Nuances of Todi well-delineated

THERE WAS a huge turnout for Unnikrishnan's performance at Hamsadhwani. But whether his performance was on a par with the super star status he holds is speculative. Of course, melody stood by him all the way and the choice of kritis was also good. The kriti on Krishna was Dikshitar's matchless ``Srikrishnam Bhajaamanasa. The Todi alapana captured all the nuances of this unfathomable raga and the pauses Unni gave at the right places and his amazing breath control brought repeated applause. With flawless diction he delivered the Sanskrit lines and when he resumed the neraval and swaras at the charanam ``Shankachakrakada'' one knew he would achieve total success and Unni quickly capitalised on the mood of the audience with a Meerabhajan, ``Krishna Kaho'' after a brief alapana in Madhukauns.

Embar Kannan was his usual self giving unobtrusive support, gilding the vocalist's alapanas, with rare phrases. K. V. Prasad, was an ideal mridangist bringing into play his laya prowess only in the tani avarthanam.

Consistency is the key to the success of the veteran flute duo, Sikkil Sisters (Neela and Kunjumani). The highpoint of their programme was an expansive alapana in Kapi followed by a pallavi in Adi talam. They did not play thanam but excelled in a ragamalika - Hamsadhwani, Anandabhairavi, Sahana, Ranjani, Sama, Kalyana vasantham and Hamsanandi. Neela and Kunjumani played these ragas alternately. M. R. Gopinath (violin), Mannargudi Iswaran (mridangam) and E. M. Subramaniah (ghatam) played their supportive roles well enough.

If vishranti is an important ingredient of Carnatic music it was available aplenty in Aruna Ranganathan's concert. Teenaged Akkarai Subbulakshmi who is a class apart as a violinist assisted Aruna in every way in achieving her ideal. The result was classy and serene entertainment. To the audience it was refreshing.

Kudanthai S. Saravanan (mridangam) and R. Raman (morsing) gave good support.

A detailed alapana in Bhairavi for Tyagaraja's ``Tanayunibrova'' highlighted S. Sowmya's well-planned concert. The neraval and swaras at the charanam were rendered in good proportions. Subhashini Parthasarathy began her concert with the Todi varnam Eranapai and followed it up with Tyagaraja's Balakanakamaya (Atana) and Ninnenera (Pantuvarali). After a brief alap in Darbar she sang Ramaswamy Sivan's ``Inimelah''. A charming alapana in Sankarabharanam for ``Sarojadalanetri'' (Syama Sastry) neraval and swaras Samagana and a Purandaradasar kriti ``Rama Rama'' (Vasantha) proved a good launching pad for the Dharmavati RTP in Tisrajhampa khanda nadai. After this intellectual exercise came the Tukkadas, Sivadikshaparu (Kurunji - Ghanam Krishna Aiyar) and Narimani (Kamatch - Dharmapuri).

The full house at Hamsadhwani was a proof of the fact that Kadri Gopalnath continues to be one of the top musicians. There was clarity in Kadri's virtuosity. He appears to have made some technical changes in his reed instrument to bring out the different facets of carnatic music.

The RTP in Brindavanasaranga (Adi tala) with a sparkling swara ragamalika (Vasanthi, Kapi and Shubapantuvarali) was lapped up by the audience. The duel between the violinist Kanyakumari and the saxophonist drew cheers at the end of every round. With the mike posing some problems early on Gopalnath decided to dispense with it and the audience reaction was most encouraging. The part played by Guruvayur Dorai (mridangam) V. Suresh (ghatam) and Rajasekhar (morsing) must be wholesomely acknowledged.

An RTP in Varali with a swararagamalika (Kedaragowla, Huseni, Kalyana Vasantha and Valachi) was so pleasingly played that Chitraveena R. Ganesh was given a big hand. Dikshitar's Kamalambajayathi in Ahiri is a rare piece and Ganesh's handling was facile. A bright future awaits this young artiste. Veteran M. S. Anantharaman (violin) emphasised this time and again. P. Satishkumar, mridangist (staff artist in AIR Vijayawada) and P. N. Sethuraman (ganjira) gave useful support to the youngster.

Full of fervour

Singing effortlessly and using such phrases and syllables that suit his soft and malleable shariram, O. S. Thyagarajan rendered for Hamsadhwani a comprehensive alapana in Khamboji and chose Gopalakrishna Bharatiar's ``Thiruvadi Charanam'' with a moving neraval and swaras at ``Aduthuvanda Ennai Tallalagadu Hara Hara''.

No wonder that the singer as well the violinist Delhi Sundararajan, who fully reflected the spiritual mood and acted as an apt foil for the vocalist, got a big ovation at the end of the devotional kriti.

OST sang several not frequently heard kritis. Ponnayya Pillai's Shankarabharanam tillana came as the fitting finale to the concert which received rapt attention. Mannargudi A. Easwaran, a favourite mridangist at Hamsadhwani lived up to the reputation, in company with Vaikkom Gopalakrishnan (ghatam).

Even the most loyal admirer of Madurai Mani Aiyar's style of singing might be wondering whether his nephew-pupil T. V. Sankaranarayanan did not indulge in excessive use of his peculiar syllables and phrases. Sindhubhairavi was soulful and ``Rama Rama Rama Yenneero'' in Tilang with which TVS chose to conclude the concert gave a highly spiritual finale. Kambhoji raga chosen for the RTP was replete with his mentor's sangatis.

Delhi Sundararajan (violin) enhanced the content of the recital, both in the alapanas and swaras. Veteran Srimushnam V. Raja Rao captured TVS phrasings on the mridangam winning repeated applause. T. V. Vasan played the ghatam.

Thrissur V. Ramachandran, in form, did not deny the rasikas a well-structured RTP in Kalyani after a detailed alapana and rendering of Dikshitar's masterpiece, `Balagopala' in Bhairavi and `Nenurinchinanu,' a Tyagaraja quickie in Malavi. The three- hour plus concert was enthralling. Ramachandran sang a number of his guru GNB's favourites. Prapancham Ravindran's fast and slow beat on the mridangam and identical answers on the ghatam by Karthick contributed to a very interesting percussion duel.

- K. S.

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