New vistas of melody
G. JAYAKUMAR
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The three-day Swati Sangeetotsavam featured eminent percussionists, musicians and vocalists.
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SOLO MAGIC: Umayalpuram Sivaraman.
Umayalpuram Sivaraman's mridangam recital stole the honours at the three-day Swati Sangeetotsavam held at AKG Hall, Thiruvananthapuram. Eminent flautist N. Ramani, violinist T.H. Subramaniam and vocalist Pala C.K. Ramachandran also participated in the festival. On the final day of the concert, Umayalpuram Sivaraman teamed up with violinist T.H. Subramaniam to create new vistas of musical experience.
Innovative patterns
The highlight of the concert was Umayalpuram Sivaraman's solo interlude performance. It was noted for its innovative rhythmic patterns that were created by stroking the mridangam with mathematical precision. With his long fingers, Sivaraman experimented with various combinations of the gati - chatusram, tisram, khandam, misram and sankeernam to develop a unique style of playing the mridangam.
The duo began their concert with a Ganesha stuthi `Pranamamyaham.' They continued it with Tyagaraja's `Nagumomu' in Abheri set to Adi tala. Next to follow was Syama Sastri's `Marivera gati' in Anandabhairavi, again in Adi tala. The two also played `Ramachandra Prabhu,' a Swati bhajan and a Swati tillana in Dhansree.
Though very short, the concert was enough to fill the hearts of many a rasika with joy and a yearning for more.
Veteran flautist N. Ramani's recital on the first day proved to be a balm for wearied minds. He opened his flute recital with the kriti `Smarasudha' in Bilahari set to Adi tala. He followed it with `Padmanabha Pahi' in Hindolam, Adi tala.
Kalyani was chosen as the main raga of the evening. After an elaborate ragavistaram, Ramani moved on to the Swati Tirunal composition `Pankaja Lochana,' which was set to Misra chappu tala. In the exposition of the raga, he proved his prowess in scaling the different octaves with ease. In the thaniavarthanam, Mavelikkara Velukutty Nair demonstrated his mastery over the mridangam. Ghatam was played by Thripunithura Radhakrishnan. Attukal Balasubramaniam gave able support on the violin.
Ramani also played a ragam tanam pallavi in Kappi set to chatusram, tisram and khanda chappu talas. It was rich with manodharma swara sancharam. The ragamalika had shades of ragas such as Varali, Sahana and Behag.
Pala C.K. Ramachandran is a staunch follower of the Semmangudi bani. He began his vocal concert with Swati Tirunal's `Deva deva Kalayamithe' in Mayamalavagoula set to Rupaka tala. Ramachandran's concert included only Swati Tirunal compositions.
`Adrisudhavara' in Kalyani was the main item of the day. Thaniavarthanam saw Alleppey Chandrasekharan Nair on the mridangam and Trivandrum Karthikeyan on the ghatam. Violin support was by Thrissur Rajendran.
The thukadas included a Swati padam `Tharuni Njan Enthu Cheythu' in Dwijavanti, which was noted for its emotional content, and `Kalaye' in Chenchurutti.
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