In yesterday’s paper there was a news article informing us that NCPA was starting a new concert series or an adjunct to classical music concerts that will have a 10 minute lecture on the basics of classical music, or the raga to be presented, the history of what will be presented, by Suvarnalata Rao. I guess this is part of the ongoing endeavor to attract more people to concerts. It is true that the crowds are dwindling. Even the top artists like Rashid Khan, Kishori Amonkar and Ulhas Kashalkar are singing at well-publicised events and good venues to less than half full halls. I can understand it too. I rarely go! The reasons- the traffic, uncertainty whether the artist will be in form, be horribly late (Kishori), or a no-show (Mukund Shivputra), other things to do, magnificent recordings in the comfort of home at the touch of a button, cable tv – to name a few. Personally I do not think the ten minute lecture is a very good idea. I have noticed some indian musicans when giving concerts abroad giving short introductions before the concert begins, usually giving avroh and avroha or maybe a translation into english of the words of the bandish. I guess this was started by Pt. Ravi Shankar who was erudite in everything he said. I do not like it at all. i think it is unnecessary, banal, and a distraction. The only thing I like is what Veena Sahasrabuddhe does, to recite the full words of the bandish before she sings it in her highly refined diction. I don’t think anyone else does that. Ulhas Kashalkar often mentions whose composition he is singing if it someone contemporary like ratanjankar or gunidas. Dispense with the lectures though please- out-of-place in the concert hall. Good luck to you though Suvarna ji.
One new idea for presenting classical music that seems to be fairly successful is the Listening Session. I went to the unforgettable session on Bade ghulam ali Khan about 3-4 years ago at the Nehru Centre. I was amazed how packed it was. the drama though was not Bade ghulamali’s singing but an unfortunate embarrassing incident of a German-Afghani wife of Raza ali khan, grandson of BGAK disrupting proceedings by shouting and accusing her “husband” of all sorts of bigamous behavior. Besides this though the event consisted of some general thoughts on BGAK by the panelists and recordings. This is great when you have good speakers. The best I have heard was Pt. Ramashreya Jha who was the most entertaining knowledgeable speaker. The program at NCPA involved him speaking about his compositions, Satyasheel Deshpande (ugh!) speaking on Kumar Gandharva’s bandishes (missed that on purpose), and not shashi, not satish, but the other brother Vyas speaking about his father c.r. vyas’s compositions (i unfortunately missed that). Another good one was Shruti Sadolikar speaking on her gharana. The other panelist that day was Dinkar Panshikar (student of nivrutti bua) who was also good. I was also impressed that Shruti spoke entirely in Hindi. I particularly like it when they illustrate very specific things in a recording that we can often not see as clearly. Pt. Arvind Parikh was also wonderful some years ago at a series of seminars in his home when he did this. Usually though at these listening sessions there is some introductory lecture and then recordings are played. Since I have the recordings at home, probably, and already know the introductory stuff, I do not attend. How unfortunate that Pt. Ramashreya Jha died this year. I think Mumbai was just waking up to his genius. Such a wonderful singer even in his old age but particularly his way of writing and speaking about music. His volumes “Abhinav Gitmanjali” have helped me immensely as a student of music. I have only learnt
one of his bandishes “rang de rang de rangregava” in yemen and it was a challenge to learn and is different from any other composition I have learned, starting on the 4th matra and with unusual syncopation. I learned from the posting of Rajan Parrikar on the SAWF site on his guru’s compositions sung of course by Pt. Ramashreya Jha. Many thanks to Mr. Parrikar for that. Another attempt to market classical music better is having themed concerts. The early morning concerts promoted by panchem nishaad emphasize the spiritual nature of the early morning awakening. I really do not know how people make it- they are scheduled really early. I like morning concerts and the opportunity to hear the morning ragas, but more like about 9- 9:30 and close to my house (Karnatak Sangh or Dadar-Matunga). I know, I am demanding! Good luck to all the marketeers out there. May I suggest to Shashi Vyas, who I respect greatly and who does so much to promote classical music in mumbai that their big event of the year, the Gunidas festival reflect the memory of the great composer that he was (Gunidas) and request some of the singers to sing his compositions. I remember the year of their was it 25th anniversary gunidas fesival at Shanmukananda Hall when C.r. Vyas was still alive and there was an impressive line-up of stars including ravi shankar, kishori amonkar, and shivkumar sharma. The one day i did not attend and instead went to hear Aarti Anklekar nearby at karnatak sangh she sang the gunidas invention jogkauns (beautifully too), and at the Gunidas festival even C.r. vyas who sang bilaskhani todi sang his own compositions.
Monsoon is coming up and that is a great theme opportunity. I remember some memorable concerts with the rain pelting down outside the hall. I can’t wait- it is my favorite time of the year and full of drama.
The Journal of the Indian Musicological Society’s new issue has come out and my review of Deepak Raja’s book is prominent. There are some fascinating articles in it and it is looking very good.
