Festival ragas
K.C. ASOK
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The concerts held in connection with the 193rd Swati Tirunal Jayanti began on a festive note.
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RHAPSODY OF MUSIC: Anantha Padmanabhan created six pieces in six ragas to portray six rasas. Photo: S. Mahinsha
Different ragas can evoke different emotions in human beings. Veena maestro Anantha Padmanabhan's special veena programme, hosted by Swati Tirunal Sangeetha Sabha in Thiruvananthapuram, recently, seemed to substantiate this view. The concert, held in connection with the 193rd Swati Tirunal Jayanti and the sabha's 64th anniversary celebrations, was a different experience for the audience. Six creative pieces orchestrated by Anantha Padmanabhan in six ragas such as Shyama, Shyam Kalyan, Komal Durga, Subhapanduvarali, Kalavati and Yaman were rendered with ιlan.
Six rasas
While the six musical pieces were to depict six rasas (emotions) such as santham, karunam, raudram, dukham, santhosham, and sringaram, respectively, three of the nine rasams were intentionally left out.
"It does not sound good to use music for bheebhatsam, tamasa and bhayam," the artiste believes.
The ensemble included P.D. Francis (keyboard), P.D. Thomas (guitar), K. Jayakrishnan (mridangam), Ajai Ghosh (tabla) and Babu Varghese (rhythm pad). Anand Koushik (veena), son of Anandapadmanabhan, ably supported his father. The first phase of the concert saw the enchanting exposition of Kanada (`Mamavasada janani... '), and Sarasangi (`Jayajaya padmanabha murare... ').
The music and dance festival started with the Carnatic vocal recital by Shertallay K.N. Renganatha Sarma, who showcased the purist tradition. Surutti (`Sree venkatagirisha palo... '), Bhairavi (`Janani mamava... ') and Poorvikalyani (ragam tanam pallavi) were the highlights of the alapana sessions.
The concert of vocalist Ayamkudy Mani, also a music college lecturer, was noted for its bhakti and bhava aspects. He portrayed ragas such as Arabhi (`Sree ramana vibho... '), Mohanam (`Kripa kadaksham... '), Shahana (`Jaya jaya rakhu rama... '), bringing out their subtle essence.
The main piece was `Pahi jaga janani... ' in Vachaspathi, while for ragam tanam pallavi `Sree Swathi bhoopalam smarami sree padumanabha dasa... ' in Nalinakanti was the pallavi. Nalinalkanti, Behag, Varali, and Sururtti were the sequence of ragas used in the kalpanaswarams that followed.
Mridangam maestro, T.V. Gopalakrishnan's vocal recital was held on the third day of the 12-day festival.
He sang a sonorous alapana of Kedaram (`Saraseeruha nabha mam pahi... '), Nayaki (`Palayamam sree pankajanabha daya... ') and Varamu (Sambo satatam... ).
`Gangeya vasana ... ' in Ameerkalyani was the main piece. The alapana in high octaves of Ameerkalyani by Devi Neithiyar (vocal support) was well-received by the audience. Mohanam was the ragam chosen for the ragam tanam pallavi.
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