Unique blend of melody and depth
B. RAMADEVI
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Sreevalson Menon cast a spell over the audience with his skilful presentation of well-chosen kritis.
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PHOTO: S. SIVA SARAVANAN.
MESMERISING VOICE: Sreevalson J. Menon.
Having honed his skills under Neyyanttinkara Vasudevan, Sreevalson J. Menon cast a spell over the audience at G.K.D. Auditorium, Coimbatore, with his skilful presentation of well-chosen kritis by great composers.
Alapana, the foundation that encourages fine arts, had invited musicians from Kerala recently.
In his mesmerising voice that had the unique combination of melody and depth, Sreevalson began the daru varnam (the type of varnam that includes jathi passages in addition to sahitya and swara) in Khamas, "Mathe Malayadhwaja'' by Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavatar.
His presentation that day included the kritis of Mysore Vasudevachar ("Pranamaam yaham Sri Gowri Sutham'' in Gowla), Saint Tyagaraja, ("Sogasu Jooda Tharamaa - Kannada Gowla and "Nannu Paalimpa Nadachi Vachithivo'' - Mohanam), Dikshitar ("Ananda Natana Prakasham'' Kedaram), Subbaraya Sastri ("Emani Ne Nee Mahima - Mukhari), Swati Tirunal ("Paramapurusha Jagadeeswara - Vasantha) and Papanasam Sivan ("Kaa Vaa Vaa - Varali). "Thoomani Maadathu'' (Andal), "Paarukkulle Nalla Naadu'' (Bharathiar) and "Bhagyadalakshmi Baaramma" (Purandaradasa) were presented at the end, during the lighter session.
Sumptuous and satisfying
During the delineations of Kedaram, Mukhari and Mohanam, Sreevalson brought out the form of the ragas gradually in a pleasant manner. He did not try to draw out all the possibilities in the raga swaroopa, but what he gave was sumptuous and satisfying.
During the neraval for the lines "Saamaja Gaamini... Saarasa Lochani'' (Mukhari) and "Karamuna Shara Kothanda'' (Mohanam), the vocalist's adherence to the ragabhava was remarkable. Not being carried away by the thrill of permutation and combination of the swaras, the artiste made the audience sway to his music by concentrating on the jeeva swaras.
Trichur C. Rajendran's raga delineations on the violin were lovely, especially that of Mohanam. Being a master artiste, his bow could make his violin whisper, caress or appear bright and bold.
Alappuzha G. Chandrasekaran Nair on the mridangam and G. Manohar on the ghatam were supportive.
However, the audience that had come with the hope of listening to a few Malayalam songs was disappointed.
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