Grace and grandeur

IN her inaugural concert in the December Music Festival of Kala Kruthi held at Sri Sankaralayam in Chetpet, R. Vedavalli sang Sankarabharanam with a discernible discipline to depict its time- honoured grace and grandeur in a calm style of vocal artistry profuse with moving musical phrases. Assisted by her pupil, Sumitra Vasudev, she drew a satisfying sketch of this raga through sedate sancharas.

``Muthukumaraiyyane'' of Ramaswamy Sivan succeeded in a diction reflective of the raga's resplendent features in a relaxed rhythmic setting of the Chaturasra jaathi rupaka tala in aesthetically extensive kalais.

Earlier, Vedavalli rendered the pieces, ``Arunachala'' (Saranga, Muthuswamy Dikshitar) and ``Ramabhirama'' (Dhanyasi), ``Venugana'' (Kedaragowlai) and ``Ramaninne'' (Useni) of Tyagaraja in forms full of engaging details. The phase of `pasuram' comprised catchy phrases drawn from Varali, Sahana, Saveri, Kapi and Kanada.

S. Varadarajan accompanied the vocalist ably on the violin. His representation of Sankarabharanam and the sequences of swaras were refreshing. Neyveli Narayanan (mridangam) and Adambakkam Shankar (ghatam) lent lively rhythmic support. Their thani in the phase of Sankarabharanam was interesting.

Pleasing performance

Following a style of mild and mellow vocal music, M. S. Sheela made her performance pleasing for the audience. She sang with an eye on the sruthi.

The vocalist's execution of the varnam, ``Swamyninne'' in Sriragam was enjoyable. ``Vandeham'' in Hamsadhwani came next in an attractive form, followed by some shiny swara texts. The singer's presentation of the pieces, ``Deviniyethunai'' (Kirvani) and ``Thatthadhimitha'' (Todi, tisragathi), carried sufficient melodic stress. The vocalist's description of Dharmavathi and Mukhari with a good imagination of their entrancing features drew praise. Sheela delighted the listeners with the tidiness of her delivery of the songs (``Ambabrovu'' and ``Pahi'') in these ragas. ``Malmaruga'' of Papanasam Sivan in Vasantha was sweetly rendered.

R. Hemalatha (violin) provided commendable support. Karaikudi Jayaraman (mridangam) and C. S. Venkataramanan (kanjira) offered affable rhythmic support.

- R.V.

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