Vocal, instrumental performances enthrall audience at Brahmanaad

Nagpur: Twenty-five-year-old Mumbai-based Hindustani classical vocalist Gandhar Deshpande wowed the audience with his scintillating performance on Sunday morning. He was performing at the early morning music event Bramhnaad organized by SCZCC.
Dressed in a fuchsia pink kurta with a golden stole wrapped around the neck, Deshpande’s youthful attire matched the freshness of his presentation. Beginning with a bandish in Nat Bhairav ‘Bhor Bhai’ in Vilambit lay set to Tilwada taal, he presented another khayal ‘Pritam ghar aaye’ in drut lay teen taal. Gandhar took his time elaborating the morning raaga with leisurely taans. He remained totally in command of the swar and showed his mastery over his craft in the manner in which he played around with the notes, all the while giving space to Tarun Lala on tabla and Shyam Ojha on harmonium to also display their skills.

His second presentation was a Nirguna bhajan ‘Shunya gadh shahar’, a composition of Kumar Gandharv. “The bhajan is in raaga Kalingada which is not used in khayal presentations. But Kumarji adapted this raaga from folk to sing nirguni bhajans,” the vocalist explained.

Mesmerizing the audience with his gayaaki, Gandhar who has been trained by his father Pt Ram Deshpande moved beyond the academic to innovate and experiment with his presentation even during the performance. His audience did not waver even for a second as he surprised them with the harqats and gayaki, which made hearing him an enriching experience.

Bramhnaad, which usually features a single artiste also had a sarod recital by Shankar Bhattacharya who hails from the city. Expressing his delight on being invited to perform at the event which, “I have attended on several occasions to hear renowned artistes who have performed on this stage” Bhattacharya said he was overwhelmed to be taking the same stage today. Starting with raaga Charukeshi which stands for a women with long hair, Bhattacharya explained, “The raaga too has many layers like flowing hair. My attempt will be to bring out as many of these layers as I can,” he said and concluded his recital with a composition in raaga Bhairavi.