The Hindu : International : Mandolin duo dazzles

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 15, 2004

International

International

Mandolin duo dazzles

By Shanti Murali

SINGAPORE, APRIL 14. There were accolades aplenty heard from the audience as the mandolin duo of U. Shrinivas and U. Rajesh performed in a charity event here on April 10. The event, held in aid of the Dyslexia Association of Singapore, was organised by Arte Compass.

U.Shrinivas at the concert in Singapore

Mandolin Shrinivas' multi-cultural and cosmopolitan experience showed in the selection of the right compositions to suit the tastes of all the races and cultures present. Without deviating from the classical tradition, he started the recital with the brisk Charukesi varnam, a composition of Lalgudi G. Jayaraman, the violinist. Then came the piece Mahaganapathim in Nattai. Shrinivas brought the spirit out among the audience by rendering swarams in Mahakavya Natakadhi Priyam. Evergreen hits such as Ninnuvena (Navarasa Kannada), Nagumomu in Abheri, Brahmamokkate, Sai Bhajans, Chinanjiru Kiliye (Bharatiar's compositions) brought a glow on the faces in the audience.

While keeping within the boundaries of the traditional classical pantha, Shrinivas did not fail to provide a pleasurable rendering of ragam, thanam, pallavi to the serious rasikas. However, one would have expected a maestro of such high calibre and steeped in tradition to have chosen a more difficult thala pattern. The pallavi was Sama Yedupu in ragam Simhendra Madhyamam in adi thalam. But, even before one could realise this, Shrinivas and his equally talented brother, Rajesh, mesmerised the audience with ragamaligai in pallavi with melodious ragas such as Kannada, Sivaranjani and Hamsanandi. This more than compensated for the missing alapanas in the earlier items. Shrinivas concluded the concert by conceding a request from the audience to play a thillana in Maand. Special mention has to be made of the young and talented U. Rajesh, who contributed significantly in adding colour and exhibiting his prowess with typical modesty. U. Shrinivas was ably supported on the violin by S.D. Sridhar, on the mridangam by Tanjore Murugabhoopathy and on the ghatam by S.V. Ramani. Thaniavartanam was enjoyable and was appreciated by the audience.