Concert of high class

CLARITY IN rendering the sahityam, splitting of words in the right way to bring out the spiritual fervour of the composer gave a high class label to D. V. Ashvin's concert and earned the appreciation for the young artiste, a grandson of T. K. Rangachari, noted musician of yesteryear.

After a superb alapana in Arabhi the kriti chosen was Papanasam Sivan's ``Ayyappanai Panivom'' which might not have met with the approval of discerning rasikas who would have preferred this devotional in the concluding phase of the concert. But the artiste did full justice to the song. The neraval at the final line of charanam, ``Neeraja Nayana Sri Tyagarajanuta Baludagu'' in Tyagaraja's ``Ne Pogadakunte'' was rendered effectively and the swaras fast and slow testified to Ashvin's erudition. The Salagabhairavi alapana as well as Tyagaraja's delightful kriti, `Padavi Nee Sadbhaktiyu' and `Arulsaiya' (Rasikapriya- Koteeswarayar) laid the foundation for the leisurely and expansive exposition of the Madhyamavati raga. What better kriti could have been chosen save Tyagaraja's `Ramakathasudharasa'. The artiste went all out with a galore of sancharas and after completing the song began the neraval at the anupallavi, ``Bhamamani Janaki Sowmitri...'' treating it as an RTP pallavi line. The neraval and the intricate swaras proved a good challenge for violinist V. Sanjeevi who stood his ground well. The duel worked up great interest. Mridangist S. Ashwin also contributed his share to the musical exercise was cheering all round. Besides the supplemental support, the mridangist showed his laya prowess in a tani avartanam.

Students of Purandharadasar would have been most pleased to hear all the three charanams in `Jagadhodarana', unlike a few musicians who sing only the last charanam containing the mudra.

Ashwin concluded with his grandfather's fascinating tillana in Tilang.

A very poor turnout would have disheartened any artiste, but not the versatile veteran Tiruchy S. Gurunathan who went through the two-hour plus concert full of zest. An interesting feature of his concert was that he would sing appropriate swaras before beginning an alapana and midway through too while rendering the kritis. `Pamarajana Palini' (Dikshitar) with neraval and swaras at Kamitartha paladhayini was noteworthy. The list of Tyagaraja kritis he sang included `Samajavaragamana', `Vasudeva', `Mokshamugalada', and `Nagumomugalavani' (Utsavasampradaya). The artiste's enthusiasm was most laudable. C. A. Rajasekharan (violin) and K. Srivatsa (mridangam) were the accompaniment. A well-planned alapana in Kharaharapriya for Tyagaraja's `Pakkala Nilabadi' with a detailed neraval and swaras at the charanam at Tanuvuche vandana monarinchu chunnaraa highlighted Gayathri Venkataraghavan's well attended concert under the auspices of Hamsadhwani.

There was variety in the programme with kritis of the Trinity and post Trinity composers. What is most appreciative in her music is that she does not muffle her voice to get artificial bhava or show of bhakti.

Strong in laya and clear in diction she has a good patanthara to back. The idioms and syllables she uses in the alapanas are pleasing and follow in the footsteps of the old masters.

In the Kalyani alapana the artiste displayed musical discipline and her rendering of `Birana Brova yide' (Tarangampadi Panchandyy) with evocative neraval and swaras at Neepadapankaja evoked appreciation.

Violinist Akkarai Subbalakshmi who has been improving with every concert since her debut a few years ago played her role as an accompanist to perfection. While rendering Kalyani and Kharaharapriya alapanas she gave added colour to the vocalist's exercise. Nellai Balaji (mridangam) and D. Rajagopal (Khanjura) figured in an exciting tani avarthanam.

- K.S.

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