Western classical symphony headlines opening night of Bengal Music Festival
Dhaka: Western classical music tiptoed into the Bengal Classical Music Festival for the first time on Tuesday night courtesy The Astana Symphony Philharmonic Orchestra from Kazakhstan.
Barely 20 minutes into their second act -- famous Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake", one of the most popular ballet compositions in the world -- the discerning crowd at the near-packed Abahani Ground on Dhanmondi was almost on its feet basking in the afterglow of symphony and craving for more.
So much so that once the Kazakh group's performance got over, Bangladesh Finance minister A.M.A. Muhith declared: "There are two wishes I have. One is there should be a Bangladesh symphony group. What we witnessed today was brilliant and every nation must have a symphony group. I want to see our own also."
Muhith's other wish was to a have a designated venue for the mega-event, dubbed the "biggest classical music festival in the world" after clouds over this edition taking shape surfaced earlier.
The Army Stadium -- its home for the last five years -- was originally supposed to host the meet but logistical issues surfaced, forcing the organisers, Bengal Foundation, to postpone it from November to December and at another venue.
"I thank Salman F. Rahman (Chairman of Abahani Ltd, a top division football club) for allowing us to host the event here despite the league being on. The players are staying at a hotel and practising somewhere else for this event to take place which is commendable," Bengal Foundation Chairman Abul Khayer said.
Coming back to the orchestra, conductor Berik Batyrkhan used his baton to shepherd the band so symphonically with the strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion sections that the surreal sound transcended the audience into a make-believe world.
The group, which has collaborated with several distinguished conductors including K. Penderecki, V. Ashkenazy, R. Gutter, A. Tchaikovsky, R. Kanetti, and D. Bross, started off with a short composition by a noted Kazakh composer.
Prior to them taking the event by storm, virtuoso violinist L. Subramaniam got the ball rolling on Day 1 of the four-day extravaganza by performing a kriti (a compositional format of Carnatic music) on Raga Abhogi, a Carnatic raga that has also been adopted into Hindustani classical form.
Subramaniam came back on stage with his ensemble to perform with the Astana Orchestra, this time with a fusion between the East and West with his composition titled 'Shanti Priya'.
Late into the night, there was sarod recital by Rajrupa Chowdhury, khyal vocals by Vidushi Padma Talwalkar and Supriya Das, sitar by Firoz Khan and a flute-sitar jugalbandi by Rakesh Chaurasia and Purbayan Chatterjee.
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Vajpayee was 'second Nehru' of Indian politics: Sanjay Raut
Mumbai, Dec 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday described late BJP stalwart and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the "second Nehru" of Indian politics.
Talking to reporters here, Raut also said whenever "raj dharma" is under threat, the country will remember Vajpayee, whose birth centenary is being observed on Wednesday.
The Sena (UBT) leader said even though his party was not with the BJP, Vajpayee will always be remembered.
"The present day BJP may be maligning the legacy of (India's first prime minister) Pandit (Jawaharlal) Nehru, but Vajpayee was the second Nehru. He was the Nehru of non-Congress parties," the Rajya Sabha member claimed.
"Despite being a staunch Hindutvawadi, Vajpayee believed the country belongs to all. The BJP under Vajpayee was all inclusive and people believed the party wanted to keep India united and strong," he said.
Raut said even Pandit Nehru appreciated and blessed Vajpayee.
"(Shiv Sena founder) Balasaheb Thackeray had tremendous respect for Vajpayee and valued his word," he said.
"Whenever 'raj dharma' is under threat, the country will remember Vajpayee," Raut said.
Asked whether the Shiv Sena (UBT) will contest the local body elections independently, Raut said, "Let the poll schedule be announced, you will know...but we have begun the preparations."
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) is a constituent of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) along with the Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP).
Thackeray snapped ties with long-term ally BJP after the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post.
In the last month's state polls, the ruling Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP, won 230 of the 288 assembly seats, while the MVA managed to secure only 46 seats.
Elections to various civic bodies in the state, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), are overdue.
The undivided Shiv Sena controlled the cash-rich BMC for 25 consecutive years - from 1997 to 2022.
