By MOHAN NADKARNI The Economic Times, August 21, 1988 Gurudev Tagore had a world view of life. His genius therefore spanned a truly phenomenal range in creativity. And that is what rightly made him the most celebrated pioneer of creative music in modern times. Though Tagore’s music did fall outside the rigid traditional domain, it was certainly not wholly non-classical. What he conceived and...
Bal Gandharva: On the sands of time (Parts I-VIII) By MOHAN NADKARNI The Economic Times, June 21, 1987 Bal Gandharva: On the sands of time—I He was hailed as “Nat-Samrat”, the King of Thespians. His was a fabulous career that spanned an almost unbroken period of four decades during which he ruled supreme on the Marathi musical stage as much by his striking presence,...
By MOHAN NADKARNI The Economic Times, August 27, 1989 With the death of the maestro, Krishnarao Shankar Pandit, 96, at Gwalior on August 22, an era of giants in Hindustani music has come to an end. He lived full of years and honours and loomed large on the concert scene for an incredible period of seven decades, as few else could. Raga and tala...
By MOHAN NADKARNI The Economic Times, September 11, 1988 Eclecticism is the trend that is taking root today. It is specially discernible in the approach of the younger generation of artistes. And, that too, in vocal music, because there has not been such clear-cut differentiation in concept and style in instrumental music. This was resoundingly brought home by the recitals of Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande and...
By MOHAN NADKARNI The Economic Times, September 24, 1989 The week that was took me to Bhopal, where I witnessed an event, the like of which was neither conceived nro presented before. It was a three-day soiree, styled “Sarangi Mela” organised by the Bharat Bhavan Trust from September 15. The event was something much more than a “mela” as the term is conventionally understood...
By MOHAN NADKARNI The Economic Times, January 10, 1988 A novel and thoughtful concert presentation marked the inauguration of the golden jubilee of the Ramnarain Ruia College, the renowned educational institution of Matunga in Central Bombay, a few days ago. Novel, because the college authorities, conventionally speaking, departed from the all-too-familiar ritual of inviting a chief guest to start such celebrations. Instead, they hit...