On April 12, 2004, the Sri Aurobindo Center of Los Angeles presented a sitar duet concert featuring sitar maestro Pandit Manilal Nag and his daughter Mita Nag at the Yoga Center at Redondo Beach.
Pandit Manilal Nag hails from a family of musicians, traditionally associated with the Vishnupur gharana of Bengal. His grandfather, late Shri Govinda Nag and great-grandfather, late Shri Bauridas Nag, were both distinguished exponents of sitar in their own times.
Pandit Manilal Nag was initiated into the art of sitar playing by his father, late Shri Gokul Nag, when he was only 5 years old, and is presently considered among India's seniormost maestros of sitar. He is a regular participant of Indian T.V. (Doordarshan) and All India Radio as a top-grade artiste and has participated many times in the National Program of Music, Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan. One of the most popular and sought after concert artistes of India, he has been performing regularly in music conferences all over India and abroad. At present, he is a member of the Audition Board of All India Radio, Calcutta and is also a member of the University Grants Commission as an expert and examiner. He has participated at international music festivals in U.K., U.S.A., Italy, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, Australia, and has several cassettes, records and comapct discs to his credit.
Manilal-ji's style is graceful and methodical. His rigorous training and seriousness can be felt in the 'alaap' for which he retains the depth, resonance, sensitivity and simplicity of purpose of the 'Dhrupad' ang. His methods are considered and bring out his distinctive and personal style in 'Vilambit gat'. The extensive range of 'taans', 'gamaks', 'meends' and 'tihais' in Jod, Gat and Jhala is synchronized with rare artistry and comprehension of different styles of various masters, to bring out an intense feeling of the 'Raga', while retaining the strong flavour and delicate shadings of the family heritage. He creates enchanting sound-pictures which delight commoners and connoiseurs alike.
Smt. Mita Nag is the daughter of Pandit Manilal Nag, trained by the maestro in sitar from the early age of five. She has won several awards for her performances in India and has accompanied her father for highly acclaimed sitar duet tours all over India and in Europe Japan and the U.S.A. She is an A grade artiste of All India Radio (AIR) and National T.V. (Doordarshan).
Shri Subhen Chatterjee, the seniormost disciple of tabla maestro Pandit Swapan Chowdhury, has already established himself as one of the finest tabla players of India today. Subhen has performed in all the major music conferences in India and abroad, accompanying great musicians such as Pandit V.G. Jog, Smt. Girija Devi, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Jasraj, Begum Parveen Sultana, Janab Shahid Parvez, Janab Rashid Khan, Pandit Manilal Nag, Ustad Ali Ahmad Hussain Khan, and many others. He has earned a fine reputation as a soloist and accompanist from both audiences and Press.
Subhen has been touring Europe, U.S.A., Canada and Middle Eastern countires for the past few years and has many international recordings to his credit. Not restricting himself to Indian Classical music only, Subhen has improvised with many World Music masters such as Paul Horn (flute player), David Crosby and many others and has also become a performing artiste of WOMAD (World Organization of Music and Dance), founded by world-renowned guitarist, Peter Gabriel. Subhen's own creation, KARMA, an Indo-Jazz Fusion Orchestra, is one of the most popular bands in India today.
<Click here for Interview with Pandit Manilal Nag>
The concert was a memorable and uplifting event marked by beauty and spiritual exaltation. Father and daughter played like one voice through two instruments, yet each note was distinct, the phrasing was subtle and highly refined and the jhalas produced a sound ambience like heavenly rain. The atmosphere at the Yoga Center with the photos of Mother and Sri Aurobindo and the surrounding gods felt charged as if in addition to the close to 100 people, the gandharvas, kinnaras, nagas, yakhas, siddhas and the 333 gods and goddesses had all lent their ears to the concert.
Manilal-ji and Mita started with Raga Rageshree in their charactertistic slow, stately, majestic and beautiful (lavanyamaya) alaap. They followed this with the gat where Subhen Chatterjee joined on the tabla with a finely tuned though bright and bold accompaniment. At the conclusion of the climactic jhala, the musicians and audience alike found themselves in an altered state of consciousness as Manilal-ji folded his hands to the heartfelt applause:
During the intermission which followed, dinner catered by one of Redondo Beach's best vegetarian restaurants, The Green Temple, was served. The Green Temple is run by Elena, a Romanian disciple of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, who has made this restuarant into her means of sadhana.
Manilal-ji started the second set with Raga Maaj Khamaj, another beautiful and sringaramaya raga. Here are some photos of the musicians either by themselves or in twosomes:
However, the concert was not without its hostile interventions. Subhen, who had brought 2 tablas with him, discovered at the outset that one of the tabla skins had cracked and towards the end of the Rageshree performance, the skin of the tabla he was playing also snapped and tore through the middle. Fortunately, Sohail Khan, a musician from the audience who lives nearby, went home during the intermission to bring a replacement for the second half. Again, after the Maaj Khamaj, when Manilal-ji was playing his concluding Raga Bhairavi, one of his sitar strings snapped, which Mita later said hardly ever happens. He had to spend a little time replacing the string, during which interlude the audience had an opportunity to listen to Mita's solo phrasing.
At the conclusion of the concert, there was a palpable sense of having received a divine blessing.