68th Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav: Sarod Maestro Amjad Ali Khan enthralls audience
Pune, December 14, 2022: It was an evening to remember for music loving Punekars as Sarod Maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan enthralled the audience with his splendid performance on the first day of the 68th Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav on Wednesday.
“I miss the presence of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi after coming to Pune. Panditji used to call me Guru Bhai and our relationship was beyond family,” said Amjad Ali Khan, who started his performance with ‘Raag Shuddh Kalyan’ and followed it up by presenting ‘Raag Ganesh Kalyan’ in teen taal.
“The difference between Raag Puriya and Raag Marwah was taught to Pandit Bhimsen Joshi by my father. I am presenting Raag Darbari as it is not Akbar’s ‘darbaar’, but the ”darbaar’ of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi,” he said to anapplause from the crowd.
Amjad Ali Khan concluded his performance by presenting ‘Ekla Chalo Re’, penned by Rabindranath Tagore.
He was accompanied by Anubrata Chatterjee and Amit Kavthekar on Tabla.
Earlier, the second half of the opening day saw a breath-taking performance by vocalist Pandit Rattan Mohan Sharma, a disciple and nephew of Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj. He presented a couple of ‘Bandish’, one of which was a prolonged one and a Tarana in ‘Raag Gorakh Kalyan’.
He concluded his performance by presenting a Bhajan ‘Om Namo Vasudevay’ in front of a capacity crowd.
He was accompanied by Abhinay Ravande on Harmonium, Ajinkya Joshi on Tabla, Sukhad Munde on Pakhawaj, Vaidhehi Avdhani and Bhagyashree Kulkarni on Tanpura.
Meanwhile, ‘Swar Bhimsen’, a special theme calendar on Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi was unveiled at the hands of Sarod Maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan at the 68th Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav in presence of Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal’s executive president Shrinivas Joshi. Conceptualized by well known industrial photographer Sateesh Paknikar, the calendar has close-ups of Pt Bhimsen Joshi showing his different facial expressions.
Follow this link to join my WhatsApp group:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/KCGThyu9jK9IzgnzOKC7U1
