There is magic and romance in the rains. The ominous dark clouds in the sky, the smell of the wet earth, sprouting leaves and gushing waters have been a source of inspiration for Indian musicians from time immemorial. Through the rains, nature plays the music of life, of creation, of love, of emotion. This queen of all the seasons in India, finds a special place in the rich repertoire of Indian Classical music not only through the scores of compositions that depict the beauty of the monsoons but also through the raagas that bring to life the spirit of the monsoon.

Raag Megh is a monsoon raaga, a powerful and legendary raaga in Indian classical music which when sung it is believed that it brings down rain from the sky. Although the rain itself played truant for most part of July, it ‘rained’ music the whole of the month with several music concerts. This is quite unusual in Bangalore, where there are not many musical events during monsoon.

Young talent
To nurture young talents the century old Bangalore Gayana Samaja organised a talent promotion youth concert festival from July 2 to 8 at the Samaja’s auditorium from July 2 to 8. There were two concerts on each day which works out to 16 concerts by 16 artistes besides the accompanying artistes.

The Delhi-based Artistes Unlimited (AU) performed at Christ College on July 6 and 7. The concert not only marked the release of AU’s debut album “En Route” but also the beginning of India’s first youth led Aids awareness concert series. For sheer variety there was a Portuguese fado on July 11 at the Alliance Francaise by the members of the Goan band, Fado Goa. This concert came courtesy of Fundacao Oriente (Orient Foundation) to celebrate the occasion of Portugal taking over the Presidency of the European Union in July 2007.

Fiddlers on the Hoof, a UK-based troupe performed a concert of songs from well-known broadway musicals at a concert called, “Musical Express” at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall on July 17.

Perhaps the biggest musical extravaganza of the month was the performance by the world-renowned 40-member Leipzig Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra along with Indian violin maestro Dr L Subramaniam on July 27 at the Chowdaiah Memorial Hall. The Orchestra also played at the Raj Bhavan to a select audience.

The 26th annual pervussive arts festival and music conference of the Percussive Arts Centre was held from July 26 to 29 with accent on percussion instruments at the various concerts held during the festival.

Concerts galore
Banyan Tree Events presented a concert on the monsoon theme on July 28 at the Chowdaiah Memorial Hall. Its “Barkha Ritu Rains and Ragas” is billed as the biggest all India monsoon classical music festival to be featured across the country in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune featuring some of the finest musicians like Pt Shivkumar Sharma, Ustad Rashid Khan, Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia and Pt Chhannulal Mishra, Pt Satyasheel Deshpande and Pt Bhavani Shankar. Each maestro creates the magic of monsoon melodies in his or her own inimitable style. The Bangalore edition of the All India Barkha Ritu Rains & Ragas 2007 featured Grammy Award winner Pt Vishwamohan Bhatt (Mohan Veena), Ustad Rashid Khan (Vocal) and Master Shashank (Flute).

Perhaps the crowning glory was on the last day of the month. Ganjam Sensations presented soprano Nicola Beller Carbone in a concert of lieder and arias on July 31 at the Satya Sai Sanskruta Sadanam on Hosur Road. She sang unamplified in true classical renaissance style accompanied by pianist Stefan Blunier amidst downpour of rain. The rains did not deter the audience from attending the concert.

The deluge of concerts continues in August. On Saturday, August 4, Dr L Subramaniam and wife Kavita performed at the Ambedkar Bhavan to raise funds for a charitable cause—Project Drishti. A rare concert of two ghazal maestros, Jagjit Singh and Ghulam Ali, called “Beyond Boundaries” was held at Gayatri Vihar, Palace Grounds on Sunday evening.

On the same day at the Palace Grounds itself, the Freedom Jam concert witnessed performances of 60 bands to commemorate the 60th year of Indian Independence.

As a part of its Foundation Day of the 103 year of service to fine arts and its 39th music conference the Bangalore Gayana Samaj has  organised a series  of concerts from August 5 to 12 with top artistes performing: Shashank (flute), Neyveliu Santhanagopalan (vocal), M S Sheela (vocal), Satish Vyas (Santoor), Rajeev Taranath (sarod), Vihay Siva (vocal), Mysore M Nagaraj and Mysore M Manjunath (violin duet), Sanjan Subramanian (vocal) and Malladi Brothers (vocal duet).