A musical welcome to the New Year

Chennai, December 29, 2010

Distinctive contributor

Bharat Sangeet Utsav is back

Music of Mozart unites the world

Friday, 06 January 2012

Veteran opera conductor George Mathew talks to Ritika Arora about the history of operas and their increasing popularity.

Last year, at the time of grand concluding ceremony of Delhi International Arts festival (DIAF), a group of around 40 Indian musicians who work with Delhi-based music institute, The Neemrana Music Foundation Choir (TNMFC), literally surprised Delhiites when they presented an impressive Italian opera-Cavalleria Rusticana in association with several Italian musicians and created history.

Following their footsteps, 40 aspiring musicians from the same institution are all set to present Mozart Magic in India. This time, they will be accompanied by 19 musicians from Rouen Opera House, France and 26 from Mumbai Chamber Orchestra. The Mozart, a mix and match of German and Italian opera, organised by TNMFC in collaboration with Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), is all set to startle viewers on Saturday and Sunday at Siri Fort auditorium. At the venue, one will get to listen to some amazing opera pieces by legendary classic music composer of 18th century Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart like The Magic Flute, Idomenco, Cosi Fan Tutte and The Marriage of Figaro. The musicians also presented impressive excerpts of the show Friday afternoon at Central Park, Connaught Place which included The Magic Flute and Idomenco.

Talking about the show, conductor George Mathew, said, “The opera style that we are going to present tomorrow and day after comes from Austria. It’s a combo of German and Italian opera pieces. Over the last few years, we have only presented French operas and this show will be its departure.” Talking about the French opera, he added, “In 2012, we had presented an opera titled If I Were A King. It was set in Goa and demonstrated the times of 15th century. We showed Portuguese appearance in dark clouds, how they were defeated and were sent back to the sea. However, reality was different and this show is completely different and special.”

Though the legendary Western classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died at a young age of 35, he left behind a legacy of works that are now considered masterpieces. “The innumerable compositions he composed during his lifetime are played at concerts across the world. The conventional pieces we are going to present at the show are extremely popular worldwide,” informed Mathew and continued, “When ICCR contacted TNMFC for the show a couple of months back, we readily agreed as we wanted to make Indians familiar with opera. The French musicians came around two months back and all the participants have been rehearsing together since then. Earlier, only Indian musicians were practicing together.”

Was it difficult to coordinate with all the students at the same time? Commenting on it, he replied, “Not at all. The most amazing thing about Mozart is that you talk to each other through music and what the other person plays becomes the most important thing. For instance, two musicians are playing violin, then both of them need to understand what the other is playing. Understanding each other’s music is very important so when all the students performed together, there were no conflicts because they talked to each other through music. And music can never be the reason for conflicts.”

Talking about the instruments, Mathew said they have used instruments like violin, strings, cello, flute, oboe, bassoon, French horns, trumpets and metal drums. Is the stage at Siri Fort perfect for such a big performance? “No, we haven’t done any changes. The audi is one of the world’s best but the carpet on the stage should be replaced with a wooden floor as it produces an amazing sound. While the sound dies out due to the carpet,” he said.

Interestingly, the costumes for the performance have been designed by Indian designer duo of Parvesh & Jai and comprise traditional dresses kings and queens once wore. The accessories include wigs, hats, headgears, jewellery, swords, gloves, shoes and boots. “It will be around three hour-long performance and will surely aware Indians with various styles of opera. It’s a conventional performance as I haven’t fused it with contemporary music because I believe opera can never be done with hip-hop, rock or any other genre. I’m sure Indian viewers are going to love it,” concluded Mathew.

You call him Pandit and he blushes. This is how well-known sitar player Debu Choudhury had described sarod maestro Biswajit Roy Chowdhury at Delhi University Music Faculty's Malhar Festival two years ago. Biswajit is a unique sarod player because he has been able to create his own individual style of sarod playing, his baaj as it were, by effecting a creative assimilation of various instrumental styles as well as diverse strands of musical traditions and outlooks. Little wonder that over the years, he has come to be greatly respected because of his deep knowledge and unswerving loyalty to the chaste musical values.

He is perhaps the only sarod player in the country who has received systematic training in both the dominant styles of playing this fretless instrument – the Maihar baaj of the legendary Allauddin Khan and his equally illustrious son Ali Akbar Khan, and the Gwalior style symbolised by the great Hafiz Ali Khan and his worthy successor Amjad Ali Khan. He also happens to be the only instrumentalist who has learnt the secrets of raga-vidya and khayal singing from a great vocalist like Mallikarjun Mansur and renowned music scholars such as Balasaheb Poochhwale and Sumati Mutatkar.

Born in Deogarh in 1956, Biswajit was initiated into sarod playing by his father Ranjit Roy Chowdhury, a student of Hafiz Ali Khan, who taught Chemistry at a post-graduate college. A graduate in Biology with a gold medal, Biswajit became a disciple of sitar maestro Indranil Bhattacharya, a shagird of Allauddin Khan. From him he learnt the “intricacies of the Maihar style” – paltas, sargams and various facets of alap and jod—in the typical dhrupad idiom.

“I tried to imbibe the poise of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, the presentation style of Pandit Ravi Shankar and the knowledge of Ustad Allauddin Khan,” Biswajit recalls.

He recounts his chance encounter with Ali Akbar Khan and how the great musician taught him raga Lalit. “One morning I was learning from Pandit Indranil Bhattacharya at his house when suddenly Ali Akbar Khan dropped in. When he saw me with a sarod in hand, he immediately started enquiring about my background. And, while tea was being prepared for him, he began teaching me Lalit and, oblivious of everything, went on explaining it to me by singing and playing for hours. This experience was repeated only once but I can never forget it,” he says. By 1978, he had become so proficient that he was invited to perform at the famed Tansen Festival. This was also the year when Amjad Ali Khan accepted him as a gandabandh disciple and he came to Delhi to learn from him.

The Mansur phase

It was Amjad Ali Khan who introduced Biswajit to Mallikarjun Mansur, the doyen of Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. As he was moulding himself in the Amjad Ali Khan style by incorporating khayal vocalisms in his sarod playing, Biswajit felt the urge to learn from a great master like Mansur. He started learning from him but was formally accepted as a gandabandh disciple only in 1985. “Till he died in September 1992, Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur taught me the Jaipur style of khayal singing with absolute seriousness. He drilled into me that music was not merely for entertainment. It was a most serious art form and one had to devote one's entire life to it,” Biswajit recalls in an emotion-filled voice. Biswajit's Mansur phase has been quite controversial. Knowledgeable critics found it distasteful that he should shun the language of traditional sarod and replace it by vocal flourishes of the Jaipur gayaki. However, Biswajit persisted in his creative project and emerged within a few years with flying colours. While the Sangeet Natak Akademi considers him too young for its award, the French government had no such inhibitions. In 2006, he was conferred, along with theatre personality Habib Tanvir and painter Anjolie Ela Menon, France's third highest civilian award for arts and literature l' Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters).

Celebs wish Ustad Gulam Mustafa Khan on b'day

In a huge measure they lay the credit for their success at the feet of their teacher Padmashree and Padmabhusan Ustad Gulam Mutafa Khan. Naturally then, on the maestro's 81st birthday, wishes from the likes of Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Hariharan and A.R.Rahman came pouring in.

The songs of the strings

A sitar concert by Ustad Shafique Khan, called ‘Singing Strings’, was held in the City. For the lovers of Indian classical music, the evening wouldn’t have been more soulful as the auditorium of Bangalore International Centre was filled with the soothing sound of sitar strains. Ustad Shafique Khan hails from a family which has been popularising sitar in the South. He is presently working with the All India Radio and Dharwad is his hometown. At the ‘Singing Strings’ concert, Ustad Shafique Khan played two ragas — Puriya Kalyan, which is an evening raga set to two different compositions in different taalas, followed by a dhun in Mishra Kafi raga.

There was complete silence in the auditorium and the audience seemed engrossed in the music. Ustad Shafique Khan performed with unbelievable ease. He aesthetically presented the aalap and the systematic development of ragas.

Melodiously, he blended the Gayaki Ang and the Tantrakari Ang.
The artist has also been conferred with the Surmani award by Sur Singar Samsad and has served as the member of Karnataka Sangeet Nritya Academy also. Ustad Shafique’s beautiful rendition kept the audience wanting more. His performance offered a refreshing perspective. His sensitive, yet controlled handling of the instrument, is a testimony to his talent and dedication to music. His rhythmic and melodic vitality shone through his performance.

Vani Murali, who had come for the concert, said, “I love instrumental music as it is calm and peaceful. Though I don’t understand sitar much, I found ‘Singing Strings’ melodious.” Suraj M, who had also come to watch the performance, said, “Indian classical music is the best. Such programmes should be encouraged and should attract young people as well.” True to its name, ‘Singing Strings’ proved that the strings did all the singing.