Sunday, December 17, 2006
Sawai Gandharva Music Festival 2006
We had the opportunity to attend the prestigious Sawai Gandharva Music Festival (7th ~ 10th Dec) this year.
Day 1:
Day 1 was a mesmerizing treat. Was lucky enough to leave work early and listen to the Shehanai of Sailesh Bhagawat. Later that evening Dilshad Khan and Sabir Khan enchanted the audience with their Sarangi Jugal bandi.
Day 2:
We were in late a bit on Day 2. Kaushiki Chakraborty's Vocal was a gem of a performance. Pandit Shiv Sharma had just transported the audience to the dream land with his Santoor. Kaushiki Chakraborty came next and enthralled the audience with the agility and sweetness of her voice. This was her first appearance in Sawai Gandharva and I am sure she will make more. It would be worth mentioning that as she was about to leave after finishing the planned pieces, the crowd demanded one more. She obliged with another sweet song. However at the end of that piece she was asked to sing one more, this time by the organizers. All this despite the fact that the next performance was by Pt. Jasraj.
Day 3:
Rahul Deshpande recreated the same magic that Kaushiki had done the earlier day. He a great artist and holds a promise for the tomorrow of Indian classical music.
Day 4 (Morning):
Sunday the programme started early, we reached a bit late missing a major part of Rakesh Chaurasia's performace. Rakesh Chaurasia is a disciple of the great flute mastero Pt.Hari Prsad Chaurasia. He had filled the auditorium with melody. All one had to do was close his eyes to disconnect form the real world and get transported to beautiful lush green meadows and show capped mountains riding on the sweet sound emanating from his flute. We were lucky to listen to the last two renderations which were essentially extensions to his planned programme on public demand. Boy this guy has a sense of humor. When the public demanded one more. He said time up. When the public said never mind he said they (organizers) won't call me again.
Day 4(Evening):
In the evening session, Pt.Amjad Ali Khan and the two young tabala players who accompanied him enthralled the audience. We were lucky to have watched this performance from a very close distance. Pt.Amjad Ali Khan was completely immersed in the music he was creating.
Sawai Gandharva festival has a history of more than 50 years. It is a showcase of best of artists of Hindustani classical music. It is also one of those stages that introduce the legends in making and proves that classical music has an audience and a future.
It is also an opportunity to classical music lovers to drink from of river of music that flows at the festival and quench their thirst. It is an opportunity for people like me who have little to do with social life and public gatherings to unplug from day to day hectic IT life. To sit in the midst of fellow men. It is an opportunity to share a few moments with a stranger and have a gossip. Make new friends and remind my self that man is a social animal and has to make efforts to remain so and not become an IT animal or a virtual animal with an avatar.
Couple of items that go into side notes:
Who ever decided to call sitting on the floor Bharatiya Bhaitak... was an ingenious person. To sit an average of 5 hrs per day, 4 days in a row, on the floor is, to me an amazing feat.
I know it is easier said than done but I strongly feel that a music festival of this acclaim and celebrity deserves better patronage from the government. The least the Government could do was to build a descent auditorium that could provide a dust free and safe environment for artists, organizers and audience. I am sure that in a city like Pune with its rich cultural heritage, and rasika population, such an auditorium would not go unused for the remaining 361 days of the year.
The present venue New English School Rambaugh is brimming to its capacity and people will soon come home with mixed feeling of having attended the festival if the government and organizers do not manage to find a larger and better place for this festival.
Another option that the organizers must consider is live telecasting the entire event. Tyagaraja Aradhana Utsavas are live telecast and benefit all those who cannot make it to the venue.
-Bhaskar.
ps:- I do not have the most seasoned ears for classical Indian music. I know practically nothing about it either. Certainly every one who performed in the festival is a great artist and I found each performance thoroughly enjoyable. I wrote about the ones I enjoyed the most.
Endaro mahanubhavulu... andari ki vandanamulu...
We had the opportunity to attend the prestigious Sawai Gandharva Music Festival (7th ~ 10th Dec) this year.
Day 1:
Day 1 was a mesmerizing treat. Was lucky enough to leave work early and listen to the Shehanai of Sailesh Bhagawat. Later that evening Dilshad Khan and Sabir Khan enchanted the audience with their Sarangi Jugal bandi.
Day 2:
We were in late a bit on Day 2. Kaushiki Chakraborty's Vocal was a gem of a performance. Pandit Shiv Sharma had just transported the audience to the dream land with his Santoor. Kaushiki Chakraborty came next and enthralled the audience with the agility and sweetness of her voice. This was her first appearance in Sawai Gandharva and I am sure she will make more. It would be worth mentioning that as she was about to leave after finishing the planned pieces, the crowd demanded one more. She obliged with another sweet song. However at the end of that piece she was asked to sing one more, this time by the organizers. All this despite the fact that the next performance was by Pt. Jasraj.
Day 3:
Rahul Deshpande recreated the same magic that Kaushiki had done the earlier day. He a great artist and holds a promise for the tomorrow of Indian classical music.
Day 4 (Morning):
Sunday the programme started early, we reached a bit late missing a major part of Rakesh Chaurasia's performace. Rakesh Chaurasia is a disciple of the great flute mastero Pt.Hari Prsad Chaurasia. He had filled the auditorium with melody. All one had to do was close his eyes to disconnect form the real world and get transported to beautiful lush green meadows and show capped mountains riding on the sweet sound emanating from his flute. We were lucky to listen to the last two renderations which were essentially extensions to his planned programme on public demand. Boy this guy has a sense of humor. When the public demanded one more. He said time up. When the public said never mind he said they (organizers) won't call me again.
Day 4(Evening):
In the evening session, Pt.Amjad Ali Khan and the two young tabala players who accompanied him enthralled the audience. We were lucky to have watched this performance from a very close distance. Pt.Amjad Ali Khan was completely immersed in the music he was creating.
Sawai Gandharva festival has a history of more than 50 years. It is a showcase of best of artists of Hindustani classical music. It is also one of those stages that introduce the legends in making and proves that classical music has an audience and a future.
It is also an opportunity to classical music lovers to drink from of river of music that flows at the festival and quench their thirst. It is an opportunity for people like me who have little to do with social life and public gatherings to unplug from day to day hectic IT life. To sit in the midst of fellow men. It is an opportunity to share a few moments with a stranger and have a gossip. Make new friends and remind my self that man is a social animal and has to make efforts to remain so and not become an IT animal or a virtual animal with an avatar.
Couple of items that go into side notes:
Who ever decided to call sitting on the floor Bharatiya Bhaitak... was an ingenious person. To sit an average of 5 hrs per day, 4 days in a row, on the floor is, to me an amazing feat.
I know it is easier said than done but I strongly feel that a music festival of this acclaim and celebrity deserves better patronage from the government. The least the Government could do was to build a descent auditorium that could provide a dust free and safe environment for artists, organizers and audience. I am sure that in a city like Pune with its rich cultural heritage, and rasika population, such an auditorium would not go unused for the remaining 361 days of the year.
The present venue New English School Rambaugh is brimming to its capacity and people will soon come home with mixed feeling of having attended the festival if the government and organizers do not manage to find a larger and better place for this festival.
Another option that the organizers must consider is live telecasting the entire event. Tyagaraja Aradhana Utsavas are live telecast and benefit all those who cannot make it to the venue.
-Bhaskar.
ps:- I do not have the most seasoned ears for classical Indian music. I know practically nothing about it either. Certainly every one who performed in the festival is a great artist and I found each performance thoroughly enjoyable. I wrote about the ones I enjoyed the most.
Endaro mahanubhavulu... andari ki vandanamulu...
Labels: Sawai Gandharva Music Festival
