Full house for power-packed performances

Ahmedabad: Weaving the contrasting strengths of the string and the wind instruments, Ustaad Sujat Khan and Shashank Subramanyam delighted a packed auditorium with the flute and sitar duet.They presented Raag Vachaspati, which gives you the flavour of Raag Kalyan in the first half of the octave and Raag Kalavati in the other half. The maestros succeeded in excelling at both the alaap and the taans.They were brilliantly accompanied by Sapan Anjaria, Amit Choubey on tabla and Patri Satish Kumar on mridangam.
The other star attraction of the day was the vocal recital by Vidushi Kaushiki Chakrabor ty who presented Raag Charu keshi, a Carnatic Raag.
Her recital had superfast sargams, murkhis and she effortless sailed through three octaves of notes which is quite typical of Patiala Gharana The tabla accompaniment by Satyajit Talvalkar and Paromi ta Mukherjee on harmonium was outstanding.Basant Ka bra presented a Sarod recital of raag Malkauns. Sarod is ideal ly suited for bringing out the `gambhir rasa' of Malkauns and more so when the artiste excels in the `deftness of touch'.
Each note was executed such finesse and precision that it was indeed a learning for all the young, upcoming instrumentalists. Lifting the performance to yet another level was the accompaniment of Ustaad Fazal Qureshi on the tabla. The evening started with master Shadaj Iyer. All of 13 years, he presented raag Jog in the AgraAtrauli tradition that quite belied his age. With open throated singing and a creative mix of bol taans, bol baat, laykaari and different varieties of taan, he showed great control over laya. A connoisseur was heard remarking that one often doesn't get to hear this style of singing today . Pravin Shinde on the Tabla and Raju Gandharva on the harmonium added to the charm of this opening concert.