Quality is their watchword
The Mambalam Sisters.
THE SISTERS Chitra, Vijayalakshmi (vocalists) and Hemalatha (violinist) have been long enough in Chennai to be identified as the Mambalam sisters. Through the years they have earned for themselves a tidy niche.
Discerning music connoisseurs as the Chennai `rasikas' are, this could not have been possible without the sheer diligence and dedication to quality that these musicians have displayed all through. At their concert for KFA at the RRS Hall there was abundant evidence of their meticulous attention to the factors of quality.
Ritigowlai, Kedaragowlai, Saveri, Kamalamanohari and Kalyani in succession presented variety, as welcome for their distinctness from one another as for the mature style in which they received handling.
Again ``Tulasi Bilva" of Tyagaraja, ``Sankari Samkuru" of Shyama Sastry, ``Narasimhudu" of Mysore Sadasiva Rao and ``Bhajare re chitta" of Muthuswamy Dikshitar; and the talas — double-beat Adi, Adi in Tisra -nadai, Khandajati Triputa (discretely tetrasyllabic in each `Matra') and Misra Chapu - all bore testimony to the care bestowed on the aspects of weightage to kriti and composer.
The excitement of speed and glitter was eschewed in favour of commitment and the urge to make a statement and deliver a message rather than just impress.
The Bhakti behind the words `Devi Sakti beejodbhava' which Muthuswamy Dikshitar has pumped into the charanam lines, could be felt by those of advanced years.
Lalitha and Nandini... identity of violin underlined.
That the young singers could bring it out speaks of the valuable guidance they must have received in training.
`Tani Avartanam' between Kallidaikurichi Sivakumar and Rangachari on Kanjira, lasting a mere five minutes towards the end before the lighter fare, fitted the solemn atmosphere built by the nearly half -hour long Kalyani essay.
The contribution of these two had been already woven into the fabric of the whole recital and enriched it.
Virtuosity shows up
The violin has got so enmeshed into our music that the music-lover is prone to see it as an accompaniment and no more — as an instrument whose function it is to beautify the alapana or niraval of the "main" musician, who gives the recital in a "Carnatic" style; to keep within the broad periphery outlined by the main performer. (In fact if the violinist crossed this line too often or too much, he could invite raised eyebrows). But the violin is live with its almost infinite potential. It can cover five or more octaves; it can produce, not just gamaka, but brigas at breathtaking speed, karuvais whose duration can be stretched far beyond the human voice or any other instrument, depending as it does, on how slowly you can draw the bow. In one sweep it can glide through a two-octave range; it can produce blissful harmony through the simple process of bowing two strings together and sustain it for as long as the player wishes. It can produce Duritakala swaras whose ``output per second" (to borrow from engineering terminology) can be phenomenal, perhaps within the reach of only the percussionist to match. (Thanjavur Kumar proved this point on the mridangam).
In western terms, it brings in several sound patterns like tremolo. We see fusion through the blending of cultures, the western violin having been married into the Carnatic family and being an excellent daughter-in-law; but there is also this aspect of her standing out in her own identity, while not ceasing to be the daughter-in-law of the Carnatic music household. That is how one perceived the effort of the sisters Lalitha and Nandini at their evening concert for KFA at the RRS Hall.
In the Abhogi Varnam they demonstrated the violin performing `Kalams' virtually not possible in other instruments, without losing the flavour of the varnam in style or raga. In quick succession in an hour, they brought out some seven numbers, but rooted in Carnatic style. Papanasam Sivan's `Mooladhara Murti' in Hamsadhwani, with a brief preface and excursions into kalpanaswara, Muthuswamy Dikshithar's `Kamakshi' in Simhendramadhyamam with brilliant swara-sancharas, `Paluka' of Tyagaraja in Navarasakannada; `Sri Venkatesa Gireesam' of Muthuswamy Dikshithar in Surati; `Nannukanne' of Tyagaraja in Sindhukannada came for competent handling. Papanasam Sivan's `Kapali' in Mohanam was delivered with alapana and swaras.
Thanjavur Kumar and T. D. Balu (ghatam) made a very pleasant musical pair to support the violinists. The whole concert was an example of virtuosity with the intent of holding up the glory of the instrument, without any show of personal achievement. Such performers should be welcome.
Good value for time
The concert of Rama and Geetha in the 12.30 p.m. slot on December 16, was one more instance when seriousness and sincerity combined with good training to make for a fair value for the listeners' time and the Sabha's faith in the artiste. "Rudrakopa," Muthuswamy Dikshitar's composition in Roopaka Talam and Raga Rudrapriya is not a song you normally come by. It was a good decision to make this a starting number, the way it was sung, competently in madhyama kalam, although many who have heard this are used to a very much slower pace. Geetha delivered a melodious Latangi alapana after this. Its tasteful development demanded a versatile voice, which she had. Kovai Chandran maintained excellent balance with the singer in matching her style in "vidvat" and "sukhabhava," although there was less of sangatis or brigas. "Aparadhamula" (Adi) came smoothly after this, and then a short niraval at "krpa chedina" and kalpanaswaras. The impeccable consonance between the two voices, together with timbre and volume underwrote the quality of the concert from start. The co-ordination with an equally sensitive Chandran on the violin and Umayalpuram Kalyanaraman on the mridangam made it easy for the forty-plus listeners in the Hall to enjoy the programme.
Satiating music
T. M. Krishna's two-hour concert for Kartik Fine Arts at the Narada Gana Sabha Hall on December 10, delivered what one expected — a satiation of the thirst for serious classical music. Maintaining this hue of commitment, Krishna followed up his rendition of "Sri Guru Guha" at a slow pace in Sriranjani (and not too common Khandajati Triputa) with a swaraprasthara at a matching pace. His long build-up of this at the end was well developed, and predictably, drew applause. He demonstrated that a good tempo can be achieved even without resorting to high speed in kalpanaswara. He relied also on Nagai Murali (violin) and Tanjavur Murthy (mridangam) to augment the effort.
The juvenile Anirudh on the stage, with his kanjira, turned out to be a stalwart, particularly during the quarter-hour tani, beautifully devised, captained and executed by Tanjavur Murthy. The giant, with his mridangam, and the cherubic artiste with his kanjira, made an endearing pair.
That the first response of the kanjira to the poser by the mridangam drew lusty applause was a unique feature.
Bombay Jayashree
Following "Bhogindra Sayinam'' delivered in a lively style without missing out on any nuance of song or tune, the singer settled to an enjoyable exploration of Kedaragowlai, through a classy ten-minute alapana, moving from `pa' to upper `sa' and above before descending to manthara and anumanthara Rishabha. There was excellent ravai in Nagai Murali's rejoinder in alapana.
Tyagaraja's "Tulasi Bilva'' was handled with commitment, with neraval at "Jalajasanarchita". One felt that this piece could have shone more at a slower pace. After tukkada in Kapi and Jonepuri, Krishna crowned his concert with the brisk tillana in Chenchuruti, chatusram, to conclude his wholesome fare.
Competent delivery
Sound consonance with the base sruti, neat selection and organisation of the items, quiet confidence, and dedicated and competent delivery highlighted Jayashree's singing, which was both inspired and inspiring, and made for an enjoyable two-hour vocal offering at the Narada Gana Sabha Hall on December 11. The apt placement of the kritis, in regard to raga, tala, and composer, made for interested listening, although the absence of pratimadhyama (except marginally, in Behag) was conspicuous. "Sri Mahaganapathim'' gave a lively start, Papanasam Sivan's "Mata Innum'', Tyagaraja's "Vadayanayya'' in Chandrajoti and "Rama Rama'' in Vasanta, all lent emotion without halting tempo.
The earlier short excursion into alapana in Harikambodi offered gentle relief from the stricter discipline of the rhythm of kriti. With "Enduku Nirdaya'' and neraval at three quarter, off and on, the concert reached a new phase, continued in Gopalakrishna Bharathi's "Sabhapathikku''. One saw commitment to faithful portrayal of Dhanyasi in preparation for the pallavi that was to follow.
Over some quarter-hour Jayashree, and then B. U. Ganeshprasad (violin), presented a tasteful alapana. The 15-minute pallavi, "Devi Sree Tripurasundari'' in Tisra triputa with a khandam for every matra was unostentatious, but equally pleasant to musical sensibility and appealing to musical intellectuality. Andolica, Nalinakanti and Bahudari (in forward and reverse order) for the Ragamalika swaras were choices in good taste.
The tani, lasting for some 10 minutes, was particularly interesting in as much as the mridangist Poongulam Subramanian and Trivandrum Rajagopal on the kanjira had to devise patterns around the not too-common format of the pallavi, and their production was both flawless and enjoyable.
It would be so contributive to the overall enjoyment of a concert if the mridangist could pay some attention to the ethos of the passage. A case was the playing for the Vasanta kriti, where the mood in some of the more solemn parts of the charanam was getting lost as the singer's voice was getting drowned by percussion. The sound system in the auditorium too was over-amplifying the music — a matter which drew vocal protest from the audience during the concert of T. M. Krishna the previous evening.
`Full-bench' recital
On December 12, at the R. R. Sabha Hall, the attendance of some 40 to 45 of the audience at 10 a.m. was a welcome sight.
The Chinmaya Sisters, Uma and Radhika, conducted their `Full-bench' recital with K. Sivaraman, Kumbakonam Ramakrishnan and K. V. R. S. Mani (kanjira).
The concert went on wheels, thanks to the appropriate programme formula the younger singers of today seem to have grasped. The varnam in Sriragam, "Sadananda Tandavam" and "Siva Siva Siva..." came in quick succession for active treatment and brisk disposal. The alapana in Kamavardini by Radhika was pleasant to the ear, and Sivaraman continued to maintain the mood.
"Akhilandeswari" in Dwijavanti received the caressing appropriate to the raga and the kriti.
Uma delivered alapana in Bairavi for some 10 minutes and let Sivaraman take over on his violin for a further short time.
Between them, they covered the range from madhya sthayi to tara sthayi suitably. "Balagopala'' in Adi (Samam) and neraval in "Neera... '' were rendered in good style, kalpanaswara, with appropriate kuraippus, well-tailored, and projected aptly for public appeal.
In fast neraval, the discreetness of the sahitya phrases could have been more pronounced, and in durita kala kalpanaswaras, sudden karuvais seemed out of place.
The tani between Ramkrishnan and Mani was well devised and rendered over some 72 avartanams and with plenty of mind-filling cluster-phrases (perattu-sorkkal).
The tukkada pieces were extremely melodious ("Rama Rama" in Desh, "Neela Vanathil" in Punnagavarali, the song on Tirupati in Hamsanandi and the tillana in Mohanam), and went well with the general mood.
The Chinmaya Sisters have commendable talent, skills and training, and considering their tender age, have good promise of making it to the higher grades.
P. S. KRISHNAMURTI
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