Homage to a musical genius
HARISH BAL
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A concert was held for the fifth consecutive year at Thripunithura to celebrate MDR’s birth anniversary.
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Impressive vocal prowess: T.M. Krishna focussed on the compositions of MDR.
In his days, M.D. Ramanathan’s music was perhaps too ahead of its time and appealed only to a select few. Today, pundits and laymen alike laud his musical genius, and MDR has become an icon. MDR’s birth anniversary was celebrated on May
26 at Ootupura malika of Poornathrayeesa Temple, Thripunithura.
Mridangam artistes T.R. Rajamoni and T.R. Rajaram, sons of the legendary mridangam maestro Palakkad Mani Iyer, gave new insights into the life of MDR, his music and compositions, in their commemorative lectures.
Best choice
T.M. Krishna was the best choice for a concert on MDR’s compositions, as his music too is noteworthy for its chowka kala renditions and ‘kalapramana shudha.’ He opted for the navaraga varnam ‘Valachi vachi’ by Pattanam Subramania Iyer, rounding it up with a few manodharma swaras in the last raga Kamboji.
A sketch of Hamsadhwani raga was followed by ‘Gajavadana pahi mam.’ As the concert gave prominence to compositions and raga swaroopa, the kalpanaswaras were dealt with briefly. This was evident in ‘Velavane unakku eno velai,’ in Sahana raga that charmed listeners with its vakra passages. Rasikas were moved by the ideas in compositions in chaste Tamil and Sanskrit.
‘Enna kutram sheydeno’ in Huseni started with the anupallavi ‘Mannavan Mahadevan.’ T.H. Subramaniam on the violin adroitly followed the vocalist, yet displayed flashes of his own style of bowing.
Tonal variations
Sankarabharanam raga unfurled in a sombre mood, gradually achieving weight and classicism as it progressed.
Krishna’s expressive vocal prowess touched tonal variations and modulations to create a truly inspiring alaapana. He avoided the mundane phrases and gave a compact rendition, packed with short and long phrases. He presented numerous variations of ‘madhyamam’ by striking other swaras during the swaraprasthara for the kriti ‘Janani natajana palini.’
Trichur Narendran gave a glimpse of his calibre in laya with an unobtrusive thani on the mridangam where the madhyalaya gatis and jatis had utmost exactness. A brief ragam thanam pallavi in Saveri covered all facets of the raga. The pallavi had the unique ‘varadadasa’ mudra used by MDR. ‘Paripalaya paripalaya’ in Reethigowla by Tyagaraja was the only composition that was not by MDR.
Bhageshri raga, which is usually dealt in light compositions, was expressed majestically in ‘Sagara shayana vibho.’ Krishna once again delivered the goods in his characteristic modulated, rich singing that reached a crescendo in the high octaves.
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