Curtain falls on Bengal Classical Music Fest

The fourth edition of the Bengal Classical Music Festival came to an exciting close this dawn, but not before leaving indelible impressions on the tens of thousands of audience members.

Animesh Bijoy Chowdhury and his troupe Geetobitan from Sylhet was the first performer of the fifth and final evening. It presented dhamar vocals on Raga Desh and a chatuarnga on Raga Bhopali. Asit Roy supervised the presentation.

Vidushi Alarmel Valli then presented a Bharatanatyam recital on her return to the stage after a one-year hiatus. She opened with “Rati Sukha Sare”, and finished with a nrityalahari on Raga Abhogi.

The closing ceremony followed, attended by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, chairperson of Brac; Gowher Rizvi, foreign affairs adviser to the
prime minister; Annisul Huq, mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation; Syed Samad, executive chairman of Board of Investment; Pankaj Saran, Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh; and Abul Khair, chairman of Bengal Foundation. Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman chaired the ceremony.

Irshad Khan brought yet another new sound to the Dhaka stage, something that has been a hallmark of this year's festival. His presentation of the Raga Darbari Kanada was a great experience.

Sameehan Kashalkar presented a khayal on Raga Jog, assisted by Pandit Suresh Talwalkar on tabla. The ever-smiling Shujaat Khan, son of legendary Ustad Vilayat Khan and a torchbearer of the Imdadkhani Gharana (which has its roots in Mymensingh), presented Raga Rageshri on the sitar.

But until past midnight, the enthusiastic audience kept pouring in to witness two of classical music's biggest names -- Ustad Rashid Khan (khayal vocals) and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (flute).