Khan was part of the audience that attended a classical music evening with Ustad Mubarik Ali and Akbar Ali at the Lahore Arts Council on Wednesday night.
While the audience of a classical music performance does not visibly show its appreciation — there are no whoops of joy — but the delight in the air was palpable. The audience wasn’t of one particular age group either - there were young 10-year-olds in the crowd as well.
During his performance, Ustad Mubarik Ali told the audience about the specific bandish before going ahead with the performance.
When he sang “Raag Tasra”, which is a raag of happiness, he said that this came from Amir Khusru. The singer’s control over his voice was remarkable. While singing the raag he fit a Persian couplet into it with extreme ease and perfection. This is considered a great skill if a classical singer fixes any verse into a raag while maintaining the balance and sur. The audience cheered with loud calls of praise. The words of the raag were “Manra Rangeela Aeay Wari Barhari Jaoon”.
Another superb performance of the night was a thumari which was originally sung by Ustad Baray Ghulam Ali. “We can’t be like Ustad Baray Ghulam Ali but we can try to follow his footsteps,” Ustad Mubarik Ali said before singing the thumari.
When Ustad Mubarik Ali sang “Yeh Dukh Saha Na Jaey ... Yaad Pia Ki Aaye” there was hardly a person left in the hall who had not given a standing ovation to the musician.
“A master singer sings in sur. When he achieves the peak of excellence, he deliberately gets out of the domain of sur and then returns to the same excellence, showing his control over his voice and melodies.
This garners him a lot of praise and this is when a classical singer becomes a master,” Khalid Saeed, one of the audience members, said while praising Ustad Mubarik Ali.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th, 2010.
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