Bright new beginnings
|
It was an evening of fresh fragrances. Kerala's Cheppadu A. E. Vamanan Namboothiri gave his maiden solo concert in New Delhi, while C.S. Anuroop's young violin students bowed to delightful effect, says VENKATESAN SRIKANTH.
|
Disciples of C.S. Anuroop who performed in New Delhi the other day.
IT IS said that most forms of music, by their very essence, are soothing, energising and uplifting. A Carnatic music concert bereft of gimmicks and adventurism of any kind not only makes us experience these effects, but also makes an indelible impression on our minds. The maiden full-fledged concert of Kerala's Cheppadu A. E. Vamanan Namboothiri, in Delhi this past week under the aegis of Swathi Thirunal Nadalaya and Lok Kala Manch, New Delhi, in the latter's auditorium was a delightful experience of such a nature.
If Vamanan's beautiful presentation of the Sri raga varnam, "Sami Ninne Kori" of Karur Devudu Iyer, set to Adi tala, was indication enough of the memorable evening to follow, Dikshitar's, "Siddhi Vinayakam", in the raga Shanmukhapriya, set to tala Rupakam, and Swathi Tirunal's "Ananda Valli", in the raga Nilambari, set to Adi tala, rarely sung in concerts, showed his mastery over the art.
The alapanas in the beginning of these two compositions and the swaraprasthara at the end of "Siddhi Vinayakam" were laced with rich creativity and imagination.
Vamanan then, apart from making a fine presentation of the alap of the raga Chandra Jyoti, before singing Tyagaraja's Adi tala composition "Vagaya Naiyya", gave a good account of his manodharma talents in the swaraprasthara that flowed towards the end of this song. Similarly, the main song of the concert, "Ika Nanu", a composition of Palavi Sesha Iyer in the raga Bhairavi, Adi tala, was complete in all respects, except that he could have taken a little more time for the alap. If time constraints were a consideration, he could have cut down some of the time he spent earlier on the alap of Shanmukhapriya.
Cheppadu A.E. Vamanan Namboothiri.
C. S. Anuroop, apart from giving good support on the violin throughout the concert, proved his manodharma talents, particularly, in his alapana of the raga Chandra Jyoti and Bhairavi. Thrissur-based Palakkad K. Jayakrishnan on the mridangam and Delhi's R. Srinivasan on the kanjira gave excellent support with a good deal of understanding of the compositions presented. They also excelled in the tani avartanam in Adi tala.
Having learnt early lessons in Carnatic music from his mother Droupathikutty Antherjanam, Vamanan has also learnt from Haripad Gopinadhan and is presently undergoing advanced training from Mavelikkara R. Prabhakara Varma.
Youngsters impress
Earlier in the evening, youngsters A. Sneha, Ramya Ramesh and J. Kaushik - all disciples of C.S. Anuroop - presented an impressive violin trio concert. They began their concert with a flawless presentation, an Adi tala varnam in the raga Nalinakanthi. They then presented Pattanam Subramanya Iyer's "Manasu Karugademi" in the raga Hamsadhwani and Tyagaraja's "Sobillu Saptaswara" in Jaganmohini in quick succession.
The main song, a composition of Muthiah Bagavatar, "Bhuvaneswariya" in the raga Mohanakalyani, underwent fine treatment in the hands of these youngsters. While Sneha presented a good alap in the beginning, Ramya and Kaushik joined later in the swaraprasthara, in which they brought out some impressive phrases, by turns. While the hard work could be seen, these youngsters should now concentrate more on the manodhrama aspects of Carnatic music to move ahead in the learning curve of concert presentation. Palakkad K. Jayakrishnan provided good support on the mridangam.
Parents of these children also need to be complimented for their initiative in involving them in such activities, at a time when weaning children away from cable channels and Internet is a mammoth task.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
