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Lesson from the veteran's bow
T. N. KRISHNAN, in his solo violin concert for SAFE (Shanti Arts Foundation and Endowments) took the rasikas on a pilgrimage to Tiruvaiyaru through five beautiful Tyagaraja kirtanas in a row. That a vidwan of his stature with six decades of experience played exceedingly well is only to stress the obvious.
But what he has to offer to the young generation through concert demonstration is more relevant. First and foremost Tyagaraja kirtanas contribute to more than half the success of a concert.
Two: A major raga soon after the start lays a firm foundation. He played Kalyani, the alapana of which was majesticin a stance of melodic expression, calm and controlled. The song was``Nidhi- Sala-Sukhama".
Three: Vocal assertiveness with sound and fury or gimmickry to impress listeners is not at all necessary. The visranti marga alone is the royal path to worship the muse. How beautifully he brought forth this truth in the alapana of Suruti and the song "Geetartamu-Sangitaa-Aanandamu.''
How many of our popular musicians today go to the deeper, dainty and delicious domains of a raga as Krishnan presented Suruti.
Four: What brings out the spirit or bhava of a composition- cluttered sangatis according to each artiste's whims and fancies or picturised graciousness or bewitching beauties of a kirtana like``Evarani-Nirnainchirira''with just relevant sangatis punctuated with deep karvais.
Five: Where does sensitivity of Carnatic music lie? Is it in brandishment of vocalism or conceptualising the invisible beauty of Carnatic music's sublimity?
Where the mind craves for exhibitionism, music departs. The programme included ``Sobillu-Saptaswara'' (Jaganmohini)``Padavini''(Salakubhairavi) and "Marugelara'' (Jayanti Sri).
Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam on the mridangam presented a picture in contrast.
While fairly subdued in the song session, the tani avartanam was an unrelenting display of muscle-power, the laya patterns sounding like cracker explosions. The ghatam by Vaikom Gopalakrishnan provided soothing interludes.
Rich and vigorous
The solo violin concert of Narmada for Nadopasana was intensely vigorous with tonal richness giving a personal identity to her style of play. Harmony and balance were well stressed with incredible control over both bowing and fingering. The raga alapanas of Amritavarshini and Karaharapriya were presented with lucidity.
If interpretative scholarship has to serve the purpose of listeners' appreciation of the musical beauty of the compositions, Narmada was very successful in placing before the rasikas the kritis``Deva-Deva-Kalyani''(Mayamalavagowla) "Anandaamritaa-karshini''(Amritavarshini)``Pakala-Nilapadi'' (Karaharapriya). The swiftness of the other two items``Anupama- Gunaambudi''(Atana) and``Parama-Purusham''(Lalita Panchamam) added a pleasant edge to the songs.
In Neyveli Narayanan (mridangam) and Purushottaman (Kanjira) Narmada had very understanding percussionists who provided striking laya profiles. The tani avartanam brimmed with passionate charm.
In the performing technique of T. S. Satyavati of Bangalore there was expressiveness with great exaggeration. In singing style she seemed to be over-conscious of her vidwat quality. As for handling kirtanas she was able to impart Carnatic music's depth as could be seen in the very first song ``Maha-Ganapathim'' in Todi. There was a touch of idealism in the rendering of Tyagaraja's Yadukulakambhoji's piece ``Hechcha-Riga-Gaa-Raa-Raa.'' The alapana of Vachaspati was well structured but suffered now and then from tonal fading. There was not an all-round open- mouthed exposition. Ganesh Prasad on the violin and Manoj Siva on the mridangam extended valuable support.
Lavishness in exposition with an eye on robustness characterised the veena concert of Trivandrum Venkataraman. He has heightened ability and consciously tapped the core of a raga or a song to display his commitment. The Varali raga alapana was traditional followed by the song ``Maamava- Meenaakshi''. Madirimangalam Swaminathan (mridangam) and T. V. Vasan (ghatam) well relished the spirited interpretation of Venkataraman.
Unhurried rendering of kirtanas and alapana format of the old-world marked the performance of Seerkazhi Jayaraman for Nada Inbam. There was catchy nidanam in presenting the characteristic features of Dhanyasi and Karaharapriya in their vinyas. With well known pidis in both the ragas violinist M. R. Gopinath enhanced the delights of Dhanyasi and Karaharapriya. Representative vaggeyakaras' compositions found place in the programme. — ``Tulasidala'' (Mayamalavagowla) and ``Kori-Sevimpa'' (Karaharapriya) of Tyagaraja, ``Sadaa-Chaleswaram'' (Bowli) of Dikshitar and ``Meena-Lochani'' (Dhanyasi) of Shyama Sastri. The mridangist D. Govindarajan and morsing artiste Srirangam Kannan gave deft touches in their accompanying role and opened out in their tani avartanam.
— SVK
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