Full of frills and flourish
SVK
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Even the significance of the day — Tyagaraja Jayanti — does not deter musicians from indulging in swaras.
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YOUNG TALENT: Ramjhi's Isai Mazhalai singing Pancharatna kritis at Thiagaraja Sangeetha Vidwath Samajam on May 14. PHOTO: K. V. Srinivasan.
It was a performance set to pace and tempo-clad. With the two voices adding punch to exposition, with the mridangist Madirimangalam Swaminathan pounding the instrument and with S. Karthick applying palm-pressure on the ghatam, Rudrapatnam Brothers, R. N. Thyagarajan and R. N. Tharanathan saw to it that the kutcheri conformed fully to the present day platform culture.
Rarely was there an indication of visranti even when all the songs were Tyagaraja's. This was on the occasion of the saint-composer's Jayanti arranged by Narada Gana Sabha in association with Saraswathi Vaggeyakara Trust.
"Vidulaku" (Mayamalavagowla) "Samayamu Telisi" (Asaveri) "Yagnaadulu" (Jayamanohari) and "Aaragimpave" (Todi, with a brief alapana) formed the early part of the concert with kalpanaswaras tagged on to every piece and particularly at three points in the Mayamalavagowla kirtana. Cannot musicians resist the temptation of swaras at least on Tyagaraja Jayanti and aradhana days as being observed at the Tiruvaiyaru festival?
In this context, Soolamangalam Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar (1866-1943), a Harikatha exponent who revered Tyagaraja and who was held in great esteem by many musicians of his era, in his thumbnail sketches of some vidwans of his time has this to record of three prominent sishyas of Tyagaraja. I quote: "Although the brothers (Umayalpuram Krishna Bhagavathar and Umayalpuram Sundara Bhagavathar) had a high degree of swara gnana, out of deference to the wishes of their master, they never indulged in kalpanaswaras. Of Tillaisthanam Rama Iyengar, he says: "Although Rama Iyengar was a past master in the art of singing kalpanaswaras, he refrained from doing so lest his own creative music should to a certain extent obliterate the beautiful impression of the compositions." Such was the reverence to Tyagaraja.
M. A. Sundareswaran was the violinist who stood firmly by the accompanist's dharma of reflecting the mood and the motivation of the vocalists.
Emphasis on rakti
Showing good vocal management in raga alapanas and rendering of kirtanas, Prema Rangarajan framed her concert for Nada Inbam on the strength of Ritigowla, Sahana and Shanmukhapriya. Though there was no passion and excitement in her exposition, there was substance particularly in the elaboration of Sahana placing proper emphasis on its rakti aspect.
Similarly, the song "Abhayaambaayam" was also satisfying. The other two — Ritigowla ("Ragaratna Maalikache" and Shanmukhapriya "Vadane" of Tyagaraja — were built on settled lines. The violinist V. L. Kumar was often prone to exhibit the prowess in adjusting kanakku swaras and exotic raga sancharas. Kallidaikurichi Sivakumar (mridangam) was modest to extend that much support as the songs needed.
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