Vocalist Mandar gives rich treat

Nagpur: Different nuances of various ragas were captured effectively by classical vocal singer Mandar Gadgil from Pune at a programme titled ‘Brahmanaad’, organized by South Central Zone Cultural Centre (SCZCC), on Sunday.
As morning chill in the air has subsided, a good number of connoisseurs of music soaked in the warmth of class that was evident in the gayaki of Mandar who triggered emotions by selecting the ragas suitable to the event and performing them with aplomb.
Mandar chose ‘Lalat’, which is essentially sung at dawn, to begin his performance and presented a bandish ‘Ghatan lagi rain’ in vilambit Ek Taal. He caught on to the pulse of the audience with his melodious voice as he sang in madhyalaya, transforming the mood of the performance.
His presentation of ‘Ja ja re ja balamwa’, wooing the one close to heart, was immediately lapped up by the audience. A rather soft rendition, his mellifluous voice matched the sentiments that a yearning person has.
Recitation of raag Bhatiyar was lilting as Mandar made full use of his vocals, presenting taans and aalaps, with ease.
He splashed colours of singing that he has in his armoury when he sang a hori in raag Bhairavi. Music lovers related to the raga as the festival of Holi is round the corner.
The jugalbandi of high-pitched vocals and instrumental music made the performance top notch.
The thumping beats of tabla, coupled with soft instrumental sound of harmonium, went along perfectly with the vocals of Mandar. He made his presentations sound pleasant.
Mandar was accompanied by Ram Khadse on tabla and Narendra Kadwe on harmonium.
In between, Mandar engaged with jugalbandi between his rendition, tabla and harmonium.
As Sunday was celebrated as International Women’s Day, SCZCC director took the opportunity to felicitate women employees of the centre who work tirelessly to make cultural programmes organized by SCZCC successful.
Those who were honoured included Ujjwala Indurkar, Sabia Naz, Shital Sonpipare, Geeta Shanguwar, Nisha Pande, Shweta Tiwari, Chitra Manohare and Jyoti Gurve.
The programme was anchored by Shweta Shelgaonkar.
Earlier, the programme was inaugurated with the lighting a traditional lamp by SCZCC director Deepak Khirwadkar, deputy director Mohan Parkhi, social worker Abhay Gokhale, Deepali Khirwadkar and Swarupa Dande.
Programme officer Shashank Dande, Shrikant Desai and Deepak Patil were present.
Quotes
* I am a regular visitor to ‘Brahmanaad. I am also learning the art of singing. Therefore, watching Mandar Gadgil perform classical vocal was a treat for me
Priyanka Dubey | housewife
* What a great start to the morning than to listen to fine classical music? I thoroughly enjoyed the programme in the pleasant morning hours
Rohit Tiwari | marketing employee
* I always look forward to attending ‘Brahmanaad’ event. SCZCC invites new and renowned artistes which acts as a tonic for learners and people alike
Manjushree Tattiwar | businesswoman