VIJAY SIVA AT MUSIC ACADEMY
In the light of this, it was surprising when he commenced the concert without a Varnam which would have enhanced his stature. Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer's popular kriti in Janaranjani, 'Pahimam' was the first item. Vijay would do well to pay attention to his pronunciation and intonation. He has a clipped accent which sounds a bit funny at times. 'Tulasidala' in Mayamalavagowla, the next item was brisk and lively. He then rendered Mukhari raga well and the neraval and kalpanaswaras for the rare Tyagaraja kriti 'Sangeeta sastra' at the charana line 'Premabhakti' were also up to the mark.
The highlight of the performance, at least for a conventional and conservative listener was Syama Sastri's gem in Todi, 'Rave himagirikumari'. It was par excellence. The Kalyani alapana was good but taking into account his musical genealogy, a few more traditional phrases could have found place. It was quite a commonplace alapana. In the Dikshitar kriti 'Bhajare re chitta' which he took up, one noticed that the Pallavi avartanas added up to 9, which is unusual for a composition. The usual is 2 or its multiples. There was the usual neraval and kalpanaswaras at 'Devisakti beejodbhava'.
Vijay, Sriramkumar (the violinist) and Manoj Siva (the mridangist) form a team and help each other out. This is all the more laudable. Sriramkumar is an able accompanist who can recapture the main artiste's moods and version. Manoj, being the brother of Vijay had a vested interest in contributing to the success of the concert.
