Commendable maiden effort
THE CARNATIC music concert organised by Raga Sagaram Music and Arts Society was perhaps the first of its kind. Their maiden programme was a vocal concert by Fr. Paul Poovathingal CMI who has earned the name the "singing priest." Fr. Paul is a graduate in English and Psychology from Christ College, Bangalore. Though he had exposure to music at the age of 17, his seminary duties did not allow him much time to presume it. But after graduation the pull was too strong to resist and at the age of 31 he dedicated himself to the study of Carnatic music. But why was it so? It is not common for a Christian priest to take to classical Carnatic music! Says Fr. Paul, "as a priest my search was for reaching divinity; I felt that music was the best means to achieve the goal and realise divinity." He joined the Sangita Shironmani course at the University of Delhi where he also did and continued with his Masters and won a gold medal. While in Delhi he had learnt music from a few eminent artistes like T.R. Subramaniam. Later he pursued his Ph.D. at the University of Madras under the guidance of Prof. Karaikudi Subramaniam. In Chennai he found gurus in K. J. Yesudas and more recently Vaikom Jayachandran. The first ever concert of Fr. Paul began with the Navaragamalika Varnam and included "Vatapiganapathim" in Hamsadhwani, "Sobillu Sapthaswara" in Jaganmohini, "Paripalayamam" in Reetigowla, "Karunasagara" in Atana, a composition of Vedanayakam Pillai. The short raga alapana of Reetigowla was quite attractive. Kaitepuram Damodaran Namboodri's "Sri Esunatham Bhaje," set to tune by Fr. Paul in Abhogi created a pleasant mood. After `Bantoreeti' in Hamsanadam, Fr. Paul took up the main item of `O Rangasayee' in Kamboji with raga alapana, neraval and swarakalpana.
The concert which started with verve began to sag in the middle because the vocalist was nervous as it was his maiden concert and also had been troubled by a throat infection in the previous few days. After Kamboji, however, it picked up. Fr. Paul was lucky in having seasoned artists. S. R. Mahadeva Sarma on the violin, K. V. Prasad on the mridangam and Tirupunithura Radhakrishnan on the ghatam to accompany him. Mention should be made of the excellent support rendered by Prasad. The tani avartanam by the two percussionists was very impressive.
The concert was held in the presence of Yesudas, Karaikudi Subramaniam and the `Padma' awardees T. N. Seshagopalan and Sikkil Sisters, who were felicitated. The veterans praised Fr. Paul's efforts. The sore points were the much too loud amplification and the video cameramen who blocked the view of the audience. The stage dιcor was appealing.
LAKSHMI VENKATARAMAN
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