Harini Rao, a disciple of Guru Swati Phadke, is a promising singer in the Hindustani vocal. Kalinga Cultural Trust and Natyaswara presented the Kirana Gharana artiste at the Kalinga Cultural Centre last Sunday. raasikas
Harini had provided classical vocal support to Kathak dancer Mangala Bhatt at the Taramati Baradari Festival held last year.
Here, she began her rendition in Raag Durga - bada khyal in vilambit teentaal and drut bandish in teen taal. After setting the tone for the evening, Harini presented the Ganesh Vandana in Raag Yaman - chhota khyal format. During the rendition, the 30-year-old singer traversed other ragas like Puriya Kalyan and Basant in between with lot of ease and presented a composition by Prabha Atre. Next on Harini’s agenda was the thumri style singing of raag Bageshree - chhota khyal in drut ektaal.
For the rasikas raasikas , one thing was clear that Harini had a beautiful voice and was in total control of her singing. She mesmerised the audience with Pandit Bhimsen Joshi’s popular bhajan - Baje re muraliya baje . The young musician ended her concert with tillana tarana in raag Bhairavi. The tillana in Aadi taal was composed by Avasarala Kanyakumari garu and tarana in drut ektaal by Prabha Atre. Harini truly impressed the audience with a mix of Carnatic and Hindustani styles. All through, the audience paid rapt attention, making it hard to believe that the singer was giving only her fifth programme.
Harini was ably supported on the harmonium by Sandeep Kelkar and on the tabla by Ravikanth Thati.
