manju mehta raag gavti alap2

gavti alap

excerpts from "Old Melody, New Order"

The Hindu - Friday, August 31, 2001

Prakash Wadhera

"Delhi's music lovers were very happy to listen to a polished sitar recital by Manju [Bhatt] Mehta of Ahmedabad. The sister of the late Shashi Mohan Bhatt, Manju had her training under her brother and then from the famous sarod player, the late D. L. Kabra of Jodhpur. Manju perfected her art under the family guru, Pandit Ravi Shankar. Today, one can say, she is an accomplished player.

Besides an inborn sense of the right note and intonation, Manju betrays a canny feeling for laya and tala that may be due to her family blood as much as to her teachers who excelled in both the ingredients of melody. However, there is another reason for her proficiency in the latter - her marriage to eminent percussionists Nandan Mehta of Ahmedabad.

Comparatively less known in this region, Manju seemed keen to make an impression on the Delhi listeners with whom she was naturally not as familiar as with her home listeners. This I sensed from her going in for an easy option in the choice of her raga Shyam Kalyan for the evening. It is a relatively work-a-day raga consisting of all sharp notes, capable of stirring one's imagination only up to a limit."

"The sense which had tuned the instrumented ever so sensitively succeeded in constructing a pervasive atmosphere of sur[note]. Shyam Kalyan lends itself to a lively moment and hence it is the favorite choice of musicians wishing to impress with their playing."

"Manju produced some swift sequences with arrested resonance of the strings. It sounded quite pleasant. A madhya laya composition in Jhap tala was followed by a fast one in Teen tala. Both these hilighted her impeccable understanding of the rhythm even as they displayed the competence of the tabla player versed in the Farukhabad style. The recital came to a conclusion with a lyrical dhun in Mishra Pilu."

Bharti Chokshi -disciple- shared video October 30,1999 APAI

Category:

Music

Tags:

• manju
• mehta
• raag
• gavti
• alap
• 2

[kamalehi]

she is an amzing artist.One of the best female sitarist.

bharti

[shamshermann]

lovely. thanks for sharing

[mulamoodan]

Beautiful playing, but it is strange that she is using middle finger instead of index finger. Have not seen anyone else doing that..

[amamboking]

I am proud that she is my guru.

bharti

[sitariya]

really nice aalap. excellent feel of gavoti. pl post more