SOULFUL MUSIC FROM JAYANTHI
She began her concert with the Saveri Varnam, 'Sarasuda'. Tyagaraja's lovely kriti in Poornashadjam, 'Lavanyarama', rendered in a slow tempo was a refreshing experience and created a serene atmosphere. She suffixed it with a few rounds of kalpanaswaras with intelligently planned poruttams. Papanasam Sivan's 'Piravavaram tarum' was rendered sans the raga alapana as a prelude to Kharaharapriya. The raga was highly emotive although one did feel the absence of the typical Carnatic flavour. She once again rendered a composition of Papanasam Sivan, 'Senthilandavan', (Roopaka tala) in a neat patanthara, with swaras in the charana with an eduppu (starting point) after 9 aksharas (counts). It again had some interesting poruttams.
Tyagaraja's bright kriti in the rare raga Sindhukannada (also known as Kesari) was rendered to give some contrast in the tempo. However, Jayanthi couldn't maintain the pace she started out with and there was a constant tussle between her and the percussionists, which the percussionists finally won!
Her main raga of the day was a Ragam Tanam Pallavi in Behag. The raga alapana was a curious blend of the exaggerations that Balachander sometimes used to indulge in and the Hindustani mode of handling the same. She played it in two phases and by the time it came to a close, one was longing for something more Carnatic. The Pallavi, 'Gajamukhani sumukhanai ninai maname, nsgmpmp takadimitakatam enanartana' had an unusual but not really high quality sahitya. It was in Adi tala witha sama eduppu. The second half of the Pallavi already being in the second degree of speed, it didn't afford any scope for being rendered in Trikala (three speeds) or Tisra gati. It was rounded off with a few exchanges of ragamalika swaras in which the violinist rendered ragas different than those of the main artiste. Among the miscellaneous items were Bharatiyar's 'Asai mugam' (Jonpuri, Adi tala) and Mayuram Viswanatha Sastri's 'Jayati jayati' (Khamas, Adi tala, tisra gati).
On the violin was Lalgudi Rajalakshmi, who incidentally, happens to be Jayanthi's mother. Naturally they shared a good rapport which helped build the overall effect of the concert. In her solo displays, Rajalakshmi proved herself up to any challenge thrown by Jayanthi. The mridangist, Trichur Narendran and the ghatam artiste S V Ramani gave a good account of themselves not only in the Tani avartanam but provided great accompaniment throughout.
The volume levels were too high in general and the almost empty hall didn't help matters. The whole hall was reverberating with the noise. Sometime halfway during the concert, when the main artiste still complained that she couldn't hear what she was playing (much to the dismay of the audience), the reason was discovered. It seems the monitor on the stage hadn't been connected! Quite a shocking state of affairs. The concerned authorities must ensure that such things don't happen.
