On June 30th, The Bhavan in West Kensington, London, hosted a dynamic performance by musical maestros Sounak Chattopadhyay and Anirudhya (Sasha) Ghoshal. The concert, "TAGORE & BEYOND," was presented by The Tagoreans, the UK's oldest Bengali cultural organisation, established in 1965.
For 59 years, they have promoted Rabindranath Tagore's universalism through various cultural activities. Curated in English, this multilingual production featured Bengali, Hindi, and English compositions, highlighting Tagore's influence on Indian classical, folk music, and Bollywood. The first half of the programme featured two segments exploring Tagore's influences.
The first highlighted Hindustani classical music and Tagore's experiments with Carnatic music. Sounak Chattopadhyay's rendition of "Shukhahin nishidin" and "bipula twarango re," along with Sasha Ghoshal's "Lavanya Rama" and "Eki labonye purno prano," showcased their impressive vocal talents. The second segment delved into Eastern and Western folk influences on Tagore's work, with Sasha performing Lalon Fakir's "Milan hobe koto dine" and Sounak joining in with "Amar praner manush ache prane."
After the interval, the duo explored Tagore's impact on contemporary music, including Bollywood. They performed a duet of the classic Bollywood song "Tere mere milan ki yeh raina," inspired by Tagore's "Jodi tare nai chini go," captivating the audience.
Sujit Bhattacharjee, exchairperson and currently Hon Advisor of the Tagoreans said “We saw a mesmerising performance of Tagore songs by two amazingly talented singers, Sounak and Sasha. Their exploration of the diverse origins of Tagore’s songs and Tagore’s influence on other composers, along with their incredible vocal ranges took Tagore songs to a new level. The Tagoreans have every reason to be proud of this wonderful and unique presentation. Another member of the audience said “I was overwhelmed by the quality of the performances and was completely immersed in the music. Sasha and Sounak were amazing – such beautiful yet contrasting styles – sublime and invigorating at the same time.” Another audience member commented on the fact that this was one of the best concerts that they had heard in a long time, asking the Tagoreans to continue to produce more such excellent events; while another patron commented on the superb production, already wanting to pre-book tickets for the next Tagoreans venture so she could bring her young grandsons with her to enjoy such shows!
