthy belongs to. The singer was ably supported by Bharavi Deraje on Tabla and Prasad Kamath on Harmonium.

The highlight of Ustad Dagar’s performance was his 40-minute long ‘aalap’ in which he brought out minute sounds from the instrument. The audience were in pin drop silence to hear these sounds. The ‘aalap’ was part of the composition ‘Pyare Thore Nain Meenakara’ (Oh beloved, your eyes are like a fish). Sanjay Agle enhanced the quality of Ustad Dagar’s performance with Pakhawaj.

Ustad Dagar then spoke about his instrument, which is popular in North India as ‘Bin’. While telling audience about alteration that his father Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar has made to the instrument, he demonstrated the way intricacies of Swaraas in Raagas are brought out in Rudra Veena.