19 July,2012 09:40 AM IST | | Swapnal Tilekar
This weekend, music maestros will be visiting the city to offer a musical tribute to the monsoon. The Barkha Ritu festival is now in it's 11th year and is organised to celebrate the loveliest season of the year.
Banyan Tree Events started this festival a decade ago in Mumbai. The performers at this musical fest present Indian ragas to enrich the cultural experience of music lovers. Interestingly, it's one of the few classical festivals in the country devoted to interpreting the beauty of monsoon through classical music.
Pt Ajay and Abhijit Pohankar will be performing at Barkha Ritu
This year the festival is being hosted in Pune and the line-up of artists includes Grammy award winner Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Pt. Ajay Pohankar and Abhijeet Pohankar, who will be treating the audience to their mesmerising compositions.
The audience will get to hear a few monsoon ragas such as Megh Malhar and Sur Malhar in a different format. The father-son duo of Pt. Ajay and Abhijeet Pohankar will be performing classical numbers from their newly launched album Thumri Funk. Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhat will also be playing some classical ragas on his Mohan Veena.
Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
Talking about the event, Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, said, "The rainy season or Ritu Barkha has already started. Every musician is inspired by the rains and thunder. Also, this is the only season when Raag Malhar can be played. Hence, it is the right timing to perform. And when it comes to performing in front of the Pune audience, it is always thrilling as they are very mature, experienced and have a thorough understanding of music. Hopefully, we can get some good rains in the city after the Raag Malhar happens as it is specifically sung for welcoming the rains." u00a0So, while everyone is waiting for the god of rains to pour, let's hope that this musical tribute will do the trick.u00a0
