Gauri Pathare (Vocal)

Attended a concert of Gauri Pathare (Vocal) accompanied by Rigved Deshpade (Tabla) & Niranjan Lele ( Harmonium) organized by Anubhooti at ISC, Abu Dhabi, on 25th Nov 2017. Attendance to the concert was @ 90.

Gauri Pathare is disciple of Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki and Pandora Padmatai Talwalkar. Niranjan is disciple of Pt. Tulsidas Borkar and Rigved is a disciple of Pt. Ramdas Palsule.

Bada khayal of the concert was Raag Gawati (गावती).  Compliments to the singer for choosing off the beaten track raag. She sung bandish 'Aas lagi tumhare charan ki (आस लागी तुम्हरे चरण की)' in Taal Ektal (एक ताल). She started with a good meend and displayed all the fine nuances of the raag.

Second bandish of the raag was 'Hamari paar karo sai (हमरी पार करो साई)'. This one too was very good. Both the Bandishes were of her guru Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki.

Chota khayal of the concert was Raag Shree (श्री). She sung bandish 'Hari ke charan kamal (हमरी के चरण कमल)' in madhyalay Jhaptaal (झप ताल). I think this was originally sung by Pt. D. V. Paluskar. Second bandish of Raag Shree was Vidushi Padma Talwalkar's 'Chalore mai Ram Siya darasanko (चलो रे माई राम सिया दरसन को)' . Both the Bandishes were crisp. 

She then presented a raagmala 'Durga mata Bhavani devi (दुुुुर्गा माता भवानी देवी)'. A praise of all the goddesses. 

In the second half she switched to semi classical and presented two Hori's consecutively.  First was 'Rangi saari gulabi chunariya re (रंगी सारी गुलाबी चुनरीया रे)' in Raag Mishra Pahadi (मिश्र पहाडी) and Taal Dadra (दादरा). This song became famous after it was included in movie Gulab Gang.

Second Hori was Girija devi's 'Rang darungi Nandke laalan pe (रंग डारूंगी नंद के लालन पे) ' in Raag Tilak Kamod (तिलक कमोद). I remember that Dr. Kavita Gadgil presented this Hori in Anubhooti concert in 2014. Both these were known compositions, Gauri sung them very well; so audience liked them very much. 

She then presented two Marathi songs of Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki. First was Raag Bhoop (भूप) based, Natyageet 'Maze jeevan gane (माझे जीवनगाणे)'. With majority of audience being Marathi, this was bound to be a hit.

Second song was Raag Deshkar (देशकार) based famous 'Abeer gulal udhalit rang (अबिर गुलाल उधळीत रंग)' written by Sant Chokhamela. Audience recognized the song and applauded as soon as she started the song.

Concert concluded with a Bhairavi (भैरवी). This was again a Natyageet (नाट्यगीत)  'Kare aisi maya lawili mala (का रे ऐसी माया चालविली मला)'. This was originally sung by Jyotsna Bhole (ज्योत्स्ना भोळे) for the play 'Kone eke kali (कोणे एके काळी)' and was composed by Master Krishnarao (मास्टर कॄष्णराव). Bhairavi always stirs emotions in you that are beyond words. This was no exception. 

Gauri is a fine singer. Years of hard work is evident in her gayaki. She handled difficult patterns very well. I liked her harkat's very much. Her singing style was a blend of Kirana and Jaypur gharanas and it highlights specialities of both. She encouraged accompaniests from time to time and applauded when they did something special. She was humble and gave credit of her achievements to her Gurus.

Niranjan is one of the very talented and established Harmonium player of his generation. He was in his element and drew multiple applauds from the audience.  His Harmonium literally sang. Generally the common audience is known to applause Tabla and usually Harmonium is a distant second. Here Harmonium was applauded more than Tabla. It says a lot about the Harmonium player as well as the audience. It should be noted that many of the disciples of Pt. Tulsidas Borkar, Niranjan included, are doing very well. 

Young Rigved also deserves praise. He is an epitome of Work-Passion balance. He works in Infosys and pursues his passion with equal vigour, ignoring neither. He too was applauded by audience and Gauri. If he continues his graph, he has a great future.

Humility was the most heartening aspect of the artists. Thus they were liked off the stage too. 

Special mention should go to the audience. They applauded and encouraged the artists with well placed claps and appreciation. Gauri ji acknowledged the knowledgeable (दर्दी) audience after the concert. 

The concert lasted for little over 2 hours. Sound and lights were good. This was Anubhooti's 12th concert. It came after a gap of 1.5 years. 

Trivia: A fly was flying on the stage during the concert, occasionally troubling artists. It appeared as if it was also fluttering to the tune of music and instead of joining audience chose to be in the lime light.

A very satisfying concert.

Disclosure: I am a founder member of Anubhooti.