Soothing santoor recital

THE TWO-DAY festival of Viswa Kala Sangama, a new organisation formed to promote Hindustani music in this part of the country, opened with a short santoor recital by R. Visveswaran.

Already popular as a vocalist in the dance orchestra, Visveswaran was not new to the audience, but the instrument he played was rather rare.

Santoor, also called the Shatha-thantri Veena, is made of walnut and mostly played in the region of Kashmir. It is a forerunner to piano and known for its cascading effect. It is used in many yoga centres of repute and its name and shape vary from country to country. Visveswaran is a disciple of well-known santoorist Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma.

Visveswaran played raag Vachaspati, in rupak taal, alap jhor, jhala and a Dhun in Maund. Though it was a short recital of an hour or so, it was both scintillating and soothing. Nitin Mitta accompanied him on the tabla.

Captivating

The second part of the day's programme was the most eagerly expected Hindustani vocal recital by the renowned Lakshmi Shankar, who visits Chennai from the U.S., during the music season in December.

The opening piece in raag Behag, first in ek-taal and then in teen-taal was captivating and the elaborate swara-singing added lustre to it. The second item was a Thumri, `Oh Shyam jiya na laage Shyam, thore bina' in Misra Peelu with all its haunting melody. Then followed a string of bhajans.

Lakshmi Shankar concluded the recital with a Meera bhajan in Sindhubhairavi, `Ya Mohan ke main, roop lubani' with a short alap.

It is amazing for a woman of nearly 75, to have such a wonderful voice. There was not a trace of wobbling and trembling. Even in higher octaves, her voice was so smooth and sweet.

Sri C. V. Narasimhan, former UN official, who was the chief guest, aptly said at the end that Lakshmiji transported the entire audience to another world and brought them back safely. Rajesh Tawle's tabla was subdued, throughout.

The second day's proceeding started with a sitar recital of Smt. Anupama Sharma, an NRI. Earlier, she had the training under Vimalendu Mukerjee. However, she was initiated in to the Gayaki- style of playing by Pandit RN Varma.

Anupama played raag Purya Kalyan, alap, jhor and jala with drut, in teen-taal. The second item was an alluring Thumri in Pahadi. Nitin Mitta's tabla playing was sharp and sparkling.

The latter part of the evening's programme was a carnatic vocal recital by up-and-coming young vidwan T. M. Krishna, with violin by G. Chandramouli and mridanga by J. Vaidyanathan. Krishna's voice was strong and the recital was vibrant.

He sang Dikshitar's Sri Dakshinamurthim in Sankarabharanam, followed by Bhuvidasudane of Thyagaraja, in Sriranjani. The main piece of the recital was raga Saveri.

Though Krishna announced Dikshitar's Sri Rajagopalam, he changed his mind after a brilliant alapana of Saveri that he would, instead, render the Shyama Sastri kriti Dhurusuka kripa susi. It is time Krishna tried to control his violent hand gestures.

The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's mini hall was full on both the days and for all the four events. It perhaps shows that whether it is Hindustani or Carnatic, we have ready audience with an open mind to sit through the proceedings and appreciate, too.

CHARUKESI

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