Pt Abhyankar proves he’s truly a master

NAGPUR: For connoisseurs of Hindustani classical music, it was an evening of pure pleasure as they gathered at Sai Sabhagruha on Sunday evening for a recital of Pandit Sanjeev Abhyankar. The event was organized by Raja Hardas Trust with Ninad Sangeet Kala Upasak Sanstha.
The vocalist belonging to the Mewati gharana and a disciple of Pt Jasraj, served what his fans were looking forward too as he began with a rendition of Raag Marwha.Starting with vilambit lay, he charted a course in his meditative manner, graduating to drut lay with ‘dekh dekh baat teri’.
A fine blend of softness and aesthetics, Abhyankar’s singing was very controlled. Striking the high and low notes with extreme dexterity while negotiating the alaaps and taan, he wrote out the feelings expressed in the bandish with the sheer power of his singing. The chosen raag usually leaves an unstated feeling of missing something. That was exactly what the audience was left feeling.
Moving on to Raag Maaru Bihag, an absolute contrast to the previous one, he began with a madhya lay bandish ‘Aaj aye mere dhaam Shyam’ and mesmerized his audience with his skillfull laykari and tans. With the expressions of shringar bhakti ras, Maru Bihag underlines the more celebratory emotions of meeting with the beloved. Sharing with the audience his experiments with the classical raags and especially this one, he said, “By changing a few notes and still keeping it within the periphery of pure classical, I have changed the mood and have made it more conversational.”
He finished the first part of the concert with a bhakti geet ‘Arup ache rup dev panduranga.’
Expressing through his singing the emotions underlying the bandish, Abhyankar delivered what was required of him; a virtuoso performance.
Nisha Kulkarni, a city based teacher of classical music and coordinator of Spic Macay, said, “His smooth voice and the ability to recognize the requirement of his audience always makes it a pleasure to here Sanjeev Abhyankar. Today he was brilliant as usual.”