ROOTED Rajshekhar Mansur’s recital had all the key features of his gharana
Bellari M. Raghavendra belongs to a rare genre of musicians who maintain composure, dedication, concern and discretion as indispensable elements in shaping their creativity to enliven the compositions of high order; and this indeed is the first prerequisite for paying tribute to the great composers. He was singing under the auspices of Surabhi Ganakala Mandira.
Measured pace and intense involvement was his forte and this made his renditions special. The artiste, proficient in both the faculties of lakshana and lakshya, drew substantial support from many of his presentations.
In the first instance consider Shyama Shastri’s “Kamakshi Amba Anudinamu” (Bhairavi). A distinct slow tempo made a remarkable difference. Clear diction was dressed with graceful and subtle gamakas when he addressed the presiding deity. There was mingled anxiety and curiosity no sooner did he plunge himself into challenging tasks of elaborating vivadi melas like Kanakangi (“Shri Kanakambaradhari”, Bellari Sheshagiri Achar) and Kanthamani (“Palintuvo Palimpavo”, Shri Thyagaraja).
Transcending the limitations posed by the vivadi swaras, by inflecting the appropriate gamakas, the artiste successfully described these ragas without resorting to any evasive articulations. Further, a scholarly swarakalpana in Kanthamani emerged with remarkable fluency and impressive details, affirmed the above observations.
Alapana in Todi exposed some more merits. It was only after sufficiently exploring the lower octaves he unhurriedly moved onto the higher ones – the beauty of the raga now being revealed to the satisfaction of the audience. Tanas before the pallavi “Dasharathe Karuna Payonidhe” needed to be terser and deeper.
His voice had a convincing steadiness and considerable gamut. But at times it could not sustain the hardships of higher octaves for long durations.
B. Raghuram (violin), C. Cheluvaraju (mridanga) and V. S. Ramesh (mrichangi) constituted the ensemble extending scholarly support.
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Rajashekhara Mansur presented Hindusthani concert under the auspices of J.S.S Sangitha Sabha Trust, as part of its Silver Jubilee celebrations. His voice being capable of spanning over the desired sthayis could render all the musical movements with zest and grit.
Retaining the core features of Jaipur Atrauli Gharana, he presented bandishes packed with ingredients reflecting the well known school. Alladiya gayaki was devolved to the veteran through his illustrious father- teacher Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur, an acclaimed purist.
Consider two khayals – “Doond Na Ja” (Raga Shri) and “Rasiya” (Maarubehag): an optimum tempo provided ample provisions for developing both the texts and the ragas. Elaboration of the ragas was enriched with swift taans in rapid successions wherein the artiste vivaciously realised his proficiency eliciting warm applauses from the audience.
Attractive harmonic closes incorporated into the movements added lustre to the concert. Percussion inputs featuring subtle changes in the volume and patterns gave an extra edge to the singer’s accomplishments.
The artiste, who was supported all along by Chandrika Kamath (vocal support), Vishwanath Nakod (tabla) and Ravindra Kakoti( harmonium), concluded his recital by singing vachanas “Jagadhagala Mugilagala” (Basavanna) and “Akka Kelavva” (Akkamahadevi).
V. NAGARAJ
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