Gururao Deshpande Rashtriya Sangeet Puraskar with the title ‘Guru Gandharv’ was conferred upon well-known musician Padmavibhushan Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia recently.
The event was honoured with an all-night music session that featured young and experienced artistes.
Hindustani vocalist Kasturi Atrawalkar inaugurated the evening with a wonderful presentation of Raag Bihag followed by the popular Marathi natyasangeet Yuvati mana. She stole hearts with her full throated rendering of impressive aalap, taans and layakari.
The much awaited flute recital by Pandit Hariprasad Chourasia, the doyen of Hindustani music, followed. He presented raag Kirwani. His aalap, raag improvisation and layakari mesmerised the audience. When he next presented raag Yaman, the audience transcended the mere hall into bliss.
Master Ramani presented a carnatic vocal recital. He sang a varna in raag Mandari, keertanas in raag Begade and Shanmukhapriya. The audience was thrilled and emotionally moved when he presented the Kannada devaranama
Aadisidalu Yeshoda.
Shruti Sadolikar, exponent of Jaipur gharana, presented raag Sawaninut with her open voice. Her aalap with a combination of rare varieties of phrases was impressive. She next chose raag Bihari as a tribute to Gururao remembering her association with him. Ram rangile Marathi natyageet, the concluding item was pleasing to the ears.
Pandit Ram Deshpande, exponent of Gwalior and Jaipur gharanas presented the midnight melody Raag Malkouns. He developed the raag with his deep mandar saptak aalap and his taans and layakari were highly appreciated. He followed with Raag Lalit pancham and concluded with a
Nirguni Bhajan.
The final concert was by Pandit Vinayak Torvi, disciple of Gayanacharya Gururao Deshpande and Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. He started with the morning raagini Miya ki todi. His soulful rendering of the note by note aalap brought the audience’s attention to the new morning. Roaring taans and layakari electrified the listeners. The climax was the presentation of raag Jaunpuri. He concluded the concert with the famous Bhairavi Jamuna ke teer followed by a Tukaram Maharaj Abhang.