Veteran lives up to expectations

AMONG THE great violinists of the last century Papa Venkataramaiah stood out as one conscious of his sacred obligation to the inviolability of tradition in Carnatic music. His excellent play sprang from the pedigree training under Malaikottai Govindaswamy Pillai and in such music there was nothing dishonourable.

Distinctive in style, there was characteristic individualism in the presentation of ragas and kirtanas with ascetic depth. The singular quality of his music was expressiveness ranging from soft lyricism to soulful, sensitive eloquence. Be it a lilting javali or a monumental Sankarabharanam kriti it received at his hands perceptively pervasive brilliance, perfumed with tonal felicity. He shed elegance and radiance on any raga he took up for vinyasa, particularly Bilahari, Yadukulakambhoji, Sahana, Ananda Bhairavi, Devagandhari, not to mention the gana ragas Sankarabharanam, Todi and Bhairavi. Every recital of his was an enjoyable musical journey of uniform excellence. He did much to enhance the sphere of melody by his full-bowing technique. Anything un-Carnatic was beneath his notice.

Papa lived in an era when music was at its height in quality. His outstanding achievement was the fruit of dedicated sadhaka. In respect of taste and patantara he was a high-brow artistocrat. The melodic modulation in a raga alapana transformed itself into glowing edifices of creative expression. There was no intellectual effort in it, but an intuitive impulse to get into the soul of a raga or a kirtana. The influence of Dhanammal's perception of music was profound on Papa Venkataramaiah's psyche - a combination of tenderness of note, monarchic dignity, abiding vidwat and respect for the great compositions of vaggeyakaras, particularly Tyagaraja, being a disciple of Govindaswamy Pillai, who in his days, was deeply involved in the Tiruvaiyaru aradhana.

The Music Academy paid wholesome tribute to the great vidwan at the Centenary function in which Mr. T. T. Vasu, president of the Academy, and Mr. C. V. Narasimhan spoke of the distinguishing aspects of Papa Venkataramaiah's music. Mr. Narasimhan also announced an endowment in the name of the endearing violinist.K. V. Narayanaswamy, accompanied by V. Thyagarajan (violin), V. Nagarajan (kanjira), the sons of Papa, and Palghat Raghu on the mridangam, presented a concert at the end of the ceremony.

A sense of proportion in raga alapana duration, neraval, swaraprastharas and a good selection of kirtanas contributed to a high standard that is normally associated with the performances by vidwans of the past. Also a confirmation of the value of gurukula experience of K.V. Narayanaswamy. The development of the ragas Ananda Bhairavi, Yadukula Kambhoji and Todi and the interpretative style of the songs ``Entaraani'' (Hari Kambhoji) ``Marivere'' (Ananda Bhairavi) ``Hechcharigaga-Raa-Raa'' (Yadukulakambhoji) and ``Dasarathi-Nee-Runamu-Theerpa'' (Todi) were a reflection on the values Narayanaswami has imbibed over the years. The rasikas could experience how an alapana exposition with minimal phrasings etches the beauty of a raga, when he sang the Ananda Bhairavi and Todi vinyasa. Moderation in neravals and swaraprastharas was well-emphasised. Without saddling the songs with a volume of irrelevant sangatis, they were presented in a crisp setting.

For the most part, the violinist, Thyagarajan, followed carefully the footprints of the vocalist at his own pace. Palghat Raghu, in soothing sound level and in style rich in laya erudition extended graceful support during the song and swara session.

In his tani avartanam with the kanjira artiste Nagarajan, percussive artistry spread all over.

Hackneyed approach

In spite of a rich voice if the performance of Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam was unimpressive it had to be attributed to hackneyed importance given to the peripheral aspects of music.

When she rendered the alapanas of Kamas and Pantuvarali there was a feeling of lack of crispness. The former was elaborated at such length both by the vocalist and the violinist, Usha Rajagopalan, that its aesthetic identity got blurred.

Similarly the swara-bhava of Pantuvarali was there, while the raga bhava went into hiding. Being a concert in connection with the Oothukadu Venkatakavi Jayanti, the lilting songs, in which Madhyamakala sahityas predominated, sustained the interest of the audience.

Melakkaveri Balaji gave non-stop percussion support with Pudukottai Ramachandran playing on the ghatam. ``Pranavaakaaram- Siddhi-Vinayakam'' (Aarabhi) ``Kshanameva- Dhanyam-Manye'' (Bowli) ``Naan-Enna-Thavam-Seideno'' (Kamas) and ``Nirupamasundara'' (Pantuvarali) were the items rendered.

- SVK

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