Keeping alive a tradition
K.C. ASOK
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The eight-day Chembai music festival saw music buffs throng the venue on all the days.
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ENCHANTING LISTENERS: V. Sivaranjani and V. Nalinakanthi.
Chennai-based Carnatic vocalist R. Suryaprakash gave an exhilarating concert on the sixth day of the Chembai Music Festival that was held in Thiruvananthapuram.
Guru bani
The two-and-a-half hour recital proved the singer's prowess in raga, niraval and kalpana swaram. The bani (even the gesticulations while singing) was that of his guru, T. V. Sankaranarayanan, who belongs to the Madurai Mani Iyer musical tradition.
Keeravani was the major raga of the evening and the alapana skimmed the less-travelled trajectory of the raga. Thyagaraja kriti `Kaligiyunde... ' set to chowka kala in Adi talam, niraval and swaram followed. Another explorative raga Panthuvarali was given its due. `Kanikarambu... ,' composed by Dr. V.V. Sreevatsa was presented in Kanthamani, which is a raga that is seldom heard.
`Nee bhajanagana rathikula (Nayaki), `Sivaloka nathane... ' (Mayamalavagowla), `Orajoopuju... ' ( Kannada Gowla), `Amba manam kaninthu... ' (Panthuvarali), `Sree mathrubootham' (Kannada), and other pieces were sequenced so well that the tempo did not slacken at any juncture.
Percussion ensemble
The percussion ensemble comprised mirdangam maestro Mavelikkara K. Velukutty Nair, Adichanallur Anil Kumar on the ghatom and Thiruvananthapuram Sajikumar on the muharsang. With Velukutty Nair setting the pace, the other percussionists' jobs were half-done.
Singers as well as listeners here have always enjoyed his ability to lift the spirit of a cutcheri. Improvisation was melodiously introduced when he played natas interspersed with mellifluous gumukis.
Attukal P. Balasubramaniam, one of the most popular up-and-coming violinists in Kerala today, rose to the occasion. Well-versed in Carnatic and Hindustani music, he was comfortable with every raga or swara pattern that was put across to him.
Subbalakshmy Krishnamoorthy (vocal), Muttara Raveendran (violin), Sri Thrissur K. Jayakrishnan (mridangam) and Venkitachalam (ghatom) performed on the previous day. The penultimate day of the eight-day festival again came with some fine musical moments for the rasikas.
Two young sisters, V. Sivaranjani and V. Nalinakanthi from Chennai, known as the `Raagam sisters,' performed on that day. Disciples of the multi-talented personality, S. Rajam, the sisters enchanted the audience with their style.
Todi varnam in Adi tala was rendered in three kalams, setting the right mood for the concert that followed. Nalikanthi detailed Arabhi raga (`Chala kallaladu... 'composed by Thyagaraja) and Sivaranjini delineated Kharharapriya.
`Satatam tavaka padhasevanam... ' in Karharapriya (Swati kriti) was chosen as the main raga. Earlier, `Deva deva kalayameethe' a very popular Swati composition, was sung with niraval, and kalpana swaras, after bringing out the essence of its raga (Mayamalavagowla).
EXHILARATING MUSIC: R. Suryaprakash.
Kottayam Santhosh on the mridangam and P. L. Sudheer on the ghatom enthusiastically played the thani to keep up the momentum.
S.R. Vinu, a disciple of the renowned violinist, Mysore Manjunath, ably supported the percussionists and the vocalists.
`Hariharaputram satatham... '(Vasantha), `Sreepadmanabha srita janapala... ' (Mohanam), and `Hari neenenthu... ' (Kannada behag) among others were sung well. Interestingly, Mangala Devi, the lyricist of `Sreepadmanabha srita janapala... ,' was present among the audience.
Overall, the recital was more or less fast-paced.
On most days of the music festival, the venue was almost full. However, the number of young listeners were noticeably few in number.
The faulty sound system failed to give the required punch for the audio output. Inadequate feedback from the low-watt sound-system seems to have affected the performances in the festival.
The tanpura was conspicouos by its absence. Only a few singers reportedly insist on this.
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