Effortless flow of lilting music

Legendary musicians ‘Ustad’ Amjad Ali Khan and L Subramaniam sent the audience to a new high with rich Carnatic and Hindustani compositions at Christ University Auditorium recently.

Held as part of ‘Premaanjali’ festival, the event started with the presentation of a video clip that showcased previous ‘Premaanjali’ festivals where Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar performed.

‘Ustad’ Amjad Ali Khan opened with exemplary solo pieces for about 30 minutes, which lightened the atmosphere and set the mood for the evening.

He strummed his ‘sarod’ to an evening ‘raag’ and the lilting tunes created a soothing effect through the hall. He then played his own composition — ‘Ganesh Kalyan’ — which flowed seamlessly through fast-and-slow tunes. He finished his solo pieces with a composition by Zilla Kafir in ‘Ek taal’ and a ‘tarana’ by Amir Khusrao. He was accompanied by Satyajit Talwalkar on the tabla.

His solo pieces were followed by a long composition of Thyagaraaja by L Subramaniam in ‘raga’ Gowri-Manohari.

The composition retained the pristine classical Thyagaraaja magic but L Subramaniam tweaked the composition as he brought in his original style.

The grand fusion saw the two maestros coming together for ‘raag Charukesi’ and the highlight of the ‘jugalbandi’ was the ‘thaniavarthanam’, which the musicians played, one after the other.

It showcased the brilliance of Carnatic and Hindustani music and merged the two effortlessly.

The percussionists were more than just accompanyists as their talent was rightly exhibited during their solo pieces. The beats of the ‘tabla’ and the rhythms of the ‘mridangam’ created a enchanting ambience.

The entire concert was spitfire, with strains reverberating throughout the auditorium and beats resonating till the very end. Santosh, a visitor, who was extremely pleased after the concert said that he was happy he chose to spend a Friday evening listening to two musical legends.

The proceeds of the concert will go to ‘Premaanjali’ Charitable Trust which is mainly engaged in several activities that help the homeless, destitute and needy children.