INDEPENDENT
The morning session began with a Santoor recital by Ulhas Bapat. Bapat played elaborate alaaps and gats in raga Nata Bhairav. Bapat is one of our most competent santoorists and his presentation on this occasion was stylish as usual.

TIMES OF INDIA, BOMBAY
It is a delight to watch Bapat handle the instrument in a different style, more resonant notes emerge, perhaps, because of certain modifications the artists himself has carried out. What impressed one was his successful attempt to bring in the meend element lacking in Santoor.

THE HITAVADA
His delicate sticks deftly touched the Santoor strings which subtly created an heavenly atmosphere where no words were required to communicate feelings.

AFTERNOON
Pt. Ulhas Bapat has a distinctive style. His system of tuning sets him apart from other Santoor players. Thanks to his chromatic tuning, where he can shift from one raga to another with facility. This is an advantage to the musician as well as the listener. He produces meends on the Santoor which was once considered next to impossible.

THE CALGARY HERALD
In a gracefully soft yet assertive style, Pt. Bapat delved into the heart, of the raga. The easy-going pace of his alaap unfortunately was too short, leaving one pining for more of his meticulous elaboration.

THE TIMES OF INDIA
Pt. Ulhas Bapat’s Santoor recital was marked by a thorough command on rhythms of a very wide spectrum. He took up the main challenge of his tuning system with a Ragamalika set to nearly 9 ragas of widely varying scales, from Yaman to Kirwani, ragas seem to blend and cross paths to create a new experimental field.

THE HINDU
Aural divinity....Meena Banerjee

Kolkata recently got a taste of Pandit Ulhas Bapat’s feather-weight glides of santoor and Mukul Shivaputra’s nimble handling of ragas.The restive soul of Ulhas Bapat sought path-breaking innovations to make the santoor totally
self-contained. A memorable santoor recital by Pandit Ulhas Bapat at Golpark in Kolkata proved once more that precision in any given subject is an eternal quest that sets a new goal after every success. Read the main article...

PRAHAAR
Shatataantrik....Vaibhav Vaze
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