A flourish of melody
VERSATILE Sandeep's voice moved between the octaves with ease
Endowed with an inherent sense of shruti, Gayathri Venkataraghavan gave her vocal concert under the auspices of Shri Rama Seva Mandali as part of the Ramanavami celebrations.
Practice and dedication have laid a firm foundation, on which fluency and melody flourished, irrespective of the gathi or nade she opted and the intricacies of sancharas she preferred.
"Shri Chamundeshwari" (Bilahari, Mysoru Vasudevacharya), "Enaganu Ramabhajana" (Kamavardhini, Bhadrachala Ramadasa) and "Brochevarevarura" (Khamach, Mysoru Vasudevacharya) substantiated these observations.
Nevertheless, in some instances the lyrics got completely messed up with the gushing akaras, and as a result, only the beginning two words of the composition "Paripahimam Paravasudeva" were clearly audible .
"Koluvamaregada Kodandapani" (Thodi, Thyagaraja) was deprived of its grandeur in not being substantially elaborated in the vilambakala, which could have otherwise proved the artiste's mettle.
Thaniyavarthana by the accompanying artistes - C. Cheluvaraju (mridanga) and P.S. Shridhar (ghata) — comprised crisp and reverberating rhythm patterns.
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A smooth, gentle progression would be Ramakanth's trump card and clear diction his key to open the doors of consistent accomplishment.
Consider "Paraloka Sadhaname Manasa" (Purvikalyani, Thyagraja). Built on sound experience, the alapana comprised crisp in-depth akaras and gamakas gradually and methodically building up the mood in progressive stages.
The manner in which the text was presented eventually elicited the emotive divine sentiments from within; a neraval at "Jananadi rogabhayadulache" further expanded the import of the composition.
The whole passage of tightly latticed kalpanaswaras exhibited rich imagination and fluency, but ran out of context. The gush of phrases carrying only zealous vibrancy — instead of a voice of sound realisation and implicit submission — did not agree with the significance and gravity of the lyrics that emphasised awareness and renunciation in the pursuit of spiritual attainment.
Further, alapana in "Rara Rajivalochana" (Mohana, Mysoru Vasudevacharya) would have been bewitching had the artiste abstained from jerky sancharas.
Charulatha Ramanujam's violin support meticulously and successfully completed all his endeavours. G.S. Ramanujam (mridanga) and Ramanuja (morsing) gave inspiring rhythm support.
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Sandeep Narayan, trained by Sanjay Subrahmanyam, sang at Nadabrahma Sangitha Sabha, accompanied by Nalina Mohan (violin), Tumkur B. Ravishankar (mridanga) and Sashishankar (ghata). His voice, supple, pleasing and easily spanning over the desired sthayis, exhibited clear signs of rigorous training to inflect akaras and gamakas at will.
These merits were, however, not explored to their full extent or employed advantageously to meet the requirements of composure, majesty and melody. The spoilsport was over-speeding.
Thodi, a raga that demands a majestic exposition and profound involvement, obviously forbids any manoeuvrings of an extraneous kind.
Further, the very tone of the text "Enduku dayaradura Shrirama" (Thyagaraja) warranted appealing expressions.
V. NAGARAJ.
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