A Complete Musical Journey

Every year,the Sawai Gandharva Mahotsav takes classical music beyond concerts to include artiste interactions,film festivals,photography exhibitions and other musical dimensions.

Last year,at the Sawai Gandharva Smarak,Shivajinagar,an early morning programme Antaranga – by Pandit Vishwamohan Bhatt left the audience spellbound. It gave people a chance to hear the stories behind the musical journeys taken by artistes. As Bhatt gave candid answers for an interview,the discussions and exchanges took interesting turns. The photography exhibition in the same hall also attracted large numbers and became a great hit. Here,music was not just a one-dimensional affair. Now,as preparations are on in full swing to welcome the 59th edition of Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav,one can expect to find a lesson in classical music. In fact,over the last few years,the festival has grown in popularity and has offered audiences a lot more than just musical performances.

We try and present things about music that one would not know otherwise, says Mukund Sangoram,a member of the organising committe,who tries to add elements in the show to make it a wholesome musical experience. He says,In this fest,we try to create a 24-hour musical environment,so that audiences don’t just listen to a performance,but also get to know about music,the performer,and the effort that goes into making music.

This year’s programme will have a special audio-visual presentation by Bakul Bhavsar. He will showcase some rare audio and video recordings of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and describe the minute details of those performances to the audience. The biographical audio-visual production is commissioned by Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal and will be played during the festival in the form of short clips between the various performances by artistes.

Antaranga,an interaction with senior personalities from the Indian classical music fraternity,will feature Pandit Ajay Pohankar on December 7,Pandit Ronu Majumdar on December 8 and Dr Prabha Atre on December 10. They will throw light on various aspects of music in an interactive session. A short film festival called Shadja,which will show the lives of some of the greatest musical maestros will also be presented. The fest will include a film on Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi made by noted film and television personality Ravindra Mankani on December 7,a film on Kishori Amonkar by director Amol Palekar on December 8 and a film on Pandit Rajan-Sajan Mishra. These events will be conducted at the Sawai Gandharva Smarak at Shivaji Nagar.

This music mahotsav also has the distinction of showcasing artistes from all the gharanas. This facilitates a sound interaction between the artistes and the audience. There is also an effort to get youngsters involved in listening to classical music. We believe that to keep classical music alive,we need to create listeners too. The programme thus tries to present dimensions of music that have not been introduced before, says Shrinivas Joshi of Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal.

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