Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasiya (Bansuri)

Mandar's concert report

Attended concert of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasiya (Bansuri) titled "Elements - Vāyu", accompanied by Pt. Shubhankar Banerjee (Tabla), Pt. Bhavani Shankar (Pakhawaj) and Vivek Sonar (Flute accompaniment). The concert was organized by Tamburine Live at Madinat theater, Dubai on 26th Sep 2014. I attended the convert with Jayant, Sucheeta, Nandu, Deepa and Raju.

The concert started with Evening Raga Madhuvanti (मधुवंती). He started aalap solo and was later joined by Pakhawaj. Bhavani Shankar played very well and drew applause from audience. Then Panditji played a composition in same Raga, in Rupak (रूपक) taal. Tabla accompanied him for this. Shubhankar played very well and drew spontaneous applause. He gave an excellent demonstration of constrained and controlled tabla playing.

Then Panditji announced that he will play one of his favorite Raga, but he will not tell the name. The rendition of Raga  was too good and audience was swayed mesmerized. His jugalbandi with tabalji was excellent. At the end of this Raga, Panditji asked the audience if they have recognized the Raga. Many from the audience recognized it as Hansadhwani (हंसध्वनी). Let me confess that I did not recognize it from Sur, but could recognize since I have heard Panditji's audio track of this Raga numerous times. Panditji was very happy that so many of the audience recognized it.

Then he asked what should he play in remaining 7 minutes. Suggestions ranged from Maand, Yaman, Bhairavi etc. But the suggestion he liked most was 'whichever you like (जो आप चाहो)' and played Pahadi (पहाडी). Audience liked the light music as digestive.

Panditji sat on a chair instead of traditional cross legged position. His hands had a distinct tremor, though it was less than last time I attended his concert in May 2013. The age has caught up.

The theater was very good. Sloping arrangement of seats ensured unhindered line of sight of stage for the audience. Acoustics were also very good. They had a 'No photography' policy and implemented it effectively.

Panditji liked the sound system so much that he called the sound engineer on stage and felicitated him.

An excellent concert and mesmerizing evening. Entertainment rating 8.75/10.

Kum. B. Lakshmi Surya Teja (Vocal)

Attended Carnatic Vocal concert of Kum. B. Lakshmi Surya Teja (Vocal) accompanied by Smt. Sita Raghu (Violin) and Shree. Skanda Kumar (Mridangam) organized by India social and cultural center at ISC Auditorium, Abu Dhabi on 20th Sep 2014 with Jayant, Sameer and Raju.

This was my first time to attend Carnatic vocal concert. The vocalist is pursuing her masters degree in music and has won many awards. She hails from Vishakhapattanam and this is her first international tour.

The concert started with a varnam in Ragam Saweri. This was followed by famous composition 'Maha Ganapati manasa smarami'.

She then presented a composition by Nallacharavartulu Krishnammacharulu in Raga Basant followed by another composition '...mahishasur...' In Raga Kanada.

Next was Raga alapana in Amritvarshini. Here she asked the audience to observe their breath in and breath out. Then the violinist played a solo piece. This was followed by a composition 'Sudhamayi'. Skanda did well in this composition. 'Shri Rama pada...' was next.

Kailas Radhenam by Mutthuswami Dikshitar in Raga Kambhoji in Tisrajathi Triputa talam, the main item of the concert. Here she showed a lot of variations and her range. This was undoubtedly the best of the concert. However in this phase of the concert her good voice decided to abandon her. When it threatened to become a spoil sport, she recovered. All three of them were at their best in this section.

Then there was a section of short compositions. It started with 'Tamburi mitti...' of Purandardas in Sind Bhairavi followed by 'Kamal mukha Rama bhajan...' followed by Kabir's  'khaya piya sukhse soya...' followed by 'Govind Hari Govind...' then one more and finally 'Shubha mangalam....'

Peculiar thing was that the artist did not use tanpura, conventional or electronic. Her voice did not appear to be at its best, had some difficulty in higher octaves. Coughing was evident.

The hall chosen for the concert was too big with seating capacity of more than 500 but the attendance was about 50. Smaller hall is more suitable for such concerts.

Entertainment rating 6.5/10.