T M KRISHNA AT MUSIC ACADEMY
The second item in Atana was a Tiruvembavai verse. One more kriti plainly rendered in madhyamakala could have also been squeezed before taking up Anandabhairavi (Syama Sastri's O Jagadamba, Adi tala). Except for a few phrases, which sounded strange to the ears, Krishna gave Anandabhairavi a good, classical mould. The Antara gandhara and Kakali nishada were avoided and proved his noble attitude. Todi was the highlight of the concert. No ultra-modern phrases were found. Tyagaraja's masterpiece, 'Dachukovalena' with neraval and kalpanaswaras at 'Sowmitri tyagaraju' brought out the aspects of vidwat in the artiste.
The rendering of Sankarabharanam had the required stature for the Ragam Tanam Pallavi. It is a mystery as to how and why a Tanam should be concluded in the slow tempo as Krishna did. The characteristic feature of Tanam is itself madhyamakala (medium tempo). As a matter of fact, Tanam is another term for madhyamakala. The traditional Pallavi (Inakulatilaka dasarathe karunapayonidhe) was in 4-kalai with an eduppu of half beat.
With all the merits in him, Krishna would do well to improve his mouthing and intonation of the sahitya. He need not be vehemently expressive either and make certain portions of his concerts noisy. For his age, he could exercise a little restraint in his gesticulations and paying encomiums to his accompanists.
