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...
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 Ecomomic Times, August 28, 1988 Although the year in India is conventionally divided into six natural seasons, known as “ritus”, it is the rainy season (“Varsha”), which has held a special significance to predominantly agrarian people like us. Not surprisingly, therefore, an immense treasure of songs from pre-historic Vedic times down to the 20th century Tagore has come down to...
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...
By MOHAN NADKARNI The Economic Times, August 27, 1989 August 9, this year marked the beginning of the year-long stage-level celebrations in observance of the birth centenary of Keshavrao Bhonsale, the great singing thespian and founder of the Lalitkaladarsh Natak Mandali. He was a contemporary of Bal Gandharva (whose birth centenary was celebrated last year) and it is on record that many knowledgeable stage...