Jitendra Abhisheki passes away
Rajan P. Parrikar
r
AURVIND
Yes it is confirmed by PTI news from Pune published in Nai Dunia (Indore). Its
a great loss to Indian Classical Music . May god bless his soul.
regards
aurvind
TANSEN8106
Really sad to hear Pandit ji has passed away. He was a very good artiste who
gave excellent service to our classic music.
May god bless his soul.
Regards
Rajan P. Parrikar
Jitendra Abhisheki was among the greatest Indian composers
of this century. Nobody growing up in Maharashtra of Goa
survives unaffected by his melodies. "sarvAtmakA sarveshvarA"
must surely rank one of the finest compositions ever. Those
untouched by Jitendra-bab's music will do well to forge
an acquaintance with it. It bears the imprint of all that
is good in the art - high scholarship, deep knowledge of rAgadhAri,
facility with sAhitya and above all, an exceptionally original
and creative mind.
The following obit appeared in the Times of Indian and was
forwarded by Ketan Dholakia.
Warm regards,
r
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Jeetendra Abhisheki passes away
`Raag Yaman renditions will not be the same again' The
Times of India News Service
PUNE: Pandit Jeetendra Abhisheki, a leading exponent of
Hindustani classical music and arguably the last doyen
of `natya sangeet', passed away after protracted illness in Pune
on Saturday. He was 66.
For almost a quarter century, Pandit Abhisheki strode
like a colossus in the world of music and was responsible for
combining old and new `ragas' in a symbiotic manner to be
presented in popular stage plays.
An illustrious disciple of Pandit Jagannath Purohit, he
provided music and rendered his voice for famous Marathi
musicals like Matsyagandha, Katyar Kaljat Ghusli, Yayati Ani Devyani
and Lekure Udand Jahali.
Recipient of `Natya Darpan' and `Lata Mangeshkar
Puraskar', the government of India had also conferred
`Padmashree' on him.
Pandit Jeetendra Abhiskehi, who belonged to the Agra
gharana, trained a number of disciples including Ajit Kadkade,
Vijay Koparkar, Ramdas Kamat, Raja Kale, Devati Pandit. His
only son Shaunak is being held high among new promising
singers.
Pandit Abhisekhi, who suffered from ailments ranging
from diabetes to kidney problems, was moved home from a
local hospital only recently. He is survived by his wife
Vidyatai, son Shaunak and daughter Mekhla.
Noted Marathi singer-actress Jyotsna Bhole observed
that with his death, Raag Yaman lost its lustre. His
`Devagharche dnyat kunala' in Raag Yaman, is one of the most popular of
his compositions.
His funeral was attended by leading figures in the
Marathi theatre and music world at the Vaikunth crematorium.
Ambarish Mishra adds: Pandit Abhisheki could well be
described as a product of the pre-Independence cultural
renaissance that swept through Maharashtra heralded by wisened `gurus'
and `ustaads' who blended the plebian and the pristine and
zealously endeavoured to expand the frontiers of music.
Pandit Abhisheki will be long remembered not only for
his deeply resonant and innovative `gayaki' or his ability to
marry the magic of the Agra `gharana' with the grandeur of the Jaipur
`gharana', but chiefly for his remarkable ability to interpret
music as a crucial sub-text to the changing social milieu.
For the commoners though, Pandit Abhisheki's
scintillating `natya-padas' are gems to be treasured for ever. Plays
such as Sangeet Matsyagandha, He Bandh Reshamache and Katyaar
Kaljaat Ghusli, which took Maharashtra by storm in the
late 1960s, marked the revival of `natya-sangeet', a
near-extinct tradition which was battered by `gadya' (songless)
plays of P.L. Deshpande and Vijay Tendulkar.
While scoring music for these plays, Pandit Abhisheki
effortlessly bridged tradition with modernity in that his
`natya-padas' avoided the glitches -- long-winding `taans' and
tongue-twisting lyrics, for instance -- that marred the
post-Balgandharva era of classical theatre.
From traditional `natya-padas' to toe-tapping,
westernised numbers in Lekure Udand Jaali, a breezy `revue' on
population explosion, Panditji's creative cycle took a full
circle. It was during his early, `susegaad' years in a sea-swept
village of Goa that the vocalist had straddled the two worlds of
music: the `bhajans' (Pandit Abhisheki's father Balubuwa was the head
priest of the fabled Mangeshi temple of Goa) and the folksy `Mando'
on the one hand and the strains of guitar that serenaded
`tiyatra', a firang theatre form imported straight from Lisbon,
on the other.
In Mumbai, Pandit Abhisheki decoded the mystique of
classical music under a number of gurus including Girijabai
Kelkar, Pandit Gulbhai Jasdanwala and Khansaheb Azizuddin Khan (both
of the Jaipur `gharana'), and Pandit Ratnakant Ramnathkar. He
was also Azmat Hussain Khansaheb's disciple for a while
before spending nearly a decade as one of the chosen pupils
of Pandit Jagannathbuwa Purohit, the legendary exponent of the
Agra `gharana'.
``Pandit Abhisheki was a vocalist par excellence. But
his uniqueness as a composer is unforgettable. He blazed a
trail in the domain of Marathi theatre,'' said connoisseur and
Panditji's close friend Hardatt Khandeparkar who saw him only on
Friday in Pune. ``I knew that the end was coming,'' Mr
Khandeparkar sighed.
``Pandit Abhisheki embraced music with all the
earnestness and intensity of a sensitive artiste,'' well-known
vocalist Shobha Gurtu said in a tribute to the late singer.
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