Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt enthralled music lovers in New Zealand with his performance that went beyond expectations.
For more than three hours, he kept his audience (comprising a cross-section of the society) in rapt attention, rendering numbers that have stood the test of time.
His concert, organised by the Sargam School of Indian Music and Mohammed Rafi Academy of Music, held on March 16 at Dorothy Winstone Centre, was a tribute to his Guru, the late Pandit Ravi Shankar who died at a San Diego (California) Hospital in the US on December 11, 2012 (Indian Newslink, January 15, 2013)
Pandit Bhatt, a Grammy Award winner, commenced the concert with his favourite raga Maru Behag in Teen Taal (Vilambit, Drut and Madhya Laya), which continued until the end of the first session.
He executed the Raag to perfection.
Auckland based Tabla maestro Basant Madhur accompanied the master with confidence and proficiency.
The second half of the programme began with Tabla Lahera, with Deepak Madhur on the harmonium and students of the Sargam School of Music Survi Sharma (Violin), Akhilesh Deepak Madhur and Prashant Kumar (Tabla). Continuous applause from the audience was a testimony to their high standard of performance.
Pandit Bhatt re-appeared and continued his spell with Raag Desh and Raag Hamsdhwani, played respectively in Gayaki Ang and Chhote Kheyal Ang.
He concluded the programme with his Grammy Award winning composition, ‘A Meeting by The River,’ accompanied by Avirbhav Verma, on African Drum.
This was the first concert that featured Mohana Veena, details of which appear in another report in this Section.
