Folk and modern Bengali songs echo at music concert

The Bengali musical concert ‘Eto Shur Eto Gaan’ hosted at the Avondale School earlier on Saturday, May 5 has left the audience with a craving for more such shows in the community.

There were two surprise elements of the show besides the apparent expectation of great evening of music and nostalgia. First, the carefully crafted aesthetics of the stage, designed with precision by the organisers to give the audience a feel of being in their home country through its visuals for a start.

The second mesmerising surprise or amazement for the audience was the perfection of the musicians in producing the music of old folk Bengali, classic and modern songs- songs that date to as early as fifty years ago.

A band of eight musicians on different instruments such as percussions, drums, flutes, keyboard, table, bass guitar, drum sets, etc. cloned the music of the original songs to almost perfection at the concert.

Dr Hubert D’Cruze, organiser and singer of the concert, was unveiled as one gem of a singer to be discovered at the show. He started his concert with a very humble rendition of legendary singer Shubir Sen’s ‘Eto Shur Aar Eto Gaan’ followed by songs by singers Hemanta Mukherjee, Faruque Ahmed, Bhupen Hazarika, Rabindranath Tagore song, SD Burman, Manna Dey and Kishore Kumar.

Dr Hubert who is a GP at Flat Bush Medical Centre performed 12 songs in the first half of the concert, applauds of which echoed louder with every passing performance in the auditorium.

Dr Hubert, who considers himself an amateur musician and singer gave the Bengali music genre and show in Auckland a new dimension, a new meaning and taking it all together to the next level.

Neel Akasher Niche Ami by Faruque Ahmed, Bashi Shune Aar Kaj Nai by SD Burman, Ei Poth Jodi Shesh Na Hoi and Ek Din Pakhi Ure by Kishore Kumar were some of the songs sung in the first half of the show.

He later sang Rum Jhum Jhum Jhum by Kavi Nazrul, Tumi Ki Dekhechho Kobhu by Abdul Jabbar, Ei Raat Tomar Aamar by SD Burman and Coffee Houser Sei Addata by Manna Dey in the second half of the concert. He sang an additional five popular modern Bengali songs requested by the audience during the show.

The show left the audience spellbound with a beautiful memory taking back on a Saturday evening.

Dr Hubert D' Cruze performing at Eto Shur Eto Gaan Concert in Auckland 

The organisers charged a token amount of $10 for each ticket and sold out homemade Bengali snacks to raise funds for the Bangla School Charitable Trust in Auckland.

The Bangla School in Auckland conducts weekend classes for a small yet significant number of students to learn Bengali language, art, music, culture, and history. Young Bengali children up to the age of 13 hailing from Bangladesh and West Bengal in India take these classes and learn to read, write and speak Bengali.

February 21 is a significant date in the history of language in Bangladesh and is observed as the ‘International Mother Language Day. This day is celebrated to promote awareness and cultural diversity and promote multilingualism across the globe by the Bangladeshi community.

The concert ended late in the evening and Dr Hubert and the musicians received a standing ovation for delivering a fantastic musical show exhibiting the richness of Bengali music.