Wholesome and devotional
SVK
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Prema Rangarajan sang rare kritis on Sri Ranganatha.
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On Vaikunta Ekadasi day, Prema Rangarajan, under the auspices of Nada Inbam, presented a concert containing many kirtanas on Sri Ranganatha composed by various vaggeyakaras including Tyagaraja and Dikshitar. Most of them were unfamiliar, but noteworthy from the performance point of view.
The main intention of Prema Rangarajan was to introduce to the rasikas, kirtanas that are as wholesome as those of the Trinity, both in their devotional content and sahitya gowravam.
The focus of the performance was on the compositions of Margadarsi Sesha Iengar, three in number — "Rangapathe-Pahi-Maam" (Karnataka Kapi), "Ranganayaka-Bhujanga-Sayana" (Kedaragowla) "Jaya-Jaya-Sri-Rangesa" (Bhairavi) — all rendered with precision to get registered in the minds of listeners. The familiar ones were "Joothamu-Rare" (Aarabhi) of Tyagaraja and "Ranganaathude" (Sowrashtram) of Ponnaiah Pillai. (The Dikshitar kritis were "Sri-Bargavi-Bhadram-Mey-Disathu" (Mangala Kaisiki) "Sri-Ranganatham-Upasmahe" (Poornachandrika).
Mysore Sadasiva Rao's kriti "Paramaadh Buta" in Kamas was rendered with exhilarating raga bhava couched in elegant simplicity.
All the items were marked by diction revealing earnestness of devotion and spontaneity of musical sentiments contributing to the charm of the kirtana structure.
Prema Rangarajan's raga alapana effort related to Aarabhi, Vachaspati, Hamsanandi and Bhairavi. The simple, straightforward presentation was familiar, but the image she aroused for arresting. With free-flowing well-directed sancharas, the alapanas had all the ingredients of classicism.
If the harmony of a performance depends on the violin and mridangam accompanists, Melakkaveri Thyagarajan and Melakkaveri Balaji provided their distinctive share. Violinist Thyagarajan, in his solo versions of the four ragas, brought out the characteristic flavour of each of them, mapping out their grace and grandeur.
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