On a Classical Note

After a successful and soul-stirring premier in Mumbai earlier this month,Aadi Anant: From Here to Eternity,a festival of Indian classical music,will finally make its way to the Capital.

Written by Somya Lakhani

January 23, 2012 12:02 AM IST

2 min read

After a successful and soul-stirring premier in Mumbai earlier this month,Aadi Anant: From Here to Eternity,a festival of Indian classical music,will finally make its way to the Capital. Organised by Mumbais National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA),the two-day long festival will take place later this week at Kamani Auditorium,Mandi House. This is the first time that the festival is travelling to Delhi. On Day One,percussionist Taufiq Qureshi,drummer Gino Banks,tabla-player Satyajit Talwalkar,bassist Sheldon Dsilva,keyboardist Angelo Fernandes and sitar player Niladari Kumar will enthrall the audience with a slew of fusion melodies.

However,its the Day Two line up,which promises to be a treat. Hindustani classical vocalist,Sanjeev Abhyankar of the Mewati gharana will collaborate with Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande,the revered Hindustani classical vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana for a jugalbandi. It will be a very different concert as both of us will be singing different ragas at the same time. For instance,I will sing raga Bhopali and Ashwiniji will layer it with raga Durga, says Abhyankar,about a two-hour long performance based on this concept. He terms it a challenge of sorts and adds,One has to listen to the other singer and at the same time concentrate on ones own raga and manage to retain two individualistic identities as well.