|
MADRAS MUSIC MELA 2002 |
||||||
|
RASIKANUBHAVA 8 |
||||||
V Balakrishnan via email...
Starting with a rarely sung Ata tala varnam in Chalanata, Nithyasree
moved on to Smarane sukhamu (Janaranjani), extolling the virtues of
Rama nama. With Ri as the anchor, she sang a few avartas of
swaras at Ramanama sravanamu at a fast pace. In the Varali alapana,
some fast phrasings saw easy movements up to Tara sthayi Panchama. The
moving Dikshitar kriti Mamava meenakshi was rendered with full bhava,
followed by crisp neraval and swaras at Syame Sankari. A racy
outline of Mohanam preceded Ootthukadu Venkatasubbayyar's Swagatam
Krishna, a song of lilting beauty. It was quite appropriate that on
a Sunday, a song on Surya in the raga Surya was rendered after an
impressive briga-laden alapana. It was a composition by Lalita
Sivakumar, the mother of the vocalist. It was then the turn of
Bhairavi. The alapana itself suggested that the kriti to follow would
be majestic. The fireworks of sancharas in perfect alignment with
the sruti was a marvel. The rarely heard composition, Tyagaraja's Koluvai
was taken up. A very difficult piece, it requires the best of a
musician's faculties of range, bhava and precision to make a success
of its rendition. The artiste perhaps learnt the song from her
illustrious grandmother. The swara passages at Manasu were
crafted creatively. Begada, when developed stage-by-stage is a raga of
sukhanubhava. This was exactly what Nithyasree did with
her traditional sancharas
till Shadja. Beyond that, it was all a grand show of effortless
embellishments. Many wondered as to how the human voice could be tamed
in such a fashion, as to replicate the sangatis of a nagaswaram or a
flute. The asaivu-s and kuzhaivu-s that can be so well
played on a Vina, were there in the Tanam exercise. The Pallavi and
breezy swaras in Anandabhairavi, Hamsanadam, Kanada and Valachi
followed. Meera bhajan in Misra Hindolam was well received. At the
request of the audience, the patented grand ragamalika Ragattil
sirandadu was rendered, culminating in a deafening applause. A
moving bhajan on Satya Sai was sung in Ahirbhairav. The memorable
concert ended with a Tillana and a patriotic song in Tamil.
M A Krishnaswami was brilliant in Surya and Bhairavi, and gave
competent accompaniment. Poongulam Subramanian (mridangam) and A S Krishnan (morsing) were engaged in a matching
Tani duel. Many
rasikas were surprised at the pure nada that the morsing could produce.
In a full-throated voice Mate malayadhwaja in Kamas with its
alluring swara sahitya, set the mood of the concert at the Mylapore
Fine Arts club on December 21, 2002. Janaki ramana in Suddhaseemantini
was a solemn presentation and the emphatic swaras at Raktanalinadala
had the stamp of the guru. A fast-paced Nenarunchinanu in Malavi
at this stage, was in keeping with the model of a traditional
kutcheri. The audience was then led in to the Durbar hall of
immeasurable grandeur and beauty! The briga-laden alapana traveled
effortlessly and in classic style. Dwelling at the upper Shadja in
perfect alignment with the sruti was pure transcendental peace.
One had the vision of a boat in a wave-less ocean on a moonlit night. There
could not have been a better selection other than Munduvenuga
wherein Tyagaraja entreats Lord Rama to protect him. The gradual
development of the neraval and swaras at O Gajarakshaka were
winsome. Then came the
intensely devotional, epic composition of Syama Sastri, Kamakshi. This Swarajati gives the essence of Bhairavi in a platter for
the rasikas to savour. Sarasasamadana
at rocket-speed was taken next. The visranti that could be scattered
in a Sankarabharanam, in a bhakti-soaked alapana rendering
brought the auditorium to a pin-drop silence. Krishna was in
absolute enjoyment of the music. Sri Dakshinamurte was the kriti set to
Jhampa tala. The neraval and the swaras that followed to a
crescendo, brought a well-deserved spontaneous applause.
Parulannamata (Kapi) of Dharmapuri Subbarayar was
rendered with bhava. Vishnusmarana slokas in Sahana,
Varali and Kamas were sung followed by Govardhana giridhari in Darbarikanada. An extremely enjoyable concert came to an end with
a Tillana.
Mysore Nagaraj entertained the audience accompanying the vocalist
like a shadow. His Darbar and Sankarabharanam were
superb. Vidwan Trichy Sankaran gave his best to the success of the
vocalist with his imaginative leads. V Suresh proved a match to the
mridangist with his Ghatam.
She began her concert at the Brahma Gana Sabha with the Sahana
varnam. This was followed by the auspicious Saranu
Siddhivinayaka (Sowrashtra) of Purandaradasa. Subramanyena
(Suddhadhanyasi) of Dikshitar was rendered neatly. A rarely heard
kriti of Mysore Vasudevachar, Sankari Ninne in Pantuvarali,
had neraval at Kamitarthadayaki. The swara pattern that
followed was interesting. Charukesi's first phrasing itself
brought out the raga emphatically. The alapana was excellent, and
contained all the classic sancharas. Tyagaraja's Adamodi galade
was rendered with full bhava, followed by a few avartas of
well-laced swaras. A fast-paced GNB composition, Unnadiye gati
in Bahudari with its moving sahitya, followed. Dharmavati was
taken up for elaboration. The alapana was very satisfying and
revealed the firm grip of the vocalist over the raga with an
abundance of brigas. The neraval and swaraprastara at
Paramatmuni bhaktapaluni were captivating. An Abhang in Misra
Sivaranjani was well received. Abhangs are becoming more popular
with the current spread of Sampradaya Bhajans. The artiste rounded
off her concert with the lullaby Kanne en kanmaniye in
Kurinji.
The Carnatic concert model has provided for a varnam so that the
attention of the audience is arrestingly drawn to the platform.
This was precisely what Sanjay did with his Madhyamavati varnam.
The tala beats were very emphatic in the different charanams to
raise the tempo. Brochevarevare (Sriranjani) of Tyagaraja
set the vibrant mood for the concert. A few avartas of crisp
swaras followed. GNB's Saraswati namostute in the raga
Saraswati was rendered after a neat outline of the raga. Sanjay
also sang a few avartas of swara at Surasevita. A
fast-paced Bhairavi commenced at the upper Shadja, and meshed
with brigas, showed a different colour of this major raga.
Nivantidaivamu, a rare kriti of Tyagaraja was taken up.
Neraval and swaras at Aadina ninnadavale were
imaginative. The chowka kala kriti of Dikshitar, Sri
Matrubhootam (Kannada) was rendered in the right mood. A
bhava-laden Saveri, with intense traditional appeal was sung.
The full-throated neraval and the sarvalaghu pattern of swaras
were very enjoyable. Sanjay conveyed beautifully the meaning of
Tyagaraja's Devagandhari piece, Vinarada na manavi with
his rendition. The raga chosen for RTP was Hindolam. With
azhuttam and a judicious mix of gamakas and brigas, alapana
was developed to unexplored regions of melody. He invoked the
Hindustani style in an ingenious way which made violinist
Anantaraman openly acknowledge it right then and there, to a
round of thunderous applause. The brisk Tanam was classic. The
lyrics of the Pallavi were captivating and the ragamalika swaras
that followed included Vagadheeswari and the ghana ragas Gowla,
Arabhi, Varali and Sriragam. A composition of Ramalingaswami and
that of Gopalakrishna Bharathi in Kanada saw the conclusion of a
memorable concert.
M S Anantharaman excelled in Bhairavi and his bowing technique
for Tanam, drew well-merited applause. Dr. T K Murthy, with
his soft and masterly accompaniment, produced the best
percussive delight.
V Sanjeev playing softly on the violin, rendered a good Todi. H
S Sudhindra was very supportive on the mridangam.
After the Ata tala Bhairavi varnam, she sang Purandaradasa's Saranu siddhivinayaka (Sowrashtram). Aparadamulanniyu (Latangi) of Patnam Subramanya Iyer was the next kriti, which was rounded off with neraval and a volley of swars at Kripajesi. Sarasadalanayana in Kamas was next. Sudhamadhurya bashini in the rare raga Vandanadharini, a composition of GNB with beautiful sahitya, was rendered well. Mohanam was the raga taken up for elaboration. It was a good effort. All the possible sancharas were attempted. Owing to concentration on speed and brigas, the sowkhya seemed to be missing. That the vocalist was trying to imitate was clearly visible. Attempting to repeat a sangati, which did not first click, should also not be done on the platform. The swara section was done well. A ragamalika and a Tillana in Madhuvanti were sung to conclude the concert.
The vocalist has all the essentials that makes up for a good
musician. She has got to develop her own individual style to
succeed. Lakshmi Venkatraman played a traditional Mohanam.
Nellai Balaji accompanied with good anticipation.
|
||||||
|
