It is often said that to find true pearls one has to dive deep down in the ocean. Lovers of Indian Classical Music in Auckland had only to drive down on a windy, rainy day to Freemans Bay to find their chosen one as Omkar Dadarkar delivered some of the finest Khayal Gayaki raags at the annual Swar Tarang concert.
Swar Tarang, a tribute to samvadini maestro, Late Jayant Bhalodkarji is held in his memory by his son Samir Bhalodkar and wife Mruga Bhalodkar, ably supported by gen next Tanvi Bhalodkar. The tenth edition of Swar Tarang featured renowned vocalist Pt. Omkar Dadarkar of Gwalior Gharana who is a ‘Guru’ at the prestigious ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata.
This is Omkar’s first visit to New Zealand and he was keen to leave his mark on the audience who had braved the elements to be present in large numbers. They were not disappointed as the evening began with beautiful Raag Bihag. The bada khayal in vilambit ektaal was rendered with panache and versatility – a trademark of the Gwalior Gharana which has a combination of swar and shruti (microtonal units) with lai! Followed by a bandish in teentaal and a tarana.
Seldom have artists spent so much time defining the ornamentation of a single raag. Qudos to Omkarji for taking the effort to educate the audience about “how to appreciate Indian classical music”. This was followed by an unusual jod-raag (combo-raag) called Shiv-Abhogi, a combination of Shiv Ranjani and Abhogi featuring bandish composed by the late C R Vyas. It was also presented in dual format, a vilambit bada khayal in roopak taal and drut bandish in teentaal. Omkar comes from a musical family and his first guru was his famous Aunt, late Smt Maniktai Varma whose famous abhang “Amruta Huni god naam tujhe deva” was performed as a tribute to her on her 97th birth anniversary.
The second half began with two compositions in popular raag Durga. The vilambit was in roopak and bandish in teen taal. The vilambit “tu jin bol” in Durga has moments which are unique to Gwalior gharana, aptly demonstrated by Omkarji. Omkar reminded many a times of his guru Yashwantbua Joshi when he rendered the vilambit khayal. The drut bandish - Ye ho rang barse hori showed the finer aspects of Durga This is a famous bandish, rendered by Master Krishnarao, disciple of the legendary Pandit Bhaskarbua Bakhle. What a treat for Auckland audiences it was! Special mention must be mentioned here of tabla accompaniment by Manjit Singh, as playing for Gwalior gharana singers, is a challenge, and to top it all, Marathi Natyasangeet. And it was great to see Samir enjoying himself on the samvadini, in the wide range of raag presentation. Gwalior gharana artists have a unique presentation as there are lot of shrutis to follow and Samir was up to the task throughout. A real sangat for the singer. Omkar was able to hit the high notes regularly but the control with which he presented the lower notes was exemplary. No wonder he is regarded in high esteem among the next generation of singers.
The evening would not have been complete without some semi classical and Natyasangeet, both genres which are close to Omkar as his lineage is in Natyasangeet and has strong relation with Thumri singing too. He presented the famous thumri “tum bin nind na aaye savariyan” by late Girijadevi and followed it up with a powerpacked performance of “Yuvati Mana” made famous by Master Dinanath Mangeshkar. After taking the audiences through whirlwind journey of Raagdari sangeet, thumri, natyasangeet, abhang, it was time to wrap up the evening with a Bhairavi and he aptly chose “itna to karna swami”, originally presented by Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki.
Omkar got the audience on their feet at the end of Bhairavi which was a moving experience for all. The trip of Omkarji for Swar Tarang was co-organised by Migrant Heritage Charitable Trust Inc, who have always brought in quality artists to New Zealand. Special mention of Bhushan Phalnikar who was the accompanist on percussion for the Abhang and Bhairavi. A must to get the feel. Also, important to note was the sound, which was perfect for the entire evening and without any hiccups. This enhanced the performance and the audience found their pearls in the ocean of Indian classical music on the occasion.