As many other music lovers do, I also keep on waiting for some good concerts. A long time entry in my wish list was a concert by Pt. Mukuls Shivputra.
In the last week of Feb, I was in Ahmedabad for some official purpose. I had been there for a conference. While going to the conference venue from our guest house, I passed by CEPT. I have a collection of around 6 recordings of Pt. Mukul Shivputra performing at CEPT. All of them are high quality audio recordings and Mukulji has sung many Ragas like Malkauns, Puriya Dhanashree, Jog, Chhayanat etc. and also has given a demonstrative talk.
While passing by, I asked my wife this many times repeated question- “When would he sing again?”
As clueless as I was, she was unable to answer. Just after reaching the venue, I got an alert from Facebook about Pt. Mukul Shivputra performing in Pune on 15th March 2015.
Though both of us were quite busy with the launch of our book, we marked the date. The occasion was Mukulji completing 60 years. The concert was to be followed by dinner.
Many music lovers and fans of Pt. Mukul Shivputra were already present, waiting for him to arrive on the stage. We could coincidentally meet renowned Tabla Player Shree Anand Badamikar during the concert.
He arrived and after some formalities, the concert began. In spite of having some issues and trouble with the sound system, Mukulji sang. Unfortunately, the concert was arranged in open lawns and another classical concert was going on in the immediately next place. In spite of all these hurdles, Mukulji took audience to a different plane.
As a policy, I avoid writing elaborately on what Ragas were sung in a concert, which Bandishes, which Talas etc. The purpose is go beyond all that and taste the environment which the artist builds in his concert. It is a precaution to ensure that reviews are not intellectual.
Pt. Mukul Shivputra opened the concert with Multani, very stirdy yet delicate. The chain went on ending with Bageshree and then Bhairavee. The music was enriching, sensitive. One of the biggest problem I see with musicians is their insensitivity. They take all the efforts to make their music wide, entertaining, intellectually compelling. All these things can be added with practice, sensitivity cannot. Pt. Mukul Shivputra won the audience and made a mark because of his sensitivity and delicacy.
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