Beauty captured with intepretation

A MUSICIAN will really be amazed at how tall he would feel when he connects his interpretative methods to the image of the beauty of Carnatic music triumphant in ragas and kirtanas as T. M. Krishna achieved in his concert. The raga pictures of Todi and Sankarabharanam found vent in telling expressions coupled with artistic finesse. His vocal eloquence was well-allied to great sensitivity which appealed strongly to the rasikas' experience of music's aesthetics. If dedication to the greatness of vaggeyakaras calls for subordination of the peripheral to higher values, Krishna's rendering of the Syama Sastri song ``O Jagadamba'' in Ananda Bhairavi was a dip into the depths of sentiment in the song. It was in this kirtana rendering that the listeners realised that the emotional appeal of the piece had to be appreciated in spiritual term.

The Todi raga and kirtana ``Dasukovalena'' were presented with astonishing vigour and reach. There was not even a faint suggestion of faltering or sag in tonality while Todi dazzled, his delineation of Sankarabharanam for ragam, tanam and pallavi was studded with serene sancharas and emotional richness, almost mesmeric in appeal. The very first song ``Merusamana'' (Mayamalavagowla) was rendered marked by interpretative nobility.

That the inspiration for the accompanying violinist had to come from the vocalist was to be seen in the way R. K. Sriramkumar built up the raga edifices of Todi and Sankarabharanam in which the sancharas were imperious perfumed with tonal felicity and expressive of elevated musical sentiments. Arun Prakash (mridangam) and B. S. Purushottaman (kanjira) presented overpowering patterns of percussive beats to embellish the songs. Two aspects would linger in the minds of rasikas - Krishna's soulful rendering of ``O Jagadamba'' kriti and his frequent appreciative exclamations of ``Bale-bale''.

Beautiful Bhairavi

With his voice well-controlled both in volume and temper, Sanjay Subramanian brought out the myriad beauties of Bhairavi in his alapana for the song ``Balagopala''. Manodharma was high in the scale of scanning Bhairavi's beauteous light and shade. He shed radiance and elegance on the raga and it was a shining example of mature music. The way he nourished the kirtana lent distinction to his vidwat. The cutcheri as a whole was directed to the finer senses of the discerning listeners and kept the audience spell bound with his virtuosity. Nagai Muralidharan, experienced violinist, contributed much to the enhancement of the sphere of appeal by his technical expertise on the strings and made a spontaneous offer of his graceful articulation. Earlier Sanjay rendered in succession the Kambhoji kirtana ``Ma Janaki'' and ``Kantimati Karunanidhe'' in Kalyani, a composition of Subbarama Dikshitar. T. K. Murthy (mridangam) was not his normal self as his collapse on the dais later indicated. Neyveli Venkatesan played the kanjira.

Lokanada Sarma's attention in his cutcheri was devoted to the emphasis on the grandeur of sahityas - particularly the Bhairavi swarajati ``Kamakshi'' where he discarded the swara part and sang only the sahitya. Sankarabharanam was elaborated followed by the Thyagaraja kriti, ``Emi Neranu''. It was off the beaten track. His violin accompanist was Ramanujacharlu who played well, his Sankarabharanam solo alapana having passages of excellence. V. Kamalakara Rao was quiet in his mridangam support.

Exciting heights

T. V. Sankaranarayanan was bouncing with enthusiasm in conducting his concert with Pantuvarali and Sankarabharanam alapanas taking him to exciting heights. The vitality of his music stressed the inexhaustible stamina of his voice in the upper reaches. The higher he soared in the tara sthayi the more perennial delights he derived from the sweep of his vocal cruising. The Poornachandrika kriti ``Palukaveni'', the Atana piece ``Balakanakamaya'' and the monumental song ``Swara Raga Sudha'' (Sankarabharanam) proclaimed a full view of his stature. The accompanists - Mysore Nagaraj (violin), Srimushnam Raja Rao (mridangam) and Uma Shankar (ghatam) - were energetic working partners. The team as a whole gambolled in their exclusive decibel world.

Kadri Gopalnath (saxophone) with his ensemble Kanyakumari (violin), A. K. Palanivel (tavil), G. Ravichandran (ghatam) and Bangalore Rajasekar (morsing) filled the auditorium with extra volume-based sound ripples playing the items ``Subramanyena'' (Suddha Dhanyasi) ``Sadinchene'' (Arabhi pancharatnam) and ``Pariyachakama'' (Vachaspati) Swara exercises predominated.

Tranquil and titillating

The 25-violin ensemble organised by violinist Kanyakumari provided both tranquility and titillation. The early items of the Ata tala Kanada Varnam ``Neranamnuti'' followed by ``Gam Ganapathe'' (Hamsadwani) and ``Kamakshi'' Bhairavi swarajati shared music of poise, by the Navarasa Kanada piece ``Ninnuvina Namadindu'' and the note in Sivaranjani was jingle-jangle in effect as intended by Kanyakumari. K. V. Prasad and Arjun Kumar, mridangists, and Vaikom Gopalakrishnan (ghatam) had a field day in the later half.

The vitality of Nithyashree Mahadevan's music stems from vocal strength and as regards music culture, she has set some favourite models of perception among listeners. Her vocal gift is meant for higher values which is possible for her to achieve if she can consciously subordinate her glamorous tonal volatility and take restraint and visranti to ascend from the gross to the subtle. This aspect of sublimation came in her rendering of the kirtana ``Intasowkhyamanine'' (Kapi) and ``Janaki Ramana'' (Suddha Seemantini) and when she sang ragas and the other kirtanas ``Varanarada'' or ``Komiyadina'' (Kambhoji) the thought crossed why she preferred vocal exhibitionism. M. A. Krishnaswamy on the violin tried to climb the steps Nithyashree laid in alapanas. J. Vaidyanathan's mridangam projected a majestic picturisation of laya embellishment bringing out fully his consummate command over the instrument as Nithyashree over her voice. A. S. Krishnan's morsing was tuneful.

With heightened ability, T. N. Seshagopalan consciously tapped the core of the journey of the ragas Todi (Ninne Namminanu) and Shanmukhapriya (Marivere Dikkevarayya Rama) when he sang the Devagandhari piece ``Enne ramuni'' one felt why he could not cut the length of raga alapana in general and sing more kirtanas with minimum imposition of his vocal pressure. The distinctive alluring tunes of ragas reveal when gracefulness of vocal expression is applied to it, not aggressive thrust. Seshagopalan revelled in the intricate matrix of his extensive vocabulary more often at the expense of sensitivity. M. Chandrasekharan, on the violin, was a picture of exuberance to scale a step higher than the vocalist's assertive interpretative method. Guruvayoor Dorai (mridangam) and Harishankar (kanjira) enjoyed the overbearing approach of the main artiste.

There was very little of colour and variety in the rendering by Raji Gopalakrishnan. Raga alapanas of Ritigowla and Sankarabharanam were on hackneyed lines. Though familiar sancharas in these two ragas were there, it did not appear to be spontaneous or aesthetically motivated. There was expressional smoothness in politely pleasing style. In her concert was included ``Bhooshapathy'' in the raga Bhooshavati, the 64th mela in the asampoorna mela scheme (the familiar Vachaspati), ``Thraahimanu Thrayambike'' in Dhanyasi, a composition of V. V. Srivatsa besides the Thyagaraja kritis ``Dwaitamu sukhama'' (Ritigowla) and ``Swara-raga-sudha'' (Sankarabharanam). R. Hemalatha's violin was modest. Melakkaveri Balaji (mridangam) and S. V. Viswanathan (ghatam) were more prominent.

Shrill edge

A high-sruti voice for a male artiste, with a pronounced nasal twang gave a shrill edge to the cutcheri of Vijaya Siva. He introduced extra forcefulness to his exposition to such an extent as to deprive his presentation of mellowness or subtlety of tone. He sang the morning Todi Swarajati ``Rave Himagiri Kumari'' well but shifting the passages in the mandharasthayi to the corresponding tara sthayi wiped out the majesty of the swara- sahitya. The depth in which Shyama Sastri has couched the swarajati was completely lost. Still the inherent beauty of the composition brought some consolation in spite of Vijaya Siva's assertiveness.

The Kalyani raga alapana, though well-conceived shared the same fate of high pressure tactics and it looked as Vijaya Siva was in a hurry to draw copious audience applause. ``Thulasidala'' (Mayamalavagowla) and ``Sangita Sastra Gnanamu'' (Mukhari) indicated the style of music to come. R. K. Sriramkumar on the violin played to emphasise that tonal strength and mellowness are not mutually exclusive. His repartees with the vocalist was impressive. Manoj Siva on the mridangam answered with beats that chimed well with the aggressive motivation of Vijaya Siva.

AKC at his best

After many years of incognito, A. K. C. Natarajan, the clarionet expert, came on the dais. What happens when a musician recedes from public view was evident by the handful of listeners in the big Music Academy auditorium. But Natarajan gave his best with controlled blowing keeping the decibel level, unlike Saxophone, soothing. There was clarity of sahityas too when he rendered the songs ``Dudukugala'' (Gowlai pancharatnam) ``Rama Nee Vadu'' (Kalyani) ``Adaya Sri'' (Ahiri) and ``Kaligiyude'' (Kiravani). The alapanas of Kalyani and Kiravani were handsome, the sancharas pertinent and easy flowing. The performance proved the astuteness of Natarajan in handling the instrument. Kalahasti Munikumar provided nagaswaram support. Mannargudi Vasudevan, Nangur Selvaganapathy and Semponnarkoil S. M. Babu, the tavil players spiritedly rolled out rhythmic patterns.

- SVK

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