Mystical experience
Tuneful melodies.
Lakshmi Kataksham
M.S. Subbulakshmi
Carnatic classical and devotional
Price Rs. 109.
Discipline and restraint were the foremost tenets in M.S. Subbulakshmi’s art, and also her percentage involvement comparable to a penance in her relentless quest for perfection. Excerpts from the Venkateswara Suprabhatam in Sanskrit composed by Sri Prathivathi Bhayankaram Swami convey the ecstasy of Bhakti most impressively. The Dikshitar composition in Sriragam “Sri Varalakshmi” in Rupaka Tala, superbly supported by Radha Viswanathan especially in the hi
gher sthayi, is unqualified Subbulakshmi vintage.
Divine names of Devi
The Lakshmi Ashtotram sung as a slokam in Kalyani, Arabhi and Amruthavarshini, with the divine names of the Devi finding expression through the magical, mesmerising voice of the vidushi, is nothing short of a mystical experience. M.S.’s fidelity to the swara sthanams always on an optimum level, is amply evident in her rendering of the Kanakadharastotram by Adi Sankara in Bhoopalam, correctly sporting a sadharana gandharam, Malayamarutham and Dharmavati.
Papanasam Sivan’s popular “Nee Irangayenil” in Atana with a sprightly bearing, and Dikshitar’s “Mahalakshmi Karunarasa” in Madhava Manohari, a not oft-heard melody, sung with a dignified stately flow lead the rasika to the highest echelons of the art. The Lakshmi Narayana Sthothram in Kalyani and Mayamalavagowla is just the right aural prescription to set the troubled mind at peace.
Never mind how many ever artistes have sung Rajaji’s “Kurai Ondrumillai,” there is none to hold a candle to the unparalleled articulation of M.S. Purandaradasa’s “Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma” in Madhyamavathi and Annamacharya’s “Ksheerabdhi Kanyakaku” in Kurinji flood the entire ambience with indescribable musical mellifluence. The Mangalam in Sourashtram, Mohanam and Manirangu in Adi tala by Annamacharya creates a spontaneous feeling of emotion that one has had the privilege of experiencing and enjoying the art of a musician who occupied an outstanding niche in the realms of achievement.
S.P.
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