Mangalore: Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Mesmerizes City Music Buffs
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (NR)
Pics - Dayanand Kukkaje
Mangalore Nov 19: ‘Swara-Laya Yatra’, a series of musical concerts by Sangeet Bharati Foundation on five Sundays from November 11 to December 16, accordingly a sarod recital programme was held on Sunday on November 18.
Usha Nayak, trustee of Sangeeta Bharati Foundation welcomed the gathering and introduced world famous sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, and eminent tabla artist Pandit Vijay Ghate to the audience. Ananthakrishna, chairman of Karnataka Bank inaugurated the event by lighting the traditional lamp along with other sponsors.
At the concert filled to jam-packed capacity, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan performed to a rapt selective audience accompanied by Vijay Ghate on the tabla. Amjad Ali began his virtuoso performance with a well-known musical piece of ‘Tyagaraja’ followed by the soul-stirring ‘Zilla Kafi’. In the course of his recital he even touched on Bengal’s famous folk song based on Rabindra Sangeet, ending finally with Gandhiji’s famous devotional ‘bhajan’ ‘Raghupati Ragava Raja Ram…Patita Pavan Sitaram’.
In the midst of all the recitals he presented a special creation as a tribute to his wife Subbalakshmi which touched a responsive cord with the audience, who listened to the wide repertoire of his presentation in pin-drop silence, with not a single person leaving the auditorium till the end. Speaking on the occasion Amjad Ali Khan in his soft melodious voice declared “Atma hi swar hai, swar hi vishwa hai” which literally translated into English means “Soul is the music and music is the entire universe indeed”.
According to the Ustad there are two types of music one which is in its pure form. For instance those found in nature like birds singing, the symphony sounds and music pieces on guitar, sarod, veena and other instruments. And the other type of music is one in which language is involved. However, he rued language has certain barriers. Hence he declared “Fortunately I sing the first kind of music and hence can reach out to the masses.”
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan concluded by promising that hence forth there will not be such a big gap in his presentation, as this performance of his was after a huge gap of 30 years in Mangalore. Thus, ended an enthralling ‘Swar-Laya Yatra’ evening for the musical buffs in the city.