Omkar Prabhughate (Vocal)

 Omkar Prabhughate (Vocal)

Attended vocal concert of Omkar Prabhughate. He was accompanied by Shrey Bhardawaj on Tabla and Amogh Ranade on Samvadini. This concert was organized by Triveni Sangeet Sabha, Abu Dhabi. I attended the concert with Aditi on 8th June 2025.

This was a concert of Natyasangeet and Abhang. A unique concept. Natyasangeet is Marathi's unique gift to the vast array of classical and semi classical music of India. Abhang are integral part of Marathi culture.

Concert started with 'Indrayani Kathi (इंद्रायणी काठी)'. He won the audience over in the first song with his soulful voice, variations and precise presentation.

He then presented 'Guntata Hruday he (गुंतता ह्रदय हे)' from Sangeet Matsyagandha. This was appreciated by everyone immensely. Harmonium player was appreciated during this song. It was followed by a little known Natyageet 'Brahm Murtimant (ब्रह्म मूर्तीमंत)' from Sangeet Gora Kumbhar. Tabalji was applauded during this song.

Then came the immortal song 'Kata rute kunala (काटा रुते कुणाला)'. What to say about this song. Suffice to say that Omkar gave full justice to the song. It was followed by relatively unknown Abhang 'Dhyan lagle Ramache (ध्यान लागले रामाचे)'.

He then presented a couple of songs from his own play 'Goshta Samyukta Manapmanachi'. It was 'Zale yuvati mana (झाले युवती मना)'. His variations in this song were special and were hugely applauded. It was followed by 'Shura mi vandile (शूरा मी वंदिले'.

A Gawlan 'Shriranga Kamalakanta (श्रीरंगा कमलाकांता)' from Sangeet Honajibala came next. This is one of the rare Natyageet Gawlan. Everyone liked it.

Audience then made a farmaish of 'Chandrika hi janu (चंद्रिका ही जणू)' from Sangeet Manapman. Here he presented the version in Teen taal instead of the more famous one in Rupak taal. It was followed by 'Bahut din nach bhetlo sundarila (बहुत दिन नच भेटलो सुंदरीला)' from Sangeet Shubhadra.

Last presentation of the concert was Abhang 'Awaghe Garje Pandharpur (अवघे गर्जे पंढरपूर)'. The song concluded with Gajar (गजर). Audience participated wholeheartedly in it. The experience of Gajar always gives goosebumps, so it did.

Audience wasn't ready to leave when the concert was over. That should count as the biggest applause.

If Omkar continues acting in Sangeet Natak as career, we have a superstar in the making. He sings beautifully, has a forceful (खडा) voice, has good range, his diction is impeccable and he is handsome. What more can you ask from a hero. Although all the songs he sung were well known famous songs, he didn't just copy the original singer. He added his own variations, taans in his own style.

Omkar presented compositions of stalwarts like Pu. La. Deshpande, Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki, Prabhakar Pandit, Govindrao Tembe. He interspersed his songs with information about Natyasangeet, trivia and stories of the birth of songs connecting directly with the audience. This happened to be his first international concert. I am sure there are many more to come.

Tabalji appeared to be unfamiliar with some of the Natyageet and needed occasional guidance from either Omkar or Amogh. Otherwise he accompanied ably.

Amogh played very well and drew applause several times. He did really well. I would like to see more of him in future.

Concert was attended by about 45 persons. But rather than the quantity, it's the quality of the audience that impressed me. They were all knowledgeable and applauded at all the right places and recognized all the minute variations.

This was a rare concert, a concert with Natytageet at its core. You don't get to attend such concerts even in India. Congratulations to the organizers for conceiving and organizing such unique thematic concert.

A very satisfactory experience.

Mandolin siblings (Mandolin)

Mandolin siblings (Mandolin)

Attended Mandolin Duo concert of Kumari Samhita Shivram and Shreyes Shivram. They were accompanied by Palghat Shri Krishnarajan on Mridangam and Shri Manjesh Mohanan on Ghatam. This concert was part of annual Swar Raga Sudha festival by Raagmalika at Sudanese club, Abu Dhabi. I attended the concert with my father-in-law on 1st June 2025.

Concert started with Ganpati Stavan. It was famous Vatapi Ganpatim, a famous Kriti of Muthuswami Dikshitar in Raag Hamsadhwani. There were sawal jawab between mandolins. It ended with an applause.

Second presentation was Endaro Mahanubhavulu, a popular Kriti by Tyagaraja in Raag Shri.

Next presentation was another Kriti by Tyagaraja, Manavyalakinchara in Raga Nalinkanti. This was a farmaish to the artists before the concert.

Next presentation was another Kriti by Tyagaraja. Samaj vara gamanaa in Raag Hindolam.

This was followed by the time for accompanists. First it was the Mridangam. Krishnarajanji demonstrated the nuances of Mridangam with forceful and delicate play. It was followed by Ghatam where Manjesh Mohanan ji demonstrated variations of Ghatam play. It was folllowed by the sawal-jawab between Mridangam and Ghatam. Then the Mendolins joined in for the conclusion.

A chit from audience demanded some song that was not taken by the artists.

They then played Bho Shambho, composed by Shri Swami Dayanand's Saraswati, in Raag Revati. This was the concluding piece.

So it started with Ganpati and ended with Shambho.

Organized had given only mini concert slot for the concert but they appreciated the duo compared the concert with main concert.

One doesn't get to watch Mandolin concerts very often. I don't know many mandolin players apart from U. Srinivas and U. Rajesh. 

Broadway sound system was good.

Unfortunately, lesser known artists don't draw the audience. Concert started with a mere attendance of 18. Timing of 4pm also didn't help. Audience kept trickling in to reach xx by the end of the concert.

Ragamala has been organizing 2-3 day event of Carnatic music every year for past 20 years. It's a commendable effort by the organizers to inculcate and nurture the Indian classical music in Gulf.

A good concert.

Yashwant Vaishnav (Tabla)

 Yashwant Vaishnav (Tabla)

Attended Tabla Solo concert of Yashwant Vaishnav. He was accompanied by Nilay Salvi on harmonium. This concert was organized by Maharashtra Mandal Abu Dhabi at Embassy of India auditorium. I attended the concert with Aditi, Jayant, Sucheeta, Nandu, Deepa, Manish and Trupti.

This concert was divided into two parts. First part was composed of five songs by MMAD local artists Sachin Raje, Siddhi Chonkar, Adwait Gokhle, Girish Pande, Yuvraj Kochale. They were accompanied on Tabla by Adwait Gokhale and Nandkishor Banchhode. Nilay Salvi was gracious enough to accompany the local artists on harmonium.

The selection of the songs was very good. Sakhi mand zalya taraka (सखी मंद झाल्या तारका), Yad piya ki are (याद पिया की आप), Kata rute Kunala (काटा रुते कुणाला), Jhanak jhanak tori (झनक झनक तोरी), Kanada raja Pandharicha (कानडी राजा पंढरीचा). These are all famous, good songs with classical base. They covered most of the categories. Be it Bhav geet, Thumri, Chitrapat Sangeet, Abhang.

Classical music is expertise of Siddhi and Girish, Sachin's voice is most suited for Bhavgeet, Advait demonstrated his versatility with singing and rhythm, Yuvraj and Bhajan are made for each other. The gajar (गजर) gave goosebumps.

This first half by the local artists was excellent. It was of professional quality and high grade. It felt like the first half ended quickly and a couple more songs would have been nice. And there lies the success of first half. This set the stage for what was to come next.

Yashwant ji chose Teen taal for the concert. He presented Peshkar, several Kaydas from Punjab, Delhi and Ajrada gharana, various types of Rela and Chakradar.

He has lightening fast fingers. His fingers danced like a lightening and he enthralled the audience. Even those who have never attended a classical concert came out with a smile on their face.

Yashwant ji is a very soft spoken and humble gentleman. His humility was evident. He involved the audience asking them to clap in rhythm and audience complied spontaneously.

Audience was in the awe and couldn't stop clapping. They loved him. Needless to say that he got a Standing Ovation at the end.

Nilay was very good on harmonium. He kept up with the main artist and provided a very good accompaniment. I should appreciate him for being nice enough to a accompany the local artists with just a practice of couple of hours with them.

The sound system was very good but the mike of Dagga  was a little low, so the finer notes were hard to hear.

This was a very unconventional concert. There was no build up. Nothing Vilambit. Nothing Madhyalay. Direct dive to Drut, and continue in Drut. A storm on Tabla.

Either the artist chose to play for the audience, knowing that most were not connoisseurs of classical music, or that was all that he could present in one hour. Would the format have changed to a conventional one if two hours were allocated?

A very unconventional but good concert.