Well-balanced duet
GARIMELLA SUBRAMANIAM
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Planning and precision marked the duet of G.J.R.Krishnan and Gaurav Mazumdar.
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Photo: M. Vedhan
PLEASANT: G.J.R. Krishnan, (left) and Gaurav Mazumdar.
Great judgment and good music is how one would describe Lalgudi G.J.R.Krishnan and Gaurav Mazumdar's violin and sitar (respectively) jugalbandi. Their recital for Carnatica's Bharat Sangeet Utsav was sober. But it was not an overly serious one.
A Subhapantuvarali (Miyankitodi in Hindustani) or a marva with characteristic grimness would have been rather heady on a grey November evening. The two were perhaps shrewd enough to sense that it was also the wrong day to try and excite the listeners with a Kalyani (Yaman) or a Durga (Suddhasaveri.) In the event, the duo's choice for the evening were Hamsadwani and Kirvani and it seems in retrospect that they got the balance right.
Incidentally, the notes of Hamsadwani went out even before the curtains were up. So it was indeed a surprise that the opening piece was in the same raga since musicians do not give themselves away so easily. The composition, however, was not one of the usual kirtanas. It was a peppy Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer kriti, `Manasukarugademo,' set to Rupaka talam.
The two then plunged into Kirvani. The progression through the tanam and the pallavi in particular indicated planning and preparation.
The bhajan in the sing-song raag Sindubhairavi that followed was worth the wait for all those who cared to listen to the tani avartanam from Vishwanath Nakhod on the tabla and Thanjavur Murugabhoopathy on the mridangam, which was itself a rewarding experience.
Carnatica and indeed other aficionados of music should look at the greater appeal of pairing similar instruments in a jugalbandi rather than make a match out of two rather different ones.
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