Faltering, yet promising
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Though Menon has all the qualities to become a professional, he needs to overcome several shortcomings.
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SRIDHAR R. Menon, a disciple of Seshachari (Hyderabad Brothers), presented a vocal recital at a concert organised by Kalasagaram. V Ramanamurthy accompanied him on the violin and G. Ramachandran on the mridangam.
Noticeably Menon has the required gift and erudition to turn into a professional singer He is still young and has many more years to carve a niche for himself. His strength lies in his precision of "sruti gnanam," which is a major factor for the success of a concert. A good sense of ragas that he has, helps him to build up a complete picture of a melody, and his fluency and articulation in "swara gnanam" adds to his faculty of "swarakalpana."
However, professional music demands much more then this, as it is competitive and also demanding. Basically his voice is deficient in depth; the "adhra shadja" (the tonal note) fails to register in full strength and the overall articulation is not in full throttle. The format of his singing is "madhyamakala" (fast tempo) and the overall content is speedy in almost every feature.
Patience needed
Although he tries his best to add bhava into his renderings, the substance does not stay. A patient planning in the design of his alapana and neraval should certainly help him. He should also pay some attention to the kala pramana in his singing as he is found to lose it frequently.
He started well with mohana varnam and went on to prnamamyhum in gowla. Both were needlessly racy. The alapana of "Malayamarutha" was impressive and the krithi, "Manasa etulorthune" was pleasing, although the swarakalpana was pointlessly extended. The alapana of "Shankarabharana" was elaborate but did not leave an impact. It was again in haste, which did not give time for the rasika to grasp the sangathis. An effort to go slow will also gives adequate time for imagination. The song "Nansauswadhinamai" went well.
The neraval and swarakalpana was just ritualistic. A short alapana of "Amrithavarshini" was catchy, although the krithi, "Anadamrithakarshini" had obdurate sangathis. The tail-enders like "Edulukalakamboji" and "Sama" were wedged in at the right place and time. Ramanamurthy's violin support was satisfying but the nada in the instrument is lacking. Ramachandran on the mridangam was quite enthusiastic and overplayed at places.
The habit of playing to the thala and not to the krithi is a failing with many of the young percussion players and Ramachandran should also guard against it. All in all, the concert was convincingly good and the audience enjoyed it.
B.R.C. IYENGAR
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