As curtains draw on Sawai, performers give in their heart and soul to treat Punekars to a melodious finale
Last day of the 67th Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav began with a soulful performance by vocalist Atul Khandekar
The last day of the 67th Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav began with a soulful performance by vocalist Atul Khandekar which captured the hearts of the audience.
Playing to a packed venue, Khandekar started with raag ‘Shuddha Sarang’ and performed a composition in Vilambit ek taal, Madhyalaya Adhdha Tin Taal, Drut Tin Taal and Tarana. He also presented a very popular bhajan, awaghachi sansar sukhacha karin, which was appreciated by the audience.
The abhang was composed by pandit Krushnarav. He was accompanied by Rugved Deshpande on the tabla, Niranjan Lele on the harmonium, Sudhanshu Manerikar, Bhakti Khandekar and Valiraj Limaye on the tanpura.
He was followed by vocalist Ruchira Kedar who performed raag Gaud Saarang. She performed traditional compositions in Vilambit Teen Taal and Drut Teen Taal. Also she performed the composition ‘Hori khelat Bihari…’ in Raag Patdeep. She was accompanied by Milind Kulkarni on the harmonium, Ajinkya Joshi on the tabla, Nitya Shikarpur and Kasturi Joshi on the tanpura.
The day followed with performances by vocalist Chandrashekhar Vaze and renowned sitar player Niladri Kumar.
Chandrashekhar Vaze, a disciple of pandit Firoz Dastur started his performance with compositions ‘Ab to karam karo…’, ‘Gore much so mora man Bhave..’ in raag Bhimpalas.
Also, he performed one composition ‘Ja ja badarava ja…’ in four different raagas. Composition was formed by his father and guru pandit Raghunath Vaze. He performed abhangas ‘Dyaniyancha raja…’, ‘Gopal meri karuna kyun nahi aayee…’. He was accompanied by Rugved Deshpande on the tabla, Chaitanya Kunte on the harmonium, Manoj Katti and Mandar Kulkarni on the tanpura.
Niladri Kumar, a disciple of veteran sitar player pandit Ravi Shankar, enthralled the audiences thereafter. He performed a composition in raag Siddhendra Madhyama on the sitar. Followed by a mixture of raag Tilak Kamod and Nat, which was very well appreciated by the audience. He was accompanied by pandit Vijay Ghate on the tabla.
However, the audience faced disappointment as Prabha Atre, a senior vocalist, who was going to perform in the finale event, could not make it to the festival due to ill health. Her slot of performance was taken over by various Kirana Gharana artistes and the audience had their fair share of mesmerising music.
