KARACHI: The National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) has held an evening of eastern classical music that contained performances by two sets of musicians, each performance lasting for not more than half an hour.

First up was the flute player, Ustad Hanif Khan, accompanied by tabla player Yousuf Bashir. The ustad who teaches music at an institution in Lahore engaged with the audience before hitting the first note talking about how music lovers in Lahore and Karachi give ‘instant’ response to classical music. After his brief speech, he presented a couple of pieces. The first was in raga Shuddh Sarang and the other, an even shorter item, in raga Mishra Bhairavi. Both compositions were neatly presented.

Next up were the two stalwarts of the classical world Ustad Bashir Khan (tabla) and Ustad Akhtar Hussain (sarangi). They have been putting their enormous talent on display, particularly in the Sindh capital, for a long time. Their stint on stage was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience which hadn’t filled the Zia Mohyeddin theatre but had still turned up in a reasonable number.

The seasoned musicians showed a great degree of understanding and synchronisation as they nicely complemented each other’s notational moves. The good thing about this breed of artists is that they don’t try and upstage one another; instead, they come together to make worthy musical memories.

That said, it was a trifle strange to notice a few things. In the first bit, Yousuf Bashir took an inordinate amount of time to tune his tabla, so much so that Usatad Hanif Khan had to request him to go off stage to do that. And in the second, when Ustad Akhtar Hussain came after his name was announced, he was befuddled to see there was no sarangi on stage. He disappeared backstage to get the instrument and returned after an uncomfortable lapse of time.

Also, the young first-year students who were moderating the programme looked terribly under-rehearsed because despite reading from a piece of paper they were fumbling and had little clue as to when to exit the stage. Their closeness to the microphone too left a little to be desired.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2023