In praise of a master weaver

A COMPACT calendar of kritis characterised the concert of Dr. Rajalakshmi Santhanam for the Indian Fine Arts Society celebrations Muthuswami Dikshitar Day at Bala Mandir German Hall in T. Nagar. ``Vatapi Ganapatim Baje''(Hamsadwani), the curtain- raiser, was handled deftly with swara prasthams on "Pranava swaroopa". Todi was her main offering, with a cognisable and compendious analysis of the raga.``Sri Krishnam Baja Maanasa'' was sung in a manner which brought forth clearly the divine a tributes of Gopala.Earlier, Rajalakshmi presented a candid picture of Amritavarshini with a commendable comprehension of the raga's vistas, for Ananda Amritavarshini, succeeded by a swara sequence on the pallavi line.``Saraswati", in Hindolam,``Kaumari Gowri", in Gowri Manohari, made up the other items.

Radha Sundaresan drew a lucid picture of Todi, Amritavarshini and Hindolam on the violin and T.R. Krishnamurti's percussive support on the mridangam was measured with enriched rhythmic patterns.

Kaleidoscopic Kalyani

Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam, taking the dais later, gave a performance marked by inquiry and intelligence. Handling a wide variety of kritis in as many ragas, she started with "Kanchadalayadakshi", in Kamala Manohari, a plain Manohari in Dikshitar School, and went on to``Parvati Kumaram", in Nattakurichi.

Pantuvarali, also called Kamavardhini, and which acquired the denomination of Kasiramakriya, under the Dikshitar banner, was dealt with elaborately to highlight its nuances, for a rather uncommon piece,``Uchchistha Ganapitan", was sung in style and substance. Two items stood out. Kalyani, which was the artiste's main thrust, was orally painted in its bright and soft colours, for "Bajarerestitha Balambikam".``Tyagaraja yoga vaibhavam", in Anandabhairavi was a delight. The interpretative neraval and the astounding swara combinations on "Devi Sakthi Beejodahava''were cleverly contrived carrying conviction. Before concluding her well-organised exercise with "Arthanaareeswaram''(Suddha Dhanyasi), she rendered the suruti song,``Sri Venkatagirisam",``Shadanane''in Khamas, with jatis worked into by Prof. T.R. Subramaniam, preceded by a meaningful vinyasam of the raga and``Kalavati Kamalaanana Yuvati", in Kalavati (Dikshitar's discipline), also known as Yagapriya.

In all, her 120-minute programme was felicitous without being flashy.

M. Narmada, who came in for V. G. Kumar, was her usual competent and communicative self on the violin with her elegant bowing and fingering, particularly in her delineation of khamas, Kalyani and Pantuvarali.

J.Balaji and B. S. Purushottaman, respectively on the mridangam and Kanjira, enlivened the cutchery with their scintillating assistance.

- TPR

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