SHASHIKIRAN - GOOD MUSIC BUT NO TAKERS
Accompanied by V V S Murari and Tanjore Kumar on the violin and mridangam respectively, he opened his concert with Karur Devudu Iyer's Sriraga Varnam, 'Samininnekori'. A flash of Hamsadhwani raga alapana was followed by the familiar and majestic Dikshitar kriti, 'Vatapi ganapatim'. The kalpanaswaras at 'Hamsadhwani bhooshita herambham' and 'Vatapi' alternately showed his confidence in handling the raga and eduppu.
In Shashikiran's Reetigowla one could feel the emotion and colours of the raga.
'Janani ninnuvina', a
composition of Subbaraya Sastri set to Misra Chapu tala was rendered.
The chittaswara and the swara-sahitya in the kriti was rendered with utmost care. Kalpanaswaras at
'Tamasamu seyaka' was appended very
beautifully. The most commendable part of his concert is that he sings without haste or hurry,
while most of the young
musicians are under the wrong impression that only very fast phrases and
fireworks are appreciated.
The raga alapana for Lalita created a very serene atmosphere and the
rendition of Dikshitar kriti 'Hiranmayeem', touched one's heart. He did not fail to
exhibit his talent in
swaraprastara for Lalita too. The next was Sama in which he sang
Gopalakrishna Bharati's 'Varuvaro
Varam Taruvaro', the madhyamakala sahitya
in the charanam setting
a different pace to the concert.
An old lady, Vedavalli, went to the stage and met the artistes and expressed her bitterness about the bad attendance by the audience. She also said that people should pay respect to the art, if not for the artiste. Youngsters Kripa and Neeraja who are learning music, said that musicians who perform so well should be encouraged much more. Even though we felt bad about the strength of the audience, we came out with the great satisfaction of listening to a traditional and wonderful concert, and the music lingering in our ears.
