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Chaste and pleasing
VEENA IS a sweet instrument, provided you use it caressingly and not `assault' it to produce unmelodious sounds. S. Srinivasan's recital at Nadopasana was free from all this. It was chaste and pleasing to the ears. Starting with Veena Kuppa Aiyar's Sahana varnam, he played "Jaya Jaya," a Purandara Dasar kriti in Nattai, avoiding unnecessary sancharas.
In fact, in the entire recital, there was not a phrase or idiom that offended the vadya dharma. Kanada alapana was brief but succinct and Tyagaraja's "Sri Narada" (one of the five kritis paying homage to Narada) was rendered with neraval and swaras. The alapana in Purvikalyani was comprehensive, and the brief tanam enhanced the beauty of the effort.
Dikshitar's "Meenakshimemudam" with neraval and swaras at "Madurapuri" glittered. Swati Tirunal's "Smarajanaka" (Behag) gave a tilting touch to the concert. Nellai Balaji (mridangam) and Trichy Murali (ghatam) gave good support and even in the tani avartanam there was no sign of exuberance _ quite befitting the subtle concert.
Inspiring music
It was as well that Rama Ravi abridged the neraval which was not going well in Vasudevachar's Shubapantuvarali kriti, "Paripahimam". She did not attempt any swara also. "Chittam Irangatha" (Sahana, Papanasam Sivan) and Dikshitar's "Palayamam" (Kannada) with chittai swaras proved a good run-up to Tyagaraja's "Ramaneeyada" for which the artiste sang a resourceful Kharaharapriya alapana. Quite strong in diction, Tyagaraja's "Nadopasana" (Begada) with swara at "Vedo... " and "Tulasi Jagajanani" (Saveri) were sung inspiringly. Nandita Ravi, who gave wholesome support, especially in the higher sancharas, has a good voice. But why on occasions is it muffled?
T. K. Padmanabhan (violin) did a quiet but effective job while the percussionists Thanjavur Subramaniam (mridangam) and H. Sivaramakrishnan (ghatam) were no less equal.
Though there was nothing to write home about in Usha Ramamurthy's gottuvadyam recital, the Shankarabharanam alapanam, and the rendering of "Sarojadalanetri" with neraval and swaras at the charanam revealed a good patanthara, and sruti suddham.
K.V. Gopalakrishnan (mridangam) and N. Guruprasad (ghatam) were the accompanists.
In muffled tone
Delivering the brigas in a muffled tone, Dr. S. K. Venkatachari (Hyderabad) found Tyagaraja coming to his rescue after his insipid Varali alapana in the form of the poet's most moving "Etijanmavidhitha". Delivered in the same style, the Harikhamboji alapana found an ally in Thanjavur Sankara Aiyar's "Muruga Tirumal Maruga". S. Chandran's phrases on the violin were more forthright. S. Thiagarajan (mridangam) and N. Sundar (morsing) gave adequate support.
Good choice of kritis
T. Sankaran's flute recital was noteworthy for suswaram, a good choice of kritis, tala precision and tempo. Veteran T. Rukmani (once the immortal Mali Mahalingam's violin accompanist) played her role to perfection, adding glamour and a rare musical flavour to the flautist's efforts. It was good team-work in which J. Vaidyanathan (mridangam) and B. S. Purushothaman (kanjira) gave their usual quota of percussive excellence and earned well-deserved applause.
Poochi Iyengar's popular Paramapavana in Purvikalyani was the star turn and Sankaran authored a faithful script. Belonging to the veena Dhanammal lineage, Sankaran's Ahiri alapana for a Swati Tirunal composition, a tarangam in Bageswari and the charming javali "Sakhiprana" (jhunjuti) stood out.
Earlier, "Kalanerchina" (Dipaka - Tyagaraja), "Manasamanasamarthya" (Vardhini) and the lilting "Chinna Natana" (Kalanidhi), Mali's favourite, were played effectively.
Dull and drab
The concert by the duo Prema-Jaya (Tiruchi Sisters) was a dull and drab affair. When Jaya sang an extended alapana of Sarangamatha raga hardly did anyone in the audience identify it. As the concert was being recorded by AIR, no announcement was possible. It was a new raga created by Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar. The song was "Srimahabalagirinivala" and like all of his kritis, this one too had chittai swaras. Prema's Pantuvarali alapana for Mysore Vasudevachar's "Sankarininne" was passable.
Dikshitar's "Marakadalingam" infused some spirit into the concert. Lalgudi Rajalakshmi's violin play was noted for subtle nuances and did help raise the status and stature of the concert to some extent. Koviladi Madhwaprasad (mridangam) and S. V. Viswanathan (ghatam) gave good percussive support.
Promising
Vasudha Keshav (Mysore) bears promise. She has commendable manodharma. But she would do well to cut the excessive brigas, which do not carry much weight or depth. Nor does it add to the beauty of the alapana. Her Todi alapana was well measured though rendering of the demanding Tyagaraja kriti, "Dasarathi" was not as effective.
Challa Prabhavati (Tirupati) played a few evocative phrases on the violin while Erode Nagarajan (mridangam) and D. V. Venkatasubramaniam (ghatam) figured in a brief tani avartanam
KSR
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