Rare kritis in popular ragas
G.SWAMINATHAN
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Sarvani Sangeetha Sabha Trust's three-day festival featured artistes from other States.
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PHOTOS: K. N. Muralidharan and Shaju John.
DIVERSE STYLES: Trivandrum K. Krishnakumar
It looked as if M.S. Sheela had decided to spring a surprise on the Chennai rasikas with a pack of new (rather old?) rare compositions of Purandaradasa. In Sarvani Sangeetha Sabha's three-day festival dedicated to composers, the inaugural concert was that of Sheela from Bangalore.
Sheela had conscientiously eliminated the familiar kritis of the pre-Trinity composer but not the popular ragas. The Nattai kriti ``Vandisuvada diyali" gave a majestic start with a plethora of kalpanaswaras. With a brief prelude of Abhogi, Sheela opted for ``Tunga mangala tarange."
Sheela's voice is her fortune and it travels quite smoothly in all regions. With her ability to carry the melody in tandem with sruti, Sheela naturally captivated the listener. However, her alapana technique was set in a unique format. With the main phrase in the centre she circled around it with surprise twists and sudden turns. It sounded a bit unusual yet enjoyable.
Poorvikalyani essay came in the form of a viruttam, ``Ena oadidarenu ena helidanenu" followed by ``Marayabede manava neenu.
A terse number 'Srinivasana' in Ritigowla passed off as a quick interlude for Khambodi to unfold.
Sheela's voice range added additional sheen to the upper register sancharas. Here the composition was ``Ganga theerade mane nammadu" with neraval and swaras at ``Parama pavitra charitra."
Notwithstanding its freshness, it was a little difficult to relate to the kritis as they have not figured in many concert platforms.
Akkarai Subbulakshmi on the violin recapturing the style of Sheela in raga sections included her own phrases of bright imagination. Melakkaveri Balaji and Karthick were the efficient percussionists.
Bright phrases
Trivandrum Krishnakumar has talent with a soft and syrupy voice that can explore the subtleties of music. But he didn't quite exploit it the other day. His recital devoted to composer Maharaja Swati Thirunal, Krishnakumar impressed initially with Hamsanandi (`Pahi Jagajjanani') but slipped in Kharaharapriya (`Satatam Tavaka'). In Hamsanandi, his forays on Hindustani style revealed his versatility. Kharaharapriya was rather synthetic and superficial with desolate bright phrases thrown in between. Krishankumar's kalpanaswaras followed split patterns of nebulous chains.
N. S. Prakash Rao
A careful choice and tight linkage would have served better. V.L. Kumar on the violin added weight to the light vocal with his bow and strings. Dr G. Babu of Trivandrum and Pudukottai N Ramachandran spiced up with percussion.
Commendable diction
N.S.Prakash Rao's programme was more a string of songs, which generally figure in concerts as `tukkadas.' Prakash Rao delivered the songs of Bhadrachala Ramadas and Sadasiva Brahmendra just in succession. Rao's devotion and diction were commendable. When the accent is on devotion, music becomes a vehicle. So there was no alapana, neraval or swaras. The selection was mixed — unfamiliar ones such as ``Ae mi ra," ``Harihara rama," ``Nee divya charanamule" and well-known ones such as ``Paluke bangara mayana," ``Gayathi vanamali," ``Ae ti ru ga nanu" and ``Bhajare yadunadam."
M. S. Sheela.
One is used to seeing singers refer to sheets of paper. Prakash Rao had brought several books and papers. What rather irked one was his shuffling through the pages to choose the songs.
One can understand spontaneity this points to lack of preparation on the part of the artiste. Undoubtedly, stage etiquette demands a proper homework with the list of songs.
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