Saptak Day 4: Flute-tabla masterwork evokes call of love

Ahmedabad: Purists love a tune. But they love whistling a theory even more. On Day 4 of Saptak, Ronu Majumdar, a Hindustani flautist, announced that he would present the Bageshree ang of Raga Jaijaiwanti. The red trim of the stage shivered in the 18°C Sunday chill. Yet, the announcement worked like a bonfire, drawing the audience closer to the stage in a cheery knot.
Though the workday beckoned, the core of the Saptak audience was at hand for the recital, which began around 11.40pm. For inexperienced listeners, ‘Bageshree ang of Raga Jaijaiwanti' is a mysterious classical incantation that can be decoded only by musicians and scholars. But for the Hindustani inner circle, the exposition is a bouquet of nuances. Therefore, the cognoscenti ‘whistled the theory': rejoiced in the layers of fulfilment that the Raga Bageshree's ‘ang' (part) adds to the moody yet majestic Raga Jaijaiwanti. On Sunday, the aspiring rasikas were treated to a primer on a presentation that is not a common feature of classical programmes. As the piece began to build from the alaap, notes sounded like a general delivering a lecture on duty to soldiers. The notes, heavy with medals and gravitas, began to relax as the exposition headed towards the climax. In this phase, the notes were often enlivened by Bageshree, culminating in a series of staccato phrases which rang out like calls to a lover. In the finale, tabla genius Kumar Bose deployed the explosive delicacy of the tabla to match Majumdar's thunderous emphases. And each time, the Saptak audience added its own blast of "wah!" It takes a great performance to orient a first-time listener in the right musical direction. The classic created by Majumdar and Bose has laid out a veritable aural map to one trove of Hindustani treasures.