Swara Samrat Festival: The sound of a new generation

Swara Samrat Festival, which began 14 years ago in Kolkata in memory of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, has expanded to other cities over the past three years. The second Delhi edition of the festival, held recently, featured only young musicians.

The festival opened with a dhrupad vocal recital by Bangladesh-born Niloy Ahsan, who is currently training under Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar. Earlier, he studied with the Gundecha Brothers. Niloy possesses a powerful voice, and the range he displayed, extending into the mandra saptak, was particularly impressive. He presented Mian ki Malhar, beginning with an expansive 45-minute alap that left him with barely 10 minutes for the compositions that followed. He was accompanied on the pakhawaj by the talented Roman Das.

This imbalance in time management was unfortunate, as Niloy displayed a string sense of drama in his layakari — which was all too brief. The well-known Chautaal composition ‘Aayi ghata’ was not sung in full, perhaps owing to the lack of time. The overdrawn alap in the vilambit section also saw Niloy expanding the notes, presenting shrutis to the point of dissonance, which was unaesthetic. Another avoidable distraction was his use of a head mic, uncommon among classical vocalists. It does not allow for volume control and picks up every breath while singing in detail. Niloy had a cold and blowing his nose a couple of times with the mic picking up every sound was not pleasant. 

Next performance was by Mumbai-based Farrukhabad gharana tabla artiste Ishaan Ghosh. The son of Pt. Nayan Ghosh, Ishaan has been performing since his early teens; despite being only 26, he displays remarkable polish and maturity on stage. His command over the tabla baaj, sense of proportion in presentation and tremendous dexterity on the instrument are exemplary. Accompanied by Delhi-based sarangi player Mudassir Khan, Ishaan performed in teentaal. Gradually building momentum, he presented an impressive array of compositions drawn from the Delhi, Ajrada, Lucknow, Banaras and, of course, Farrukhabad traditions.

When Ishaan played a composition by Mian Bakshu, founder of the Lucknow gharana of tabla, it underscored the importance of provenance in sustaining the continuity of the Indian classical tradition. While the tabla tradition carefully preserves the lineage of compositions, their origins are often forgotten in vocal and instrumental music. Ishaan made an interesting point: each composition has its own tehzeeb of presentation, and playing every composition at an extremely fast pace to display virtuosity is not right.

The concluding artiste of the day was sitarist Mehtab Ali Niazi, accompanied by his brother Khurram on the tabla. Mumbai-based Mehtab, who hails from the vocal Bhendi Bazaar gharana, draws inspiration from Ustad Vilayat Khan’s sitar style. He too played Mian ki Malhar. A polished performer with evident riyaz, Mehtab is perhaps yet to attain complete command over raga exposition. His treatment of Malhar in the alap and jor leaned more on phrases than on a seamless unfolding of the raga. However, it is admirable how he lends novelty to his concerts; this time, he played jhala in different beats rather than the usual four-beat ‘seedha’ and ‘ulta’ jhala. All his compositions were set to Jhaptaal, including an appealing tarana. Khurram was outstanding in the drut section, at times drawing attention away from his brother.

The second day commenced with a flute recital by the 25-year-old Bengaluru-based Shadaj Godkhindi, who belongs to the Kirana gharana. He was accompanied by Ajjrara gharana tabla player, Zargham. Shadaj presented raga Bhimpalasi, in the ‘tantrakaari’ style of ‘alap jor jhala’, followed by a composition in Rupak, then Teentaal. Shadaj’s breath control, melodious meends and layakari were admirable; Zargham aligned with the mood well.

Kolkata-based sarodist, Indrayudh Majumder from the Maihar gharana, commenced his concert with raga Bihag; a carefully studied presentation where each movement appeared thought out. His jor was impressive. On the tabla was Mumbai-based Ojas Adhiya who brought his usual inimitable energy to the concert. One must laud the organisers for presenting talented accompanists. Indrayudh concluded with a melodious Des. He presented a ‘gat’ attributed wrongly to Ustad Allaudin Khan (actually it predates him, and is an old Senia composition), then played a similar composition composed by Ustad Bahadur Khan. Indrayudh’s concert was rich in content and also imaginative.  

The festival came to close with a vocal recital by Armaan Khan of the Rampur Sahaswan gharana. Son of the legendary Rashid Khan, Armaan’s stage presence and confidence are infectious. His khuli awaaz commands instant attention. His affability with his co-artistes — Shubh Maharaj on the tabla, Lalit Sisodiya on the harmonium and Rick Mukherjee on the flute — brought out the best in them.  Presenting raag Bageshwari, Armaan established the raga in a leisurely manner for around 30 minutes before concluding with the popular ‘Kaa karun sajni’. 

Ther festival brought together some of the finest young artistes on a platform backed by excellent sound and lighting. Equally laudable was the effort to ensure the presence of senior musicians in the audience to encourage these youngsters.