Magic of MS music

HOW DOES one evaluate the supreme art of M. S. Subbulakshmi? - by herambrosial voice that weaves musical magic, by her unparalleled artistic quotient that has elevated her to the realms of exclusive greatness, byher deep commitment or by her accountability? Yes - all these and most importantly the devotional, mellifluent, spiritual upsurge in her musical and lyrical expressions.

Chennai's A Channel did itself proud by relaying on International Music Day (October 1) a concert of the doyenne, with the vocal support of Radha Viswanathan. Kandadevi Alagirisami (violin), T. K. Murthy (mridangam) and G. Harishankar (kanjira) were the accompanists.

Talapakkam Annamacharya's "Namo namo Raghukula Nayaka" with keen swaraprastharas, the Sindhuramakriya kriti of Tyagaraja, "Devadi deva" with focus on the raga lakshana, a brief alapana of Saveri and Shyama Shastri's "Durusuga" inundated with bhava and melody were a rasika's dream.

"Veenabheri" of Dikshitar in raga Abheri that sports a Suddhadhaivatam had an exclusive charm.

The expansion of Simhendramadhyamam was an epitome of grace and sophistication. Sivan's "Ikha param", the neraval for the sahitya sequence in the charanam and the solfa chains were compact.

The lighter segment with songs by Meera, Yoga Narasimha, a moving viruttam in Tamil, and the concluding "Kuraiondrumillai" by Rajaji bore testament that the lady has, through the years consciously set lofty uncompromising standards for quality in her art.

"Rama neeve" in Narayani by Tyagaraja was at the peak of its popularity during the heyday of the inimitable G. N. Balasubramaniam. Ranganayaki Rajagopalan, senior veena artiste, of the Karaikudi School, began her concert for F.M. Channel I on October 2 with a tidy version of this song.

The 10th Melakartha "Natakapriya" received fluent treatment, with the raga elaborated without ambiguity, and projecting the compound nuances of the melody with clarity. Mysore Vasudevachar's "Iti samayamu brova radha" and the swaras in the pallavi, were the efforts of a consummate vidhushi.

Dikshitar's Amritavarshini composition "Anandamrutha Karshini" was adorned with crisp bright swaras for the pallavi sequence.

The texture and the details in the delineation of Keeravani, the dignified tanam and a mellow rendering of Tyagaraja's "Kaligiunte", the lyrical expansion and the swara improvisations were the results of a wealth of experience.

Trichur C. Narendran on the mridangam and T. D. Balasubramaniam on the ghatam were responsible for an interesting, enlivening tani avartanam. A ragamalika of Subramanya Bharatiar made for a pleasant conclusion.

BY A CORRESPONDENT

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