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Tempo is not everything
IF GOOD Carnatic music inspires an attitude of contemplation in the minds of rasikas, it was totally absent in the cutcheri of Malladi Brothers, Rama Prasad and Ravi Kumar for Raga Tarangini. An expressional drive on the speedy track motivated by maintenance of tempo all the time turned their effort into a galloping recital.
One felt that the Malladi Brothers could well be reminded of the fact that nothing is convincing that required such lengthy elaboration as Bhairavi, Poorvikalyani and Devagandhari the way they handled the ragas.
The duration of an alapana does not necessarily help a musician reveal the inherent beauties of a raga. Moreover, the movement of Devagandhari or Yadukulakambhoji (Lalite-Maam-Paahi) are not to be whipped up by tonal haste, but has to be built on meditative korvais and swinging grace. Both at the hands of the vocalist and violinist Raghavendra Rao, Devagandhari now and then peeped into the domain of Aarabhi by the way the sancharas were framed.
An unfamiliar varnam in Mayamalavagowla provided the kickstart to what was to come. ``Sangita-Sastra-Gnanamu'' (Mukhari) and ``Paraloka-Bhaya'' (Poorvikalyani) were familiar kirtanas sung by them with velocity and verve. Their technique threw a bait to the mridangist Mannargudi Easwaran and ghatam artiste N. Govindarajan to rule the progress of the concert. Percussive-tilted music can titillate, but cannot tranquilise.
Under the auspices of Flute Mali Memorial Committee, R. Thyagarajan gave a flute recital marked by frugal simplicity in the alapanas of the ragas Amritavahini and Harikambhoji, but his kalpanaswaras for the Harikambhoji kirtana, ``Enduku-Nirdaya,'' were oriented to too much of Kanakku exercise that would have pleased laya buffs and not those expecting sensitive music. The flute tradition of N. Ramani, his father, was there in structuring the raga alapanas and rendering of the songs, ``Vallaba-Nayakasya'' (Begada) and ``Sri-Rama-Padama'' (Amritavahini). He used all his faculties to convey smoothness of exposition. He was accompanied by S. D. Sridhar on the violin, sportingly responding to the Kanakku swaraprastharas. When mathematics ruled, Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam could hardly contain his enthusiasm for frenetic percussive patterns in his tani particularly often crossing the threshold of listening tolerance. E. M. Subramaniam (ghatam) and Srirangam Kannan (morsing) were propelled by Bhaktavatsalam's propensity to dazzle.
As Suguna Purushothaman sang one song after another at the Musiri Chamber Concert, she made it plain that all the time she was going to the roots of her guru, Musiri Subramania Iyer. A particular bhani is not merely a specific style but to recapture the distinctiveness of interpretative technique. Eschewing flamboyance, Suguna Purushothaman's was easy-paced rendering of the songs ``Samugana-Nilva'' (Kokila Varali) ``Korinavara'' (Ramapriya), ``Sri-Kumaralaya'' (Atana), ``Janani-Ninnuvina'' (Ritigowla) and ``Sri-Venkatesa-Girisam'' (Surati).
The raga alapanas of Ramapriya, Atana and Ritigowla were meticulously chiselled. She had in M.R.Gopinath (violin) a companion of refinement. Neyveli Narayanan (mridangam) and K.V.R.S.Mani (Kanjira) nursed the kirtana with great care.
SVK
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