Melodious delineation

AIR CHENNAI, relayed a vocal concert by Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam accompanied by Vittal Ramamurthy on the violin, S. Thyagarajan on the mridangam and T. D. Balasubramaniam on the ghatam.

The programme was unfurled with a composition of Koteeswara Iyer in raga Nattai, for which a spate of fluent swaras was sung in the Pallavi. Patnam Subramania Iyer's Bilahari kriti, with compact neraval and accurate swaraprastha, gave a lively edge to the proceedings. The violinist played a supportive role in his answering statements.

The purple patch in the recital was the alapana of Poorvikalyani, in which the prayogas in the various kalapramanams melodiously clicked into place. Vittal Ramamurthy's delineation authored a raga elaboration that synthesised his imaginative ideas into a homogenous dissertation. Shyama Sastri's ``Ninnuvina'' in appropriate kalapramanams, adequately mirroring the emotions in the lyrics and in the solpha passages in the two speeds, provided quality listening time. The percussion interlude with the rhythmic finale, right on target, was an interesting session. The vivacious Tillana in Kamas (Patnam Subramania Iyer) rang the curtain down with spirit.

It was the veteran Chitoor Subramania Pillai's reverberating voice that boomed on AIR Chennai's ``A'' Channel when his archival recording was relayed on August 19. Revathi Ratnaswami, his daughter, lent vocal support while B. K. Viswanatha Sarma on the violin, C. K. Shyam Sunder on the mridangam and Mannargudi Natesa Pillai on the morsing were the instrumental accompanists.

A brief alapana of Madhyamalavagowla, with a couple of prayogas of unusual hues, preceded the rendition of the Tyagaraja kriti ``Sri Devi Tulasamma''. The assertive madhyama kala swara sequences, the dhurita passages and an overburdened misra korvai were voltage displays. After a pleasing version of Shyama Sastri's ``Devi Brova Samayamidhe'', the vidwan sang a lively ``Neevadane Gana'' in Saranga by Tygaraja. While the vidwan's elaboration of Kalyani was restricted to the madhyama sthayi, Revathi continued sweetly with the alapana and brought it to a logical conclusion.

Tyagaraja's ``Isa Pahimam'' is one of his pancharatnams on Lord Saptharishiswara, the presiding deity at Tapasthirthapuri, better known as Lalgudi.

Credit must be given to the vidwan's involved articulation in the neraval segment and an accurate singing in both speeds.

The violinist in his answering swara efforts did not let himself down. The marathon swara finale was sung with vigour.

Narayanagowla is an elusive raga for delineation, as its swaroopa is most often neither fish nor fowl. However, the singer in his raga dissertation managed to convey its singular nuances adequately.

Dikshatar's ``Ramam Ravikulapthisomam'', an all-time favourite of the musician, was a commendable rendering. There is no denying the fact that the sheer power of sound does make for compulsive listening.

BY A CORRESPONDENT

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