Speed, sound and song
RANJANI GOVIND
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It was a riotous confluence of mediums as Rajhesh Vaidhya's troupe paid musical obeisance to the Paramacharya.
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WITH A SACRED TOUCH: Rajhesh Vaidhya's fusion had piercing magic. PHOTO: R. SHIVAJI RAO.
Ramakrishna Kalyana Mandapam in West Mambalam saw a three-day marriage of a different kind this past weekend. It was the melodic union of swara, laya and raga, brought together by veena artiste, Rajhesh Vaidhya, under the auspices of Anusham Chamber Concerts. The event was dedicated to the Paramacharya.
Apart from well-known names in the music circle, the obeisance to the Saint featured young and talented musicians from the city, New Delhi and Malaysia.
If rhythm and melody gave it contemporary flavour the colourful portrait of the Paramacharya in the background rendered the ambience a sacred touch.
Be it the rhythmic exercises of Dhwani, from Lalgudi Ganesh of New Delhi, Ghatam Suresh's Laya Arpanam, Ghatam Karthick's Heart Beat, V. L. Kumar's Vadya Tarangini or the band of nine musicians who created some piercing magic in Rajhesh Vaidhya's Fusion... the splendour was truly in the amalgamation of a multiplicity of mediums and verses.
Impressive ragas
If the spoken language of laya, i.e. the mnemonics of tala, is to be presented with some delightful voice modulation, it was in the avarthanams of Shiva Kumar's konnakkol that left the audience breathless in Ganesh's Dhwani. While Lord Ganapathi was chosen with care from several krithis to form an impressive garland of ragas in Kumar's Vaadya Tarangini, loud ripples emerged from every exercise of Rajhesh's nine-member team. Said Rajhesh: "Reverberation of musical sounds is what my `Sound Blast' is all about... this is a confluence of melodic ideas, a platform for celebration of resonance... our show will present some wonder moments in speed, sound and song." His album "Sound Blast' was also released during the function.
While Rajhesh ignited the evening with the Adi-tala Mohana varnam presented in electric six paces, he negotiated with perfect ease Mozart, Beethoven and Bach for a mixed bag of rap melody that followed in Keeravani. "I have a passion for melodic experimentation and for bringing in several genres of music. While I learn every kriti in a conventional manner, it is the greatness of this all-encompassing veena that allows me to showcase some novel approaches, just as my Guru Chitti Babu had revolutionised the Cuckoo Song with his perfect pluck on the string," said Rajhesh, son of mridanga vidwan K. M. Vaidyanathan. While Rajhesh slipped in some soft notes with impressive oscillations on his frets creating a philharmonic effect in Natabhairavi, his spontaneous idea of bringing in vocalists for further meandering, especially in `Krishna Nee Begane Baro' only added more colour. `Bo Shambo' and Lingashtakam created a multi-stringed echo for the prayer-like atmosphere.
Mahesh Vinayakram's fast-paced chant concluding the Sindhubhairavi piece with `Hara Hara Shankara, Shambo Shankara' came as a fitting finale.
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