Staying in sync

Innovative sounds

In the world of music, the concept of ‘jugalbandi’ comes across as an interesting one.
The idea took an innovative turn recently with the violin and the piano coming together for a mesmerising concert at ITC Windsor. Violin maestro Sharat C Srivastava and raga pianist Utsav Lal enamoured the audience with the magical sounds of their instruments. The concert began with a beautiful rendition of raga ‘bihag’, one that is close to the hearts of both musicians.

The raga was presented with an ‘alap jod jhala’ and a composition in ‘madhyalaya teen taal’. This set the perfect tone for the evening.

Following this, they played raga ‘jaijaiwanti’ with a short ‘aochar’ and two compositions in ‘ada chautaal’ and ‘drut teentaal’.

According to Utsav, “Both are compositions of late Pandit Joi Srivastava and lend themselves to a lot of communication and interplay. ‘Jaijaiwanti’ as a raga offers huge variety in its character. It has great depth and meditativeness to offer but can also be treated in a very playful manner.”

The duo perfectly engaged in a spontaneous musical dialogue while exploring the raga. Then came a selection of folk tunes from across the country focussing mainly on tunes from the North Eastern states. These were blended with some jazz influences and also featured an Irish traditional tune which complimented the North Eastern tunes very fluidly. The concert ended on a patriotic note with ‘Ae Mere Vatan Ke Logon’, and a thunderous applause. The two chose to play it quite freely and expressively branching off into many improvised sections and coming back to the main refrain often. “Both my parents come from a defence background and this is a composition that feels really special.

Some tunes just work better when played softly and simply and we felt it was a befitting finale to our concert that was themed to celebrate the beautiful music of India,” said Utsav who has performed in the city earlier as well. “Bengaluru is always a favourite because of its musical buzz,” he added.

As for Sharat, he feels that the concept of violin and piano together works really well. “Both are string instruments. A melody played on these two instruments has a very soulful effect,” said the artiste.

Ashok Dhingra, a visitor, remarked, “Last year, it was mesmerising to hear Utsav playing Indian ragas on the piano alongwith Ustad Hidayat Khan on the sitar. This year, it was another memorable performance with the former doing jugalbandi with Sharat on the violin. It was a wonderful evening indeed!”