Todi comes as the crowning glory
SVK
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Three concerts — violin, vocal and veena — stood out for their adherence to sampradaya.
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Always carrying a melodic resonance, T. N. Krishnan with his daughter Viji, revealed in his concert for Carnatica the depth and delicacy of Carnatic music.
His play suggested that he first indulged in self-appreciation before presenting his ragas and kirtanas to the audience.
If silences, pauses, gana-naya are the heart and soul of Carnatic music, his cutcheri was an epitome of all these excellences combined with venerated tradition.
The message was clear: the aesthetic loftiness of Carnatic music can still stir and inspire. The crowning piece in the concert was the Todi alapana ("Thaaye Yasoda").
It deepened at the mandhara sthayi. Segment by segment, sanchara by sanchara, the raga was wrapped in enchantment. His Todi and earlier Pantuvarali ("Raghuvara Nannu") were not merely constructed, but sculpted - lyrical and precise - with a bubbling creative bent.
The peaks and poises of Todi would linger in the consciousness of the rasikas reminding them of what makes ecstatic music and what contributes to sublimation.
Of the kirtanas played, "Evarani" (Devamritavarshini) and "Manavyala" (Nalinakanti) were pieces of tranquil delights.
The way he rendered them was a transcendental expression of his glorious vision and his responsive surrender to the finest and loftiest intimations of two Tyagaraja songs.
A cultured mridangist that Umayalpuram Sivaraman is, his accompaniment was a treat of classical percussive sensitivity and artistry matching the soft notes of the violin with the softness of his beats.
Slicing in laya patterns with perfectly designed calculations nothing seemed to be beyond his reach. His tani with Vaikom Gopalakrishnan (ghatam) was stately, yet nippingly delightful.
If the audience reaction was overwhelming at every stage it was a testament to the ecstatic heights to which they were taken by the violin and the mridangam.
Competent
Commitment to the values of Carnatic music and steadfastness in adhering to it were evident in the performance of Savitha Narsimhan for the Sri Thyagaraja Seva Samithi.
A free-flowing exhilarating voice gave an appreciative edge to her competent exposition of ragas and kirtanas.
The interplay of korvais and refined sancharas spoke of her good training. The main charm of her recital was the brevity of raga alapanas of Poorvikalyani ("Gnanamosagaraadha"), Dhanyasi ("Dhyanamey Varamaina") and Kiravani ("Kaligiyunde") without sacrificing their essential features.
Particularly in the Kiravani essay and the rendering of the song tonal controls ready and felicitous expressions were noteworthy aspects of her musical equipment.
The sancharas were presented with sharp precision. Savitha Narasimhan has enough skill and flair and promises to be fully fledged in time.
Usha Rajagopalan was the violin accompanist whose support was meaningful and comprehensive. Mannarkoil J. Balaji, on the mridangam, showed acumen in improvising rhythmic patterns in his tani.
Conviction
Padmavathy Anantagopalan's veena recital for Raga Taringini stood for sampradaya cleanliness in purveying the speciality of veena play. There was traditional conviction in the alapanas of Begada ("Anudinamunu"), Mohanam ("Kapali") and Poorvikalyani (Meenakshi-Meymudam), "Devi Brova" in Chintamani and "Sujana Jeevana" in Kamas were tranquil items.
Neyveli Narayanan (mridangam) and Karthick (ghatam) lent subdued laya backing.
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