Raga nuances captured well

FEATURED BY Dr. Nalli Gana Vihar (erstwhile Sri Krishna Gana Sabha) in its series in celebration of the Music Trinity and Swati Tirunal Jayanthi, the recital of Maharajapuram S. Ramachandran was reflective of his enthusiasm to convey Carnatic music in a pleasing style of vocal artistry.

The vocalist presented the opening varnam `Nivegathi' briskly in a form aligned exactly on the sruthi. Following an attractive rendition of `Gajavadane' in Sriranjani, the singer delighted the audience with a relaxed rendition of the piece, `Merusamana' of Thyagaraja in Mayamalavagowlai. The vocalist's endeavour to capture the raga's nuances in the phase of this piece through a series of modulated neraval exercises drew special attention.

Maharajapuram Ramachandran covered a considerable extent of Arabhi in a mode of impressive raga delineation. He followed up with a neat delivery of the piece, `Narasimha' of Swati Tirunal. The vocalist's description of Varali was planned well with sufficient emphasis laid on the features of its significant grace. The monumental piece, `Kamakshi-bangaru' of Syama Sastri in it was conveyed by him calmly with a discernible appreciation of its distinctive excellence in raga-oriented diction.

Maharajapuram Ramachandran gave a delightful account of Brindavanasaranga. His depiction of the piece, `Swaminathane' of Muthuswamy Dikshithar in it had a refreshing kalapramana. The singer completed it with some pretty swaras. Nagai Muralidharan lent smooth accompaniment on the violin. His sketches of Arabhi, Varali and Brindavanasaranga were shiny. The violinist's colourful display of swaras in the phase of Brindavanasaranga merits mention.

Mannargudi A. Easwaran rendered lively support on the mridangam. His thani included interesting metrical details.

Promising

Young Shree Lakshmi Das gave a promising account of her proficiency in playing on the veena. Her recital was featured by Kalavardhani at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's mini hall in Mylapore.

The artiste impressed the audience with her enjoyable execution of the pieces, `Pranamamyaham' (Gowlai), `Marivere' (Lathangi) and `Chakkanirajamargamu' (Karaharapriya). The piece in Lathangi was preceded by a fair raga sketch. The player's presentation of swaras for the piece in this raga set to khandachapu was convincing with precision of rhythm. Shree Lakshmi Das drew a passable outline of Karaharapriya and completed it with a set of lucid thanam phrases. The artiste completed the piece of Thyagaraja in it with palatable swara passages.

Kumbakonam Saravanan (mridangam) and Adambakkam Shankar (ghatam) offered suitably subdued percussion support.

Earlier in a function, a cassette and CD containing the veena recital of Shree Lakshmi Das recorded by Kalavardhini was released by R. Krishnaswamy, Secretary, Narada Gana Sabha. Maithreyi Ramadurai received the first copies of the cassette and the C.D.

- R.V.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Entertainment
Previous : Annual celebration
Next     : Ardent devotee of Tyagaraja