Of skill and scholarship
JAYARAMAN V
|
The resounding performance of O.S. Thyagarajan and Trichy Sankaran left a lasting impression on the listeners.
|
SYNCHRONISATION: O.S. Thyagarajan enthused Trichy Sankaran to euphonious realms of percussion.
Connoisseurs of mridangam look forward to listening to the Palakkad Mani Iyer style and the one initiated by the left-handed Palani Subramania Pillai.
Mani Iyer imbibed the finer points of playing the mridangam from Thanjavur Vaidyanatha Iyer to forge that inimitable `bhhaani' of his, incorporating suitable elements from indigenous percussion forms such as thayampaka and panchavadyam.
Palani, a disciple of his father, Muthiah Pillai, and an ardent admirer of tabla, reorganised the Pudukkotta baani by incorporating parans and tekhas, thus shaping a distinctive style of his own that lives through Trichy Sankaran.
Sankaran, who has settled in Toronto, Canada, recently accompanied O. S. Thyagarajan (OST) at Bhaktha Meera Temple, Vyttila, on the suburbs of Kochi.
Thus the younger generation of percussion lovers got an opportunity to listen to Sankaran, who had visited Kochi only a few times to accompany Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and T.K. Rangachary.
OST, with his powerful but chaste singing, enthused the mridangam artiste to euphonious realms of percussion with Kovai Balu (violin) and Neyveli Venkatesh (ghanjira) chipping in, though, on a subdued note.
OST began with `Chalamela,' an enchanting padavarnam in Nattakurinji composed by Moolaiveedu Rangaswami Nattuvanar. Dikshithar's `Vallabhanayakasya' in Begada made way for a succinct `Gaanamoorthe.'
The vocalist scaled enviable aesthetic levels with `Biraana varaalichchi,' (Kalyani), one of the Syama Sastri compositions in Roopakam, which was embellished with nirval.
Both the aspects of prescribed and applied music mingled gracefully in this composition.
Poorvi Kalyani showed how gamakas should be astutely made use of in highlighting the dynamic subtleties of the raga concerned.
Oothukadu Kavi, who reportedly lived as a recluse, systematically wove kritis steeped in devotion, and OST successfully conveyed that to the audience through `Padmavathi Ramanam.'
Pitch alignment
`Vinaradaa,' in Devagandhari, which Tyagaraja composed on the deity of Srirangam, and `Maarubalka' in Sriranjini, by the same poet-composer, and a classic description of Thodi with `Kadanuvaariki,' infused the concert with a momentum that was appreciated by the listeners.
Trichy Sankaran's performance left a lasting impression on the listeners courtesy the perfect pitch alignment of the mridangam and the vocal, the skill in following the niraval-swaram and the variety of `Theermaanam.'
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
