Mix of senior and young artistes raise the bar on final day of Sawai

Son of acclaimed violinist Padmabhushan L Subramanium, Ambi, who was the youngest artiste at the festival, played not just for the Pune audience but also for his father who sat quietly in the audience.

Amalgamating the style of carnatic music with Hindustani classical,  he chose to begin with Tyagaraja kriti Shripathe in Raga Nagaswaravali  following it up with a composition in Raga Dharmavati  which corresponds to Raga Madhuvanti  in Hindustani classical music in the ragam-tanam-pallavi form of carnatic music with the tempo rising considerably towards the end. However, it was his fast-paced melodious jugalbandi with Mridangam player V V Raman Murthy and Guinness World Record holder Morsing player G Satyasai that prompted the audience to give him a standing ovation.

The second performance of the evening was by vocalist Meeta Pandit, the granddaughter and disciple of Padmabhushan Pandit Krishnarao Shankar. Meeta, who was the cultural ambassador for the 2004 SAARC music festival in Islamabad, performed Raga Puriya Dhanashree, a raga sung during dusk, following it up with the soulful Dil Le Jaande Ve, a tappa in raag Kafi set in taal Punjabi.

Accompanied by Pt. Suyog Kundalkar on the harmonium and Bharat Kamat on the tabla, she ended her performance with a thumri.

Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan was  accompanied by his student Amjad Ali Khan on the tanpura besides Salim Akhtar on tabla and Pt. Suyog Kundalkar on harmonium. The son of famed Sarangi player Padmashree Ustad Shakoor Khan, he mesmerised the audience with his deeply sonorous and nimble voice as he sang Jaako Man Allah in Raga Multani. Aided by his vivid imagination, the recipient of Suromani Puraskar and A-Grade artiste of All India Radio, later had audiences in his grip as he sang the dhrut teen taal composition Eri aali re  with free abandon and later ended his performance with a bandish in Raag Desh Paiyaan Padun Tore Shyam.

One of the most awaited performances of the evening was by Padmashri Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar accompanied by Padmashri Suresh Talkwalkar on the tabla and Dr Arvind Thatte on harmonium. Starting off with a vilambit zumbra taal in Raga Hamir, he teleported the audience to a different world as he moved seamlessly into the second composition in dhrut ektaal and later ended with a tarana.

The last and one of the most special performances of the day was by classical vocalist and seniormost living artiste of the Kirana gharana, 84-year-old Padmabhushan awardee Dr Prabha Atre. Accompanied by Madhav Modak on the tabla, Pt Suyog Kundalkar on harmonium and other artistes, it was Raga Charukeshi that he chose for the closing performance.