Songs of Sivan
VENKATESAN SRIKANTH
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Maharajapuram S. Ramachandran's concert in New Delhi was a delight.
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Maharajapuram S. Ramachandran
Team spirit was what steered the recent concert by Maharajapuram S. Ramachandran to success. The festival being a tribute to the Tamil composer Papanasam Sivan, the presentations were predominantly Sivan's compositions. Ramachandran, who was featured on the second day of the `2nd Chithirai Isai Vizha' (music festival) organised by Dwarakalaya in New Delhi the other day made every phase of his concerta delightful experience. Ironically, the invocation prayer song, "Vara Vallabha" at the beginning of the festival by two youngsters, on the first day , was GNB's composition in Sanskrit. Who said charity begins at home?
Ramachandran's opening piece, "Mooladhara Murti" in raga Hamswadhani had considerable depth and was embellished with crisp swaraprastaras, giving him a brisk start. "Yenai katharulvadu" in Hemavati was emotive and contained a fine niraval elaboration of the phrase "Pumagal namagal panimayilapuri Karpaga Nayakiye". The swaraprastaras were rich and creatively constructed.
"Bhuvaneswari padam" in raga Begada opened with a detailed and fine delineation of the raga, and culminated with lively swaraprastaras. Similarly, "Tunai purindarul" in the raga Varamu was also handled well, with a fine delineation of the raga, niraval of the phrase "Patita paavana Garuda Vahana Parama Purusha Narayanane" and lively swaraprastaras. . Incidentally, the raga Varamu, also known as Shuddha Hindolam, is similar to Hindolam except for the Dhaivat (Dha) note. While Hindolam takes what is termed in Carnatic music as Shuddha Dhaivatam (in common parlance, the `small' Dha), Varamu takes the Shatshruti Dhaivatam or `big' Dha.
Brilliant alapana
As the main item of his recital, Ramachandran presented "Saravanabhava Guhane" in raga Madhyamavati. His alapana was brilliant, the raga delineated in stages with all the nuances brought out. The import of the lyrics was well portrayed with expression, and the niraval creatively handled.
M.R. Gopinath on the violin and Umayalapuram Mali on the mridangam provided excellent and understanding support. Gopinath's delineation of Begada, Varamu and Madhyamavati as well as the swarasprastaras in these ragas were delightful, apart from some of his niraval renderings. Mali's tani avartanam (rhythm solo) in the tala Adi was captivating.. Though the efforts of Dwarakalaya in organising the festival deserve to be lauded, Delhi Tamil Sangam's often delayed starts, meaningless formalities and could be avoided.
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