Tunes in the temple
VENKATESAN SRIKANTH
|
Delhi's famous Malai Mandir marked the occasion of Skanda Shasthi with a series of fine concerts.
|
As part of their 62nd annual Sree Skanda Shasthi Celebrations, Sree Swaminatha Swami Seva Samaj (Malai Mandir) organised a number of Carnatic music concerts in the temple complex recently. In one such concert, violin maestro M. Chandrasekharan enlivened the hearts of the rasikas during his two-hour violin recital.
Chandrasekharan began his concert with the Bhairavi raga Ata tala varnam, in two tempos that were considerably fast. It was also a neat and flawless presentation, considering the tempo in which he presented this piece and which would be possible only for versatile artistes like him. His next offering, a Dikshitar composition, "Sri Mahaganapatim" in the raga Gowla, was marked by crisp and enthralling swaraprastaras.
He then presented Tyagaraja's fifth Pancharatna kriti, "Yendaro mahanubhavulu" in the raga Sri, aesthetically, bringing the raga bhava to the fore. Neelakantan Sivam's "Ananda natamadinar" in the raga Poorvikalyani was marked with a fine alap and scintillating swaraprastaras. Shyama Shastri's "Mariveregathi" in the raga Ananda Bhairavi was emotive. This concert being part of the Skanda Shasti celebrations, it was also thoughtful of Chandrasekharan to present "Va va va Kandha", a composition of Papanasam Sivan in the raga Varali.
The main item of Chandrasekharan's presentation was Uthukadu Venkata Subba Iyer's, "Taaye Yashodha" in the raga Todi. This was preceded by a fine alap of Todi and ended with niraval of a phrase from the charanam and swaraprastaras in the ragas Valaji and Madhuvanti, apart from Todi.
Umayalpuram Mali on the mridangam and Trichy Murali on the ghatam provided excellent support throughout, and contributed significantly to the overall outcome of the concert.
Nagaswaram concert
TKR Ayyappan and TKR Meenakshi Sundaram (popularly know as Thirumeignanam Brothers), who had been specially requisitioned to provide nagaswaram "backing" for the Skanda Shasthi celebrations in the temple, were also provided a platform in the form of a full-fledged nagaswaram concert to show their talents. The brothers fully utilised this opportunity and some delightful music flowed from their nagaswarams during their two-hour concert. s
The brothers began with an Adi tala varnam in the raga Sumanesaranjani. The neat execution of this rarely heard varnam, particularly the chitta swaras of the charanam, was indicative of their talent, at the very outset. They then played a composition of Tyagaraja, "Raghunayaka" in the raga Hamsadhwani, which was marked by swaraprastaras rich in creativity. Yet another Tyagaraja composition, "Parihasakama" in the raga Vanaspati was emotive. Similarly, yet another of Tyagaraja's songs, "Yendaro mahanubhavulu", the fifth Pancharatna kriti, in Sri raga, was handled well.
The main item was Uthukadu Venkata Subba Iyer's, "Taaye Yashoda' in the raga Todi. Earlier, the elder brother Ayyappan presented a fine alap of the raga, with certain aesthetic phrases typical of nagaswaram renditions. This item was also marked with ragamalika swaraprastaras rich in creativity, in the ragas Arabi, Suruti, Desh, and Ananda Bhairavi, apart from Todi.
Mayavaram S. Balu and Talanchankadu T.M. Ramanathan provided excellent accompaniment on the tavil, enhancing the overall quality of the concert. They also excelled in the tani avartanam in Adi tala.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
