The soil of Dharwad is alleged to be particular because it has produced musicians similar to Sawai Gandharva, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Vidushi Gangubai Hungal, Pt. Mallikarjun Mansoor, Pt. Kumar Gandharva, and Pt. Vasavraj Rajguru. Pt. Vinayak Torvi additionally hails from the identical place. Born into the household of Harikatha Vidwan Keertan Kesari Malhar Rao Torvi on the auspicious day of Ganesh Chaturthi, September 4, 1948, he belongs to the musical lineage of Dharwad. Whereas Pt. Vinayak Torvi’s sturdy rendering of khayal leaves music lovers awe-struck, his rendition of sunshine items music captivates them for his inventive perception and neatly enunciated lyrical content material.
Educated within the rigorous Gurukula system, Vinayak Torvi acquired his preliminary coaching from Gururao Deshpande and later from Pt. Bhimsen Joshi. He earned a Masters diploma in Music from the Karnataka College, Dharwad, the place he was skilled beneath Pt. Mallikarjun Mansur, Pt. Vasavraj Rajguru and Gangubai Hangal. He additionally has an Honorary Doctorate from Dr. Gangubai Hangal Music and Performing arts college, Mysuru. Pt. Vinayak Torvi additionally has a few of the prestigious awards to his credit score — the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the Arya Bhatta Worldwide Award and the Kirana Gharana Award. Having realized from a few of the musical greats, Pt. Vinayak Torvi groomed many disciples, who’ve develop into full-fledged performing artistes.
To rejoice his seventy fifth brith anniversary and a life crammed with music, his disciples and well-wishers had lately organised ‘Amrut Mahotsava’, by that includes music concert events by eminent musicians similar to N. Rajam, Pt. Yogesh Shamsi, Pt. Ram Deshpande, and Vidushi Ashwini Bhide.
After celebrating the event with a sequence of concert events at Pune, Mumbai, Dharwad, Varanasi, San Francisco (USA) and Bengaluru, the ultimate stopover was on the India Worldwide Centre, in Delhi on September 21. It featured Pt. Nayan Ghosh and Pt. Vinayak Torvi’s disciple Dattatreya Velankar.
Pt. Vinayak Torvi, identified for his khayal renditions, remembers his coaching years beneath completely different gurus and the way he incorporates the model of various gharanas in his singing. Excerpts from an interview.
Pt. Vinayak Torvi mastered the artwork of mixing the kinds of various gharanas
| Photograph Credit score:
Photograph courtesy: Dhananjay Hegde.
Query: Being born into the household of Pt. Malhar Rao Torvi, the Harikatha vidwan keertankar, what do you assume was helpful to you, as a classical vocalist?
Reply: That was the primary and crucial step in my musical journey. I used to be fortunate not solely to be born into the household of a Keertankar but in addition to have had a chance to study the intricacies of Keertan rendering immediately from my father. Keertan Kala (the artwork of Keertan) is a people artwork, which is the idea for classical music. Many Raag-Raginis have originated from the Keertan base. Keertan Kala encompasses all the emotions of Ashta-Pilu, together with singing, instrument enjoying, dance, drama, bhava, laya, layakari, and tarana. It’s mentioned that in Gwalior Gharana the music aspirants had been taught Keertan as step one to study music. My father had a pure aptitude for the Keertan kala and I used to be lucky to have him as my first music guru.
Q:Your guru, Gururao Deshpande, belonged to Gwalior gharana, whereas Pt. Bhimsen Joshi the Kirana gharana. How did you address the distinction as a younger scholar?
Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, beneath whom Pt. Torvi learnt the Kirana gharana gayaki.
| Photograph Credit score:
The Hindu Archives
A: The Gwalior gharana is the fountainhead of all of the gharanas. It has the innate potential to soak up and incorporate the best attributes of different gharanas together with the Kirana gharana. I used to be lucky to study beneath two gurus with out a lot problem, as Pt. Bhimsen Joshi was carefully related to Gururao Deshpande, who in flip was carefully related to Ustad Abdul Karim Khan Saheb, the crown jewel of Kirana gharana. He used to lend vocal help to Khan Saheb throughout his concert events. That’s how the Kirana gharana gayaki had influenced Gururao’s gayaki (singing model). And this parampara was instrumental in my feeling equally comfy with each Gwalior and Kirana.
Q:Moreover Gwalior and Kirana, your singing model additionally carry shades of Jaipur and Agra gharanas. How did you mix these into your gayaki?
A: My guru Gururao Deshpande was an excellent fan of Ustad Faiyaz Khan Saheb of Agra Gharana, and was additionally a detailed affiliate of Kesarbai Kerkar, the doyenne of Jaipur gharana. So, he included the best elements of each these gharanas into his singing model, making his renditions distinctive. Subsequently, I acquired a readymade mixture of all of the gayaki kinds from Gururao Ji himself.
Q:Whereas pursuing your grasp’s at Karnataka College, you realized beneath Pt. Mallikarjun Mansoor, Pt. Basavraj Rajguru and Vidushi Gangubai Hangal. Did that aid you in crafting your personal model or confuse you?
Gangubai Hangal was often called an exponent of khayal rendition, a style of Hindustani classical music from Karnataka.
| Photograph Credit score:
THE HINDU ARCHIVES
A: It was a uncommon and golden alternative for me to have skilled in several gharanas beneath one roof. I realized from these stalwarts raags that had been a part of the syllabus, however weren’t taught to me by Gururao Deshpande Ji. There was no query of confusion as a scholar, as I used to be already acquainted with each the gharanas beneath the tutelage of Gururao Deshpande. My publicity to them at Karnataka College helped me in additional fine-tuning my music.
Q:Inform us about together with vachanas, Devarnamas, bhajans and Marathi Abhangs in your music repertoire. And the place do you supply them from?
A: I acquired coaching in classical music beneath Gururao Ji, however I used to be impressed by Pt. Bhimsen Joshi’s model of singing abhangs, bhajans and Devaranamas. I realized Vachan singing from Mansur Ji and Vasavras Rajguru Ji whereas I used to be coaching beneath them at Karnataka College.
Q:How would you outline your gayaki?
A: I think about aalap because the soul of my live performance; laya and layakari because the mind, and voice because the connecting hyperlink. I can adapt my voice to go well with the model of various gharanas thus enabling a variety of rasikas to take pleasure in my music.
Pt. Vinayak Torvi at a live performance.
| Photograph Credit score:
Photograph courtesy: Dhananjay Hegde.
The intelligence of an artiste lies in selecting acceptable raags. Aside from coaching beneath an ready guru, correct riyaaz and onerous work, an artiste ought to have the ability to to tailor the live performance befitting the event. My philosophy is to sing to the perfect of my potential inside the allotted time, whatever the measurement of the viewers. Moreover, being a guru has benefitted me in my musical journey as I study many new issues whereas I train!
Printed – September 20, 2024 11:52 am IST
