Soma Ray has had the opportunity to receive tutelage from the Rabindra Sangeet legend, Kanika Banerjee. Apparently she was one of Banerjee's favourite students and had accompanied her guru at performances in India and abroad. Ray also trained under renowned Rabindra Sangeet exponents Ashish Bandopadhyay and Nilima Sen. A dedicated artiste, Ray, completed her Masters in Rabindra Sangeet from Visva-Bharati University.

Prior to this recital, Soma Ray visited Dhaka in 1994 and had performed at the same venue at an event organised by Shurer Dhara.

Speaking at the programme, Ajit Gupte (counsellor of press information and culture, Indian High Commission), said, "Rabindra Sangeet is a shared heritage of India and Bangladesh. The abundance of programmes held all over Bangladesh, on the occasion of Tagore's death anniversary, delineates the Nobel laureate poet's omnipresence in the national life."

The programme was well-attended by emissaries, diplomats and music enthusiasts.

After musing over her guru briefly, Soma Ray began her performance with Tumi ki keboli chhobi. Haunting wails of esraj reverberated throughout the auditorium. It is believed that Tagore favoured the instrument and used it in his songs. As the melancholy prelude progressed towards the antora, the song set the mood of the evening: Nayan shommukhey tumi nai, nayan-er majhkhaney niyechho jey thhai...

Throughout the evening, the artiste rendered over 15 songs -- some familiar, some less frequently performed, including Tomar poojar chholey, Dariye achho tumi, Kal raater belaye gaan elo, Tumi kamon korey gaan koro, Amar hiyar majhey lukiye chhiley, Boro bishshoy lagey, Jey raatey mor duarguli and more. Kamolesh Ray and Premangshu Sen -- both from India -- were on tabla and esraj respectively. Bangladeshi instrumentalists Sunil Sarkar and Nazmul Alam were on keyboard and mondira.

Recognisable traces of Kanika -- clarity and consistent control over vocals -- were apparent in the artiste's performance. However, renditions of certain songs could have been more enjoyable if the artiste did not sound so restrained. It is a common complaint that several Tagore artistes follow this trend, which is to be blamed for the obvious monotony. For instance, Tomar khola haowa should exude the free spirit of a Baul. Soma Ray's rendition however, sounded more like a desolate ballad. Tagore surely did not intend all his songs to be rendered with utmost despondency. Just a thought.