Enjoyable jugalbandhi
Sriram Parasuram and Anuradha Sriram ... — Pic. by S. Siva Saravanan
SRIRAM PARASURAM and Anuradha Sriram are accomplished artistes by virtue of their own merits. They have carved a niche for themselves in giving jugalbandi recitals, especially singing a piece of Carnatic music in a full-fledged Hindustani concert.
Refinement characterised the scholarly jugalbandi recital organised by Rajalakshmi Fine Arts, Coimbatore, on the second day of their music festival. Endowed with a clear and sweet voice, the duo's Hindustani rendition with their corresponding Carnatic equivalents made a great impact on the rasikas.
Sriram's weighty tone and Anuradha's soprano voice projected the thin line of difference. Their aalaaps etched easily and the akaaraas and ekaaraas with spiralling brighas emerged attractively.
Prefacing their recital with a brief account of the ragas, the vocalists commenced with an aalaap of Ahir Bhairav and the corresponding Chakravakam. In the terse alapana, in the Carnatic way, following the Hindustani mode, they sang "Gajananayutham Ganeshwaram" with meandering swaras. The dovetailing of Madhukauns and Sumanasaranjani in Bharathi's "Unnai arindavar" was mellifluous.
The following number, "Vaishnava Janatho" in Maanj Kamaas (Khamas) enabled the rasikas to realise the subtle difference between the two styles of the ragas. The akara stress in Parasuram's Poorvikalyani and the clear diction of Bharathi's "Ethanai kodi inbam vaithai" along with the Hindustani Puryakalyan for "Bahuth din beethe" were soulful presentations.
A melodious Surdas bhajan in Bhairavi, at the end, brought before the rasikas the picture of Lord krishna's arrival in Nanda's house as envisioned by the composer.
The duo were accompanied by Embar Kannan (violin), K. V. Prasad (mridangam), Umakanth Puranik (harmonium) and Gurumurthy Vaidhya (tabla).
The violinist gave an account of his ability to match the talent of the vocalists. The tani by Prasad on the mridangam and Gurumurthy Vaidhya on the tabla demonstrated their laya expertise.
Classicism
Some musicians strike a chord right in the heart of the listener. V. V. Subrahmaniam belongs to that kind. The performance of V. V. Subrahmaniam (violin) was an amalgam of maturity of perception, profundity and an exposition of the deeper comprehension of the classicism of Carnatic music.
The recital however, evoked mixed feelings in the beginning. Occasionally, his instrument played truant now and then in maintaining the sruti and this affected the melody and rhythm.
In the initial stages the tonal quality was not soft and sweet in "Theratheeyagaradha" (Gowlipanthu), "Swaminatha paripalaya" (Naattai) and "Nannubrova lalitha" (Lalitha). "Sree Saraswathi namosthuthe" coming next was played beautifully after a brief raga sketch of Arabhi conjuring up the vision of the goddess of learning.
The following piece, "Endaro Mahanubhavulu" was wrapped up in elegance and grace.
The momentum and tempo picked up in the latter half in the elaborate treatment of Poorvikalyani for "Anandanatamaduvar thillai" and Anandabhairavi for "Mariveregathi" which were well-anchored in the Carnatic tradition.
The delineation of majestic Todi, the main raga, demonstrated his creativity and it was well-matched by an intensity of feeling for rendering the kriti "Karthikeya Gangeya."
Excellent percussive support was provided by Thrissur Narendran (mridangam) in association with Vaikkom Purushothaman on the ghatam.
Their tani contained brilliant and varying rhythms, phrases ending in a vibrant muthaippu.
T. K. GANAPATHY
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