Ronuji’s Bansuri captivates Aucklanders
Audiences in Auckland had a taste of what Pt. Ronu Majumdar can deliver two years ago and this time they were keenly awaiting his arrival to the shores of New Zealand. After successful concerts in Australia, Panditji was a bit tired and the week’s rest that he got in Auckland must have lifted his spirits.
Panditji started the evening with the ever popular and melodious ‘Raag Bageshri’. This raag is a late night raag with a flavour of love and longing and is popular.
The recital began with the traditional alaap, a slow exposition of the fine romantic mood of Bageshri. He then moved into Jod and Jhala which develop in the pace and tempo of the Raag.
He used various flutes to depict the high and low notes of the raag. The pace and intensity of Bageshri was in full flow and our very own Basant Madhur had to be alert to match the tempo of Panditji, which he managed admirably.
The second half started with Prof S D Madhur, playing raag Maru Bihag on violin and was accompanied by Deepak Madhur on Tabla. Maru Bihag is a variant of Bihag, another late night raaga and there are several compositions on this raag which are popular, the famous one being “Tumto Pyaar ho, Sajana”.
Prof Madhur then played a folk song from his home state of Himachal Pradesh. It was a pleasure listening to Prof Madhur, who was invited to perform by none other than Panditji himself.
Pandit Ronu Majumdar started the second half with Raag Basant. An apt time to play the raag as the “Basant”(Spring) season is starting now in the northern hemisphere. This raag can be played anytime but is reserved in performances at night time and is also a precursor of Raag to be used in Raagmalas. He then played a medley of Raags, some of which were requests from the audiences. His rendition of the popular bhajan “Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye” penned by none other than Gandhiji himself, was a tribute to the great man and his ambition of world peace.
Panditji noted that Music knows no boundaries and was a unifying force in the world. He also paid tribute to the late maestro Pandit D V Paluskar and his famous bhajan “Thumak Chalat Ramchandra” in raag Gara.
Not only did Panditji play the bhajan on flute but also sang the way DV Paluskar would sing “Raam” instead of “Ram”. You could see that Ronuji is a versatile artiste as not only can he play the Bansuri, but also sing with equal ease! What a treat!
He also had the audience’s foot tapping with Kajri from Varanasi, his hometown and Bhajans in Khamaj.
Panditji concluded the concert it in style with a soulful rendition of “Om Jai Jagdish”. The audiences were not only left spellbound to the tunes of Bansuri but also to the ambience and ethos created by Panditji.
Roshan Raju, a student of Prof S D Madhur, was accompanying the duo on Tanpura.
A special mention must be made of Lotus Foreign Exchange, Basant, and his father S D Madhur and Deepak, who through their Sargam School of Music brought this show to Auckland.
Audiences in Auckland had a taste of what Pt. Ronu Majumdar can deliver two years ago and this time they were keenly awaiting his arrival to the shores of New Zealand. After successful concerts in Australia, Panditji was a bit tired and the week’s rest that he got in Auckland must have lifted his...
Audiences in Auckland had a taste of what Pt. Ronu Majumdar can deliver two years ago and this time they were keenly awaiting his arrival to the shores of New Zealand. After successful concerts in Australia, Panditji was a bit tired and the week’s rest that he got in Auckland must have lifted his spirits.
Panditji started the evening with the ever popular and melodious ‘Raag Bageshri’. This raag is a late night raag with a flavour of love and longing and is popular.
The recital began with the traditional alaap, a slow exposition of the fine romantic mood of Bageshri. He then moved into Jod and Jhala which develop in the pace and tempo of the Raag.
He used various flutes to depict the high and low notes of the raag. The pace and intensity of Bageshri was in full flow and our very own Basant Madhur had to be alert to match the tempo of Panditji, which he managed admirably.
The second half started with Prof S D Madhur, playing raag Maru Bihag on violin and was accompanied by Deepak Madhur on Tabla. Maru Bihag is a variant of Bihag, another late night raaga and there are several compositions on this raag which are popular, the famous one being “Tumto Pyaar ho, Sajana”.
Prof Madhur then played a folk song from his home state of Himachal Pradesh. It was a pleasure listening to Prof Madhur, who was invited to perform by none other than Panditji himself.
Pandit Ronu Majumdar started the second half with Raag Basant. An apt time to play the raag as the “Basant”(Spring) season is starting now in the northern hemisphere. This raag can be played anytime but is reserved in performances at night time and is also a precursor of Raag to be used in Raagmalas. He then played a medley of Raags, some of which were requests from the audiences. His rendition of the popular bhajan “Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye” penned by none other than Gandhiji himself, was a tribute to the great man and his ambition of world peace.
Panditji noted that Music knows no boundaries and was a unifying force in the world. He also paid tribute to the late maestro Pandit D V Paluskar and his famous bhajan “Thumak Chalat Ramchandra” in raag Gara.
Not only did Panditji play the bhajan on flute but also sang the way DV Paluskar would sing “Raam” instead of “Ram”. You could see that Ronuji is a versatile artiste as not only can he play the Bansuri, but also sing with equal ease! What a treat!
He also had the audience’s foot tapping with Kajri from Varanasi, his hometown and Bhajans in Khamaj.
Panditji concluded the concert it in style with a soulful rendition of “Om Jai Jagdish”. The audiences were not only left spellbound to the tunes of Bansuri but also to the ambience and ethos created by Panditji.
Roshan Raju, a student of Prof S D Madhur, was accompanying the duo on Tanpura.
A special mention must be made of Lotus Foreign Exchange, Basant, and his father S D Madhur and Deepak, who through their Sargam School of Music brought this show to Auckland.
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