MUSIC
Lively recital in tribute
SYSTEMATIC Padma Adiga's recital was crisp
Muthuswamy Dikshitar was remembered on his death anniversary on Naraka Chaturdashi at the newly founded PRM (Padma Rajan Memorial) Fine Arts Academy in Basavanagudi under the leadership of a veteran educationist and a devoted patron of music Dr. N. S. Sundararajan. Dikshitar's uniqueness and contribution to Carnatic music was highlighted. This was followed by a short and crisp vocal recital by Padma Adiga. She dedicated her concert exclusively to the singing of the ace composer.
The measure of Padma Adiga's sound musical training was evident in the delineation of the alapanas, neravals and swaras. She gave a good evidence of this in her exposition of Vasantha ("Ramachandram Bhavayami" with kalpanaswaras) and Kalyani ("Brahma Vidyambike"). One liked her systematic delineation. She had a natural sense of tune though in actual singing one or two notes fell apart particularly in the gamaka sequences.
Padma began her recital with a lively "Naga Gandhari" set to a raga with the same name. In the elaboration of Varali ("Maamava Meenakshi") and Mohana ("Kadambari priye" with a fine combination of janti and daatu swaras), she eschewed all the gimmickry-oriented phrases. In order to show her prowess she rendered a Navagraha krithi on Angaaraka ("Angaaraka maashrayamyaham", Suruti) where again the evidence of her correct training was borne out by her right emphasis on characteristic phrases of the raga. She concluded with a grand krithi in Sri raga "Sri Varalakshmi". S. Yashaswi (violin) and S.V. Balakrishna (mridanga) were in their top form imparting appropriate support to the vocalist.
*****
An architect by profession and a dedicated dancer by vocation, Meenakshi Srinivasan dazzled the lovers of dance with her vibrant Bharatanatya held at Bangalore Gayana Samaja. The selection and execution of items made it a spellbinding one.
We are living in an age of aggressive over-statement, a feature which seems to have invaded every aspect of the performing arts. Meenakshi Srinivasan's performance was refreshingly minimalistic. With an evocative vocal support from Kaniyil Hari Prasad along with a fine nattuvanga by Girish Kumar Paniker, violin by Vijayaraghavan, flute by Narasimha Murthy and mridanga by Nellai D. Kannan the dancer's performance was like a demonstration of the intimate relationship between dance, music and sculptures.
The recital was so perfect that it needed no extraneous embellishments. The power of communication and the sensitivity of her artistry enriched her rendition of Durga stuti (Ahir Bhairav) followed by the Shankarabharana varna ("Ati mohan konden").
The nritta, nrithya and abhinaya were almost precise and rewarding. In the exposition of a Tamil pada ("Yarakkagilum bhayam", Begade) and a Purandaradasa krithi "Kande naa kanasinali" (ragamalika) her mature talent came to the fore. She concluded with a Brindavani tillana.
M. SURYA PRASAD
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