By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,
Toronto : Bengali classical artists set the tone for Diwali festivities in Canada’s largest city in a rare musical evening sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
Held at City Playhouse in Vaughan near here, the evening kicked off with a vocal recital in Raga Hamsadhwani by Indian Canadian artist Gauri Guha.
Then renowned sarod maestro from Kolkata, Prattyush Banerjee, cast his spell on the Toronto audience with his immaculate rendition of Raga Patdip, followed by a small piece in Raga Maluha Kedar.
Accompanied by Hindol Majumdar on tabla and Sasha Ghosal on tanpura, the young Bengali followed this up with yet another beautiful rendition of Rage Khamaj set in the popular semi classical format of tappa-ang – an extremely difficult feat with an instrument like sarod which has no frets.
In his clear and bold strokes, ragdaari (imaginative permutations of notes within the raga frame), masterful laya-kaari (cross-tempo variations) and taiyari (technical skill), the audience saw the unmistakable stamp of his guru Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta in his music.
Mitali Bhowmik delighted the audience with her vocal recital of Raga Shyam Kalyan followed by a thumri in Khamaj and a dadra.
Pandit Kushal Das, a master sitarist from Kolkata, signed off the evening with his recital with Raga Bageshri, followed by Raga Kirwani and a light piece in Raga Mishra Mand.
This was the second annual Indian classical musical evening by Toronto-based Creations India.
“There is no threat to original classical music. It has not changed at all and will never. So if some Indian classical musicians want to experiment with fusion, it is fine. After all, music is all about creativity,” said Prattyush Banerjee who gives fusion concerts in India and has worked with many western musicians, including world-famous percussionist Peter Robert Lockett.