Poor get poorer
As always, given the inequities built into the global economic system, the poorest people in the world have been the…
The late 19th- and early 20thcentury Bengali theatre had their own brand of music. This form was pioneered by Girish Chandra Ghosh; the era of Bengali theatre before him laid the groundwork, and after his death Bengali theatre music became more experimental. During the era of Girish Chandra, all stageplays included some form of traditional Bengali music, and dancer-singers who performed before and between the acts.
Mythological plays would have Kirtan-anga songs, epics would include indigenous styles such as khyamta, and comedies and farcical plays often included tappa songs by Nidhu babu. But long after, such songs have hushed into silence and have been forgotten, they made a surprising comeback. They are being sung on and of the stage.
And Devajit Bandopadhaya has been on the vanguard of these singers over the years. Perennial Records have brought out a compact disc of 10 songs which had been sung on stage in plays which enthralled the audience between 1859 to 1920. The series begins with a song penned by Michael Madhusudan Dutt for Sharmistha and ends with a song written by Surendranath Bandopadhaya from Hindubir.
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The plays include Kamale Kamini, Manmoyee, Tatka Totka, Sirajuddaula, Durgadas, Misarkumari.The songs were sung in the previous millennium and one before it during a time when acoustic music which accompanies Bandopadhaya’s rendition was unheard of. But it does not reduce the present singer’s credit even by a jot. Keep it up
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