In bhakti-charged ambience

IT IS the duty of every true musician and organisation serving the cause of Carnatic music to offer reverence to Sri Tyagaraja and pass on his heritage to the future. His compositions have to be enjoyed and made part of life on spiritual terms, though today the trend to belittle the basis of bhakti in music is disquieting, Tyagaraja's songs are offered to Sri Rama and derived from Sri Rama himself.

In the prevailing environment to hook the mind to the soul of Sri Tyagaraja some external stimulus is required. The metropolises, where sabhas have grown in number with the air-conditioned music halls and the sophisticated ambience, are hardly congenial to live up to the composer's voice: ``sangeetha gnanamu-bhakti-vina- sanmargamu galade''.

It is in this context that the annual Sri Tyagaraja Festival in Tirupati is unique. To prepare the mind of those attending concerts and of the musicians taking part, the festival committee inspiringly re-enacted the longing of Sri Tyagaraja expressed in the song, ``Raa-raa-maa-intidaka'' by arranging to bring Sri Rama's idol from the temple in Tirupati to the venue of the concerts and taking the Tyagaraja idol to receive his ishtadevata at the entrance. This symbolic representations of the summum bonum of Sri Tyagaraja's life created the essential devotional environment to activate the dormant longing in each one's heart to think of the Supreme.

The Festival Committee is greatly strengthened by the spiritual aura that permanently prevails in Tirupati and the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam's active participation in the festival an echo of Sri Tyagaraja's sentiments expressed in the Ganavardi song. The TTD and the Sri Tyagaraja annual festival and the devotional response of the rasikas who sit through all the concerts till the end make one wonder whether this atmosphere prevails even at the Tiruvaiyaru aradhana.

Enhanced by a splash of decorative ornamentation, Unni Krishnan's performance progressed on the comfort of his voice. Structured to great length in his Sahana alapana the rasa of the raga got diluted. On the same lines, the elaborate Todi alapana had meandering sancharas thirteen to a dozen. Pragmatically P. Varadarajan, the violin accompanist, had to toe the line of the vocalist. Poongulam Subramaniam (mridangam), strained to the full to provide assertive, power-packed beats to embellish the kirtanas ``Sugunamule'' (Chakravakam), ``Karuna elaagante'' (Varali) ``Ksheenamai'' (Mukhari) and ``Kaddanuvaariki'' (Todi). The last two kirthanas skimmed the surface unmindful of their sahitya gowravam or structural depth.

Dwaram Lakshmi, accompanied by Salla Prabhavathi (violin) and Ramesh (mridangam) wove her vidwat around the kirthana ``Etaavunara''.

Those watching the progress of veena vidushi Geetha Krishnamurthy would have noticed the strides she has taken by way of intense practice which was clearly evident in the vinyasa of Pantuvarali (``Apparama Bhakthi'') and Karaharapriya (``Pakkala Nilabadi''). Of the two, delineation of the latter focussed on the life-giving moorchanas. The percussion artistes - S. Vijayendran (mridangam) and A. C. Shankar (ghatam) - greatly and intelligently framed their support.

The flute technique of Neela, Kunjumani, and Mala Chandrasekhar moved on pre-determined musical pathways. Well planned performing methods to the point of detailed rehearsed home preparation carried the recital without any jolt. Persuasive Kapi alapana (``Inta sowkhyamanine'') formed the core of the concert. V. V. Srinivasa Rao (Violin) soothingly reflected the beauties of Madhyamavathi and Kapi. Madirimangalam Swaminathan (Mridangam) played with great exuberance.

The performance of Palai Ramachandran was a testament to the kind of tutelage he had under Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer - a mix of Carnatic soundness and unrelenting briskness well brought out in the interpretation of the kritis. The main item was Kharaharapriya (``Rama neeyadda'') well structured in the alapana in which the violinist Sriramkumar scored with more of graceful, delicate sancharas compelling rapt attention. Manoj Siva brought percussive vitality and vibrancy of supporting patterns to go well with Palai Ramachandran's energetic music. The brief tani was intense, precise, and deeply penetrating.

Balakrishnaprasad who is associated exclusively with the Annamacharya Project, stepped out of his Annamacharya confines to the broad Carnatic music enclosure with the kirtanas ``Vallaba Nayakasya'', (Begada) ``Ilalo pranatharthi'' (Atana) and ``Sri Viswanatam Bhaje'' (Bhairavi). His main item was ``Ade-lanka- saadinche'', an Annamacharya song in Kiravani, the raga alapana of which was pleasant. Salla Prabhavati on the violin revealed a deeper vision of Kiravani's beauty well and truly expressed in the solo version. Ramesh, the mridangist, played with perfect understanding with the vocalist.

Modesty and moderation marked the recital of T. K. Ramachandran. Muffling stood in the way of free communication of musical statements, particularly in the tara sthay. The main effort was the alapana of Simhendramadhyamam (Rama Rama guna seema) with neraval and swaras. Delhi Sunderrajan (violin) and K. V. Prasad (mridangam) lent their experience to guide the vocalist without presenting themselves in the limelight.

In her sitar recital, Anjan Saha, accompanied by Viswajit Dey (tabla), rendered Rajesri, Desh Malhar, and Bhairavi (Carnatic Sindhubhairavi) with great dexterity and fingering virtuosity. The cascading speedy passage were much relished by the audience.

- SVK

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Entertainment
Previous : Blend of the old and new
Next     : Kala Siromani awards