Gopikrishna Mahotsav delights music lovers

THANE: The three-day musical festival, Padmashree Nataraj Gopikrishna Mahotsav, is regaling music lovers in Thane with its eclectic mix of instrumental, classical, popular music and classical dance performances. The festival, being held at Gadkari Rangayatan, opened yesterday with solo harmonium recital by Dr Vidyadhar Oak. Shree Ganesh cultural academy Thane and South zone cultural centre Nagpur are organising this event.
Oak performed Raga Puriya Kalyan and other popular songs and was followed by Pandit Ram Deshpande's vocal recital. Trained in Gwalior and Agra Gharanas, Pt Deshpande sang compositions based on Raga Bhup and Kafi and delighted his fans with a Tappa and a Bhajan.
Rajendra Gangani, well known Kathak dancer from Delhi, charmed the audience with his graceful footwork and mastery over rhythm. He opened the performance with Shiv Vandana that was followed by Tritaal variations, traditional Amad, That, Ganesh Pranam among other items. Pt Mukundraj Deo ably accompanied him on the tabla.
The second day of the festival will include Radhika Sathe's solo Kathak recital, vocal recital by Savani Shende-Sathye and violin recital by Kala Ramnath who is a disciple of Pt Jasraj.
The last day (December 20) of the festival would feature vocals by Pt. Jaytirtha Mevundi of Kirana Gharana. The grand finale would be a santoor recital by Pt. Shivkumar Sharma who would be accompanied by Pt. Mukundraj Deo on the tabla.
"We have been organising this festival for the last 15 years and are very happy with the wonderful response," said Dr Manjiri Deo, founder of the GCA and a reputed Kathak dancer. This year, GCA would felicitate senior classical artiste Pt Achyut Abhyankar with Jeeven-gaurav award.