Ghazal night: Islooites treated to melodies of yesteryears

The initiative was part of PNCA’s series of programmes to promote classical, semi-classical music.

ISLAMABAD:

It was a trip down memory lane for an audience whose taste for traditional music is rarely indulged in the capital. A ghazal night held at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) on Friday provided the perfect ambience to relax before the weekend.

Ghazal singers Aqeel Manzoor and his son Ashan Ali spun a delicate web of soft melodies and left the audience in awe as they paid tribute to famous Urdu poets such as Ibn-e Insha and Ahmed Faraz.

Over 200 people had gathered at the PNCA Baradari, the council’s open air theatre, to listen to the ghazal singers from Daska.

Manzoor started with a kafi of Khawaja Ghulam Fareed. The Punjabi inflection of his voice did justice to the words of the great sufi poet. He followed it by singing ghazals written by Ahmed Faraz and Mohsin Naqvi.

The audience burst out in applause after Manzoor sang poet Saleem Kausar’s famous ghazal “Main khayal hoon kissi aur ka”. Another ghazal which received a standing ovation was Faraz’s “Zindge say yehi gila hai mujhe”.

Much to the crowd’s delight, Ali sang several ghazals originally sung by Mehdi Hassan to pay homage to the late ghazal maestro.

The ghazal night was part of PNCA’s series of musical programmes — “Bethak.”  The objective of the series is to acknowledge and appreciate local musicians and provide them a platform for showcasing their skills, PNCA official Amber Shah told The Express Tribune.

“We are trying to preserve and promote classical and semi-classical music through musical programmes and make these genres popular once again by familiarising people with our traditional melodies,” Shah said.

Audience members appreciated the PNCA for arranging the musical evening and giving them an opportunity to unwind.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2012.