From brilliant to the pedestrian
B.R.C. IYENGAR
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The fare at Kalasagaram was a varied affair.
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The concert was a clear vindication of the values of relaxed singing
Lined up at the Kalasgaram fest were the duet singers, Ranjani and Gayathri. The sisters are basically violinists, who have, in recent years taken to vocal music. They perhaps stand to gain by that measure in the sense that they have vast experience of having played for stalwart vocalists and, thus know their foibles and fineness. They have honed their approach accordingly and cut out a niche that pleases everyone.
They know the secret as to how they can give tenor, full and unusual, to every note in the quickest bravura phrase. But the alcove they have figured out is just out of the ordinary. Unwittingly or wittingly, they do add some gestures and glamour to enhance mass appeal and maintain the cadence, the poignant feature being excessive speed that was blatant in the drithakala sanchara (faster tempo), particularly in the delineation of the raga sihmendramadhyamam.
However the artist should never lose himself in its involutions; it is all worth listening but not worth appreciating. If one should take no notice of this shortcoming, the concert was reasonably good. Amongst the items rendered, mohana (nannupalimpa), sriranjani (marubalka) were good in every feature. The RTP was in simhendramadhyama set to khandajathi thriputa thalam with a tricky nadai - the laghu part of it in thisram and dritam in chathusra nadai. Guru Prasad on the violin, Arun Prakash on the mridangam and Murali on the ghatam enhanced the dignity of the concert.
Earlier the concert was flawed by failure of the sound system, which is not uncommon these days. Any amount of manipulations (evidently due to both poor and inefficient technician and equipment) did not set things right, one or the other microphone failing to function. At a point of time, the artist, Gayathri was so much upset that she rightly announced she would not sing. With the moods so upset, it took considerable time to gain back composure.
Ardour and sensuousness of the performance, the grace, the instinctive ease, the blend of spirituality formed the core of the concert of Malladi Brothers (Sri Ram Prasad and Ravikumar).
All this was in the past! In recent times Malladi Brothers have drastically changed their style of singing- at least as judged by their performance on the occasion. Take for instance the krithi, ramanatham bhajehum in pantuvarali. Be it the song, alapana, neraval or even swarakalpana, it was nerve-racking. Almost every song, koluvamarakatha (todi), naradagana lola (atana), mapala velasi (asaveri), all had the same upshot. To be more exact, the krithi in panthuvarali gained double the speed at the end in contrast to its start. Mahadeva Sarma, who evidently is a good violinist, got entranced in the jamboree; eventually it proved to me disarray.
It was Narayanan, who, to some extent saved the ignominy. Relaxed; singing involuntarily projects spirituality, while speed does just the opposite and ends up with arid, academic conservative standard.
Following the exuberance of Malladi Brothers, the vocal concert of T.M. Krishna was in total serenity. Krishna may not have the Herculean vigor as to call his style animated but it is positively penetrating for, he does not wish to be over-energetic.
What he attempts he performs; he is never rapid, and he never stagnates; his musical expressions of spiritual experience and rhythmical complexities are unique to himself and are kept within natural limits; they play their full and vital functions side by side with the elements of melody and harmony.
The style is familiar but not coarse, elegant but not ostentatious. . If one has to understand him, one must give one's days and nights to listen to the volumes of his music.
The concert was a clear vindication of the values of relaxed singing. The items, gajavada in thodi and ela avathramu in mukhari were incredible examples.
The performance had its share of mass appeal too in deliberately extending swarakalpana or alapana beyond reasonable limits.
Srirama Kumar was on the violin and he is so much used to Krishnan's singing that the combination produces the desired effect without effort. Arun Prakash on the mridangam was imprisoned in the shacked rhythmical raptures. It was a great concert.
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