Paying tribute to tabla maestros

CLASSICAL EVENING

Naad Aura, an organisation dedicated to classical music, recently organised an event titled National Music Festival to pay tribute to tabla maestros – Pt Chote Lal Misra and Pt Anokhe Lal Mishra.

The two-day festival held on March 11-12 at IHC commemorated legendary tabla wizards. Pt Anokhe Lal stands out as a gem of the Banaras baaj school of tabla playing. Considered the foremost pupil of his guru Pandit Bhairow Prasad Mishra, Anokhelal’s knack, speed and clarity of tabla was legendary. Besides giving solo performances, he accompanied stalwarts of his time, including Ustads Allauddin Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.

The event honoured Pt Anokhelal’s disciple Pt Chhote Lal Misra. The first day featured sitar recital by Gopal Krishna Shah, accompanied on the tabla by Pradeep Malik. The next offering was a pakhawaj recital, swar laya samvad, composed and presented by Pt Dal Chand Sharma and group.

The second evening’s programme began with a violin recital by Vijay Choubey of Varanasi, accompanied by Govind Shukla on tabla. This was followed by a vocal recital by Harish Tiwari. The accompanying artistes at the concerts were Harish Chandra Pati (pakhawaj), Dr Kumar Rishitosh (tabla), Anil Mishra (sarangi), Vinay Mishra (harmonium), Govind Shukla (tabla) and Arnab Chatterjee (vocal).

After the show Kumar Rishitosh, also the president of NaadAura ‘musical odysey’, said, “We hold this concert annually and this was the 7th year of the celebration. Our sole motto is to bring renowned artistes together. We also encourage artistes from villages who do not have enough access to showcase their talent. Every year we felicitate various artistes which gives them encouragement.”