Music maestros mesmerise Delhiites

Yes, there are still takers for classical music in Delhi and this has been proved in the recently held three-day long Swami Haridas Tansen Sangeet Nritya Mahotsav. The event which saw full house had well-known artistes participating in the event – the first day saw the performances of Aashish Khan, Vinay Bharat Ram and Ustad Zakir Hussain, the second day had Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan, Rajan and Sajan Mishra and Iqbal Ahmed Khan and the final day had the performances of Uma Sharma, Shubha Mudgal, Pt Vishwamohan Bhatt and Manganiyars of Rajasthan.

A lyrical tribute to the music stalwarts which started 11 years ago repeated the history with another classical event with Swami Haridas Tansen Sangeet Mahotsav 2014 – the perfect food for the soul and for classical music aficionados. One of the organisers of the show, Uma Sharma shared her views about the event, “I want to keep alive the spirit of real music among the people by promoting it globally. This festival is a token of respect to all the masters for the amazing work they have done. The main idea behind this festival is to bring senior classical musicians and dancers together on one platform, mainly for the younger generation.”  

The first day saw performances by Pt Chandra Prakash who enthralled the audience with his notes of Brij music which was played at the time of Lord Krishna. Pt Chandra Parakash performed with his band in which Sudhir Kumar Bamaniya was on sarangi, Krishna Gopal Sharma on pakhawaj, Kirtaniya Heeralal on harmonium and Shri Bhoopendra making up the vocals. 

After this power-packed session of classical music the City was treated to fantastic jugalbandi of maestros Ustaad Aashish Khan and Ustaad Zakir Hussain. The reverberating sounds of soulful music suitably complemented by the Ustaad Zakir Hussain’s wizardry on the tablas had the audience asking for more. The masters performed Raag Shree and Dhrupad se Jodh and some fusion music, a jugalbandi of tabla and sarod. 

In an attempt to revive flagging interest in the traditional art forms, both in musical and performing arts and to rekindle its eminence among the younger generation, more attracted to western and fusion music, the organisers, Sri Ram Centre For Performing Arts and Bharatiya Sangeet Sadan are working hard to focus on the legendary guru-shishya parampara through this festival. This parampara was prevalent during the Mughal period between two of the greatest musical geniuses of India, the saint, musician, poet and composer of Brindavan Swami Haridas and his illustrious disciple Mian Tansen. This classical music festival is all about keeping alive and spreading this rich heritage among the music lovers of the City.