An evening of quality music

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By Peerzada Salman

KARACHI: It was a rare musical treat. The inimitable Ustad Fateh Ali Khan of the Gwaliar gharana yet again enthralled music lovers with his melodious and note-perfect singing. The occasion was an evening with the ustad organised by the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) in the National Museum auditorium on Monday night. Federal Culture Minister Pir Aftab Shah Jilani was the chief guest on the occasion.

Ustad Fateh Ali Khan was accompanied on stage by Bashir Khan (tabla), Irshad Ali (harmonium), Mohammad Saleem (violin), Qaiser (tanpura) and Bachal (dholak).

He started off with raag aiman and from the outset entranced the audience with his brilliant rendition of the raag. The piece reached its high point when the violin matched the ebb and flow of the ustad`s voice, keeping pace with the emotive representation of the raag. Ustad Fateh Ali Khan so deftly touched both high and low notes of the composition that at one juncture even his harmonium player praised him heartily.

The second piece was a thumri, Kaise bataon tujh binn , which changed the mood of the concert and elevated it a notch or two.

The inherent pathos of the tune was made tangible by the ustad through a performance that was immersed in feeling more than art.

Then he presented a ghazal, Hum bhi kia zindagi guzar gaey/ Dil ki bazi laga ke haar gaey with equal ease and a fair understanding of the metrical pattern of the ghazal.

This was followed by a fine rendition of raag darbari (at the request of Pir Aftab). The ustad used the bass of his voice with great effect and even during low tempo movements of the composition kept the innate liveliness of the raag intact. Once he upped the tempo, no different was the standard of the recital. A nice moment in the piece came when the incomparable tabla maestro Bashir Khan had a kind of a jugalbandi with the violin player.

After that Ustad Fateh Ali Khan sang three Sindhi numbers (a sufi poem, a song and a kafi by Hazrat Sachal Sarmast). The last one had shades of the Saraeki language as well. Prior to the concert, a short documentary was shown on the life, family and work of Ustad Fateh Ali Khan.

PNCA DG Tauqir Nasir and Sindh culture minister Sassui Palejo also attended the show.
Source: Dawn
Date:2/2/2011

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