Bright vocalist

Music and dance reviews

Bright vocalist

Young vocalist Dhananjay Heggade hails from a musicians’ family of Uttara Kannada district. He was initiated to music by his parents - Vidushi Geetha Heggade and Vidwan G S Heggade (of Saptak) and received advanced training under Pandit Vinayak Toravi. A post-graduate in Commerce, Dhananjay has passed  “Sangeeth Visharad” and is also recipient of scholarship from the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development. He has performed in Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Varnasi, the US, Thailand etc. Dhananjay drew the attention of the connoisseurs, when he received the “Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar” from the Sangeet Natak Akademi and the ‘Outlook’ magazine has named him as one of the prominent Hindustani vocalists of the country.

In his concert for the Bangalore Lalithakala Parishat on Friday, Dhananjay Heggade pleased the connoisseurs with his choice ragas. He started his programme with rag Gorak Kalyan on a bright note. It was embellished with lively phrases. Rising from swara to swara, he reached Thara Shadja and painted a colourful picture of the raga. Elaborating the raga - Vilambit Teen Taal (Dhana Dhana Bhaag) and Drut Ek Taal (Dhana Dhana Daaya Daaya) - was wholesome and impressive. Comparatively, rag Shankara was brief but evocative. With Madhya Lay in Teen Taal (Deva Mahadeva) and Drut Ek Taal (Shambho Shankara Trishul), Shankara was lively. A less known devaranama  “Bho Yativaradendra” in Jai Jaivanti and the popular vachana “Chakorange Chandramana” in Bhairavi - were also pleasing.

Seasoned instrumentalists Rajendra Nakod and Ashwin Valvekar gave good support on tabla and harmonium, respectively.

Beautiful ‘Aseema’

The Prabhath Enterprises in collaboration with Karnataka Engineers Academy presented Aseema - a unique dance and music festival - last week. On the first day, Abhinava Dance Company led by Nirupama and Rajendra performed with their students and well known musicians Priya Sisters gave a memorable concert.

Marathi Abhangs in praise of Panduranga, helped to bring the required atmosphere, with inspiring music (Fayaz Khan and Praveen D Rao). “Vimana Yana” is the story from Ramayana. While returning to Ayodhya after the war, Rama and Seetha recall different episodes during “Vanavasa.” Needless to say that both Rajendra and Nirupama performed with gay abandon.
Shanmukhapriya and Haripriya - popularly known as Priya sisters - opened their concert with “Vasudevana Nenavo” followed by an evocative composition of Saint Tyagaraja “Sogasuga Mridanga Thaalamu” in the raga Sriranjini and with brief nerval (Nava Rasa Yuta). It was marked for its melodic aplomb. They were well supported by M A Krishnaswamy on violin and Sai Giridhar on mridanga.

Then in the next part called Samhitha - sort of collaborative - culminating with swara, alap, than, thaal, gradually building the tempo. Six students of Abhinava also joined and there was a blend of melody and rhythm, which was enchanting like a moving - visual poetry. Praveen D Rao on tabla and Varijashri on flute also joined the music ensemble to make it impactful. With colourful dress, meaningful lighting and talented artistes (both musicians and dancers), the show stood out for its aesthetic charms, to make it a colourful, impressive performance.