Day long concerts

Ghetak Tabala Vidyalaya celebrated its second anniversary, through a day-long music programme by both young and senior aspirants, recently. K S Vaishali, who presented a Hindustani vocal recital, is not a stranger to music lovers in the City. Rag Marwa was embellished with lively phrases. Shifting one ‘swara’ to another, she tried to give a good picture of the raga, though it was not without its short falls. Misra Pliu was brief but was rendered with lilting melody. Shashibhushan Gurjar and Madhusudhan Bhat accompanied her on the tabla and harmonium respectively.

Simple style

Ananth Bhagawath chose malkauns for a detailed elaboration. Without overdoing anything, it was simple and tidy enough to sustain.

 He was supported on the tabla by Shashibhushan Gurjar and on the harmonium by Surya Upadhyaya.

Hindustani in mandolin

Western instruments like saxophone, mandolin and guitar are becoming very popular in the Indian classical music scene, especially with the younger generation who seem inclined to these instruments.

The latest addition to this list is Pooja Rao from Solapur. A post graduate (commerce) student, Pooja is a disciple of Balasaheb Digambarbua of Venkatesh Sangeet Vidyalaya in Solapur. Her concert was held under the joint auspices of ‘People for Raga’ and the Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs.

Pooja, in her concert, caught the attention of the listeners right from the beginning. Through the ‘alap’, jodjhala, she built the raga phrase by phrase to reach a crescendo. Her rendition right through, reverberated with clarity. The ‘bhup’ was also lively and concluded with the bhairavi, customarily. It was a feast of melody and Pooja Rao seems to have a bright future in the years to come.

Promising dancer

Young dancer Prakruti Hoskere gave a Bharatanatyam recital under the aegis of the ‘Every Friday Cultural Evening Programme’ at the Yavanika Auditorium. Prakruti, an engineering student, continues her dance practice under the direction of Praveen Kumar (of Chitkala School of dance). She has given her ranga pravesha in 2002 along with a few other performances that has got her several awards in various competitions.

The ‘Pahimam vigenshwaram’, the Gowla raga composition of Annor Suri, gave a pleasant start to the recital. She showed good grounding in ‘thattu-mettu’, testifying to sound footwork.

The iconographic forms of Kanchi Kamakshee came alive in the ‘Kanjadalayatakshee’, a popular ‘keerthane’ of Dikshitar.

Prakruthi found no difficulty in executing the ‘theermanas’ in the Devamanohari Varna (Unnaininaidu).  She also presented a jawadi and a Kannada Devaranama, which had little scope for Abhinaya and the Tillana (Simhendra Madhyama). Though she performed with ease and confidence, it seemed like she needs to improve on her abhinaya.

Praveen Kumar (natuvanga) Nanda Kumar (vocal), S V Balakrishna (mridanga) and Jayaram (flute) supported the dancer.