Nagpur: Classical and semi-classical composition were presented by ‘grade A’ artistes of All India Radio (AIR) at the musical event ‘Falgunitarang’, organized by Akashwani at Scientific Society Hall, Laxmi Nagar, on Friday.The event had vocalist Saniya Patankar from Pune give a scintillating performance. This was followed by an instrumental performance by city’s sitar artiste Nizar Khan.The event was based on the festive mood of Hindu month of Falgun, which is the onset of spring and when Holi is also celebrated.Taking the stage first was Patankar, a senior disciple of Ashwini Deshpande, a renowned vocalist of Atrauli gharana of Jaipur. Considering the theme, she picked up two bandish in raag Basant, beginning with ‘Aayo rituraj Basant’ in madhyataal Rupak before moving to ‘Phagwa Brij dekhan ko’ in drut tritaal and ended with a sargam geet which is her forte. Her rendition was laced with intricate laykari and taans which she executed immaculately.Patankar’s presentation of a Hori, a light music composition sung mostly during this time of the year, showed her training and mastery over the craft. ‘Sakal Brij dhoom machi’, set to Kherwa taal, created the mood of the festivities.She presented a natya geet ‘Zale yuvati mana’ and also a devotional song ‘Payoji maine Ram ratan dhan paayo,’ as this is also the time for Chaitra Navratri. She ended her performance with a tappa, a form rarely heard on stage. The vocalist, who has learnt from musicologist Arvind Thatte, did full justice to the composition which originates from Punjab.The other artiste of the evening, sitarist Nizar Khan, took the stage in the second half. Recently upgraded to top ranking artiste category of AIR, Khan has learnt from Pt Arun Kumar Bhattacharya of Saini gharana. He later honed his craft under the tutelage of two Sarangi players, Ustad Sardar Khan of Gwalior and Ustad Latif Ahmad Khan of Pune.Khan has given many performances in India and abroad and is a staff member of AIR, Nagpur. He began his recital with raag Champakali. His second presentation was in raag Chandraprabha. He ended the performance with a Falguni dhun.

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