Malahat and Sharif Awan are both die-hard classicists who bosom the desire to let classical music ‘play on’, for it is but ‘the food of love’. They fiercely guard culture and heritage as if it was solely handed down to them, and religiously believe that classical art will always be niched into a cozy sphere of its own. There is no such thing as the revival of classical music, they believe. “It has always been here and will always remain alive in the passionate world of classical music lovers,” says Sharif Awan.

Tehzeeb Foundation is a baby that has paid dividends by preserving and archiving classical music: a booklet on the life of maestro Ustad Fateh Ali Khan (of Gwalior Gharana), followed by a CD on his renditions of Puriya Dhanasi, Sohni-hori, etc. They have also released a CD of some impeccable performances by the classical maestros that appeared in the Tehzeeb Festival in 2009. There are more of such works to follow, the Awans claim.

At the second festival of classical music by Tehzeeb Foundation, the recent encasement of the maestros of classical music: Ustad Naseeruddin Sami, Ustad Rais Khan and his son Farhan Khan, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, Asad Qazilbash, Fariha Pervez and Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Salil Bhatt from India, was offered to a strict invite audience that knew the adaab of listening to classical music. Almost packed to capacity at the Arts Council Auditorium, Karachi, the audience amenably applauded to the khayal and tarana of the various raags and thumris that were a pleasure to listen to.

Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Salil Bhatt presented the star performances of the evening — Mohan Bhatt’s accomplishment is the improvising of the Hawaiian guitar with an exquisite blend of Veena techniques. Mohan Bhatt is the South Asian recipient of the Grammy award for his album, A Meeting by the River with Ry Cooder.

Before inviting the sitar player Ustad Rais Khan on the stage, compere Rahat Kazmi stated that his presentation would be a ‘performance to remember for the rest of one’s life’. He was right. Attired in a white silk sherwani, Ustad Rais Khan perched his sitar on a beautifully embroidered shawl which seemed to be a picturesque moment in itself. His fingers flipped up and down the sitar effortlessly, as he played the beautiful rag Joge with his son, Farhan Khan.

The Ustad’s recitals with his progeny was a good idea as the audience delightfully saw how tradition is slowly but surely handed down to the next generation. Regrettably, the day of the performance was inconvenient, considering that the following day was a working day. By the time Mohan Bhatt appeared on stage, the audience had thinned down. As an afterthought, perhaps annual festivals of such nature should restrict to two to three performances of such epic classical maestros in an evening. Pandit Mohan Bhatt, Ustad Rais Khan, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan and Ustad Naseeruddin Sami were too heavy an offering in one night. They all merited an evening each on their own. — Sumera S. Naqvi