The connoisseurs of classical music appreciated the performance of the students of the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalay during the Music In Park programme at the IG Park here on March 31.
The programme began with a touching recital by well-known vocalist from Varanasi Anoop Misra.
Misra, an eminent classical singer from Banaras Gharana, started his rendition with an offering to lord Jagannath and said how he is fortunate to travel from the land of Tridev or lord Shiva to the land of Jagannath and the city of lingaraj on the auspicious Navratri celebrations as the New Year as per the Indian Calendar is being celebrated across the nation.
The famous Hindustani vocalist, who performed along with his son Aryan Misra on stage, compared music with a sadhana (practice) and the performance to a puja (religious offering) and how he was lucky to perform in the City of Temples.
The singer let his son Aryan start the concert with a song “Sanj bhaye sab guni jana gabe’’ with Raag Marwa and the song was well appreciated by the audience. After that Misra sang “Jagat Janani Maata... tuhi Maata’’ with Raag Saraswati.
During the Allap, while introducing the Raag Sataswati, he said though the Raag Saraswati is basically a Raag from southern India, many north Indian musicians have created beautiful compositions with the unique Raaga and it has a great fan following as well. Misra performed two songs with Raag Saraswati.
Coinciding with the Utkal Divas celebration, the evening before the illustrious day, the authorities of the
Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) had decided to celebrate the Music In Park programme with soulful Odishi songs.
The Odissi music performance was done in four phases, i.e. Jagannath Astakam by Adi Sankaracharya, Raganga Parjaya (session) with Raga Bajrakanti and Tala Eka Tali and song “Nikunje Jaana Braja Jubaraja Kanha’’. The lyricist is Kabi loknath Patnaik.
The Natyanga Parjaya (session) was with Raga Pilu (Mishra) and Tal Khemata and song “Barijakshi Manaru Mana Baridere’’ with lyrics by Kabi Surya Baladeba Rath.
All these were followed by Chhanda in another session with the traditional “Janana” or devotional song titled “Ei kathare mo mana Mahabahu.’.
The students of Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalay were accompanied by well-known exponents with the traditional musical instruments like Guru Sachhidananda Das on Mardala, Guru Binod Bihari Rout on Tabla, Guru Jawahar Mishra on Flute, Guru Murlidhar Swain on Manjira and Sandhyarani Bhyuan on Tanpura.
While the music direction in Odishi was given by Guru Bijay Kumar Jena, Guru Ramahari Das, an eminent vocalist in Odissi music, inaugurated the event.
BDA Secretary Debaraj Senapati and Member (Enforcement) Bhabani Chayani were present. Among others, senior members of Bhubaneswar Music Circle and SPIC-MACAY, Odisha Chapter, were also present.