Veena - Sitar jugalbandhi at UW Madison, Wisconsin
- Sangeethapriya

November 15, 2010

Hindustani and Carnatic music lovers in Madison witnessed a scintillating jugalbandhi on the sitar and veena by Gaurav Majumdar and Nirmala Rajasekar, respectively on October 24, 2010 in Morphy Hall. The artistes were accompanied by Vishal Nagar on the tabla and Thanjavur Murugaboopathi on the mridangam.

The jugalbandhi started with a crisp lecture demonstration by the artistes. The artistes explained their respective styles of music and gave a brief gist about their instruments. They were very well spoken and used the lec-dem to develop a good rapport with the audience right from the start. The opening piece for the jugalbandhi was an instrumental composition in the pentatonic scale, Mohanam (Boopali in Hindustani) set in a 12-beat cycle. The artistes beautifully delineated the raaga in their respective styles with the same underlying notes.

The inter-mingling of the lovely gamakams in Mohanam and the meends in Boopali enchanted the audience. This was followed by a Ragam Tanam Pallavi (RTP) in raaga Keeravani set to a 16-beat cycle (rettai kalai Adi thalam). The pallavi was in praise of Lord Muruga and Nirmala beautifully sang the lyrics (in Tamil) of the pallavi for the benefit of the audience. The aalaapana, thaanam and the swara exchanges that ensued were brilliant. The gayaki style of Nirmala on the veena was evident especially after her vocal rendition of the pallavi. Gaurav Majumdar and Nirmala did a great job of representing their respective genres of music and upheld the rich parampara of music inherited from their Gurus carefully woven with their own individual styles. The thani avarthanam was highly entertaining and the percussionists exchanged amazing and uncommon patterns. After the percussion wizards built up the exchanges to a crescendo, they played the conclusive korvai that reflected the underlying pallavi.

The energy of Murugaboopathi and Vishal Nagar was amazing. The chemistry between the four artistes was very good and the music that emanated from them on the whole was highly energetic. The RTP was followed by the popular bhajan ‘Vaishnava Janatho’ in raag Mishra Kamaaj. The pace was dhruth (fast) and the contrast between mishra kamaaj and the Carnatic kamaas was beautifully brought out by the artistes. This was followed by the piece de resistance of the evening - a brilliant 6-beat instrumental composition in Sindhu Bhairavi by Gaurav Majumdar.

This was seamlessly integrated with a composition (in the language Kannada) of Saint Purandara Dasa in the same raaga - "Thamboori Meettidavaa" that was well sung by Nirmala in addition to being played. The vocal rendition of the lyrical pieces added to the uniqueness of the jugalbandhi. The concert resulted in a standing ovation after a fast-paced tharaana composed by Gaurav Majumdar and set to an 8-beat cycle. After three hours of music, the audience went home enthralled and longing for more from the quartet.

Hindustani and Carnatic music lovers in Madison witnessed a scintillating jugalbandhi on the sitar and veena by Gaurav Majumdar and Nirmala Rajasekar, respectively on October 24, 2010 in Morphy Hall. The artistes were accompanied by Vishal Nagar on the tabla and Thanjavur Murugaboopathi on the mridangam.

The jugalbandhi started with a crisp lecture demonstration by the artistes. The artistes explained their respective styles of music and gave a brief gist about their instruments. They were very well spoken and used the lec-dem to develop a good rapport with the audience right from the start. The opening piece for the jugalbandhi was an instrumental composition in the pentatonic scale, Mohanam (Boopali in Hindustani) set in a 12-beat cycle. The artistes beautifully delineated the raaga in their respective styles with the same underlying notes.

The inter-mingling of the lovely gamakams in Mohanam and the meends in Boopali enchanted the audience. This was followed by a Ragam Tanam Pallavi (RTP) in raaga Keeravani set to a 16-beat cycle (rettai kalai Adi thalam). The pallavi was in praise of Lord Muruga and Nirmala beautifully sang the lyrics (in Tamil) of the pallavi for the benefit of the audience. The aalaapana, thaanam and the swara exchanges that ensued were brilliant. The gayaki style of Nirmala on the veena was evident especially after her vocal rendition of the pallavi. Gaurav Majumdar and Nirmala did a great job of representing their respective genres of music and upheld the rich parampara of music inherited from their Gurus carefully woven with their own individual styles. The thani avarthanam was highly entertaining and the percussionists exchanged amazing and uncommon patterns. After the percussion wizards built up the exchanges to a crescendo, they played the conclusive korvai that reflected the underlying pallavi.

The energy of Murugaboopathi and Vishal Nagar was amazing. The chemistry between the four artistes was very good and the music that emanated from them on the whole was highly energetic. The RTP was followed by the popular bhajan ‘Vaishnava Janatho’ in raag Mishra Kamaaj. The pace was dhruth (fast) and the contrast between mishra kamaaj and the Carnatic kamaas was beautifully brought out by the artistes. This was followed by the piece de resistance of the evening - a brilliant 6-beat instrumental composition in Sindhu Bhairavi by Gaurav Majumdar.

This was seamlessly integrated with a composition (in the language Kannada) of Saint Purandara Dasa in the same raaga - "Thamboori Meettidavaa" that was well sung by Nirmala in addition to being played. The vocal rendition of the lyrical pieces added to the uniqueness of the jugalbandhi. The concert resulted in a standing ovation after a fast-paced tharaana composed by Gaurav Majumdar and set to an 8-beat cycle. After three hours of music, the audience went home enthralled and longing for more from the quartet.