The Barkha Ritu programme at Ravindra Bharati, started with a jugalbandi concert by two flautists from different genres of classical music — Shashank Subramanyam playing Carnatic music and Rakesh Chaurasia performing Hindustani music. City-based Hindustani vocalist Satish Kashikar says, “It’s very difficult to share music on stage in any jugalbandi programme, especially when the genres are different. One must be very careful to ensure that the jugalbandi concert does not become an act of accompanying each other.” According to him, the artistes need to have a very different frame of mind, which would include on-stage and off-stage understanding. “The artistes have to be very careful in not striking any off-key notes, given the constant shift from one style to another,” he says.
Shashank and Rakesh started the flute recital with development of Raga Desh in medium tempo set to a 16-beat rhythm cycle, followed by a fast-paced composition. There were intermittent solo performances by Satyajit Talwalkar on the tabla and Parupalli Phalgun on the mridangam. All the artistes combined to conclude the programme with a common phrase of melody and rhythm. This was followed by a rendition of Raga Megh (a monsoon melody) in Hindustani style by Kaushiki Chakraborty, disciple and daughter of the well-known musician Ajay Chakraborty. Kaushiki began with the slow introduction of mellifluous notes and sounded very much like her father. She slowly got into her own groove with compositions in 10, 12 and 16-beat rhythm cycles.
Kaushiki Chakraborty rendering Raga Megh.
When the audience requested for a Tillana, Kaushiki expressed doubts on her mastery over one. Nonetheless, she went on to sing a Tillana taught to her very affectionately by the legendary vocalist Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna. Kaushiki concluded the concert with a Kajri (song remembering one’s beloved), which had musical notes from different ragas interwoven, adding beauty to the composition. She was accompanied on the harmonium by Tanmay Deochake and Satyajit Talwalkar on the tabla.
