Sublime and spiritual
JAYARAMAN V
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M.K. Sankaran Namboothiri is adept at unravelling the myriad charms of the ragas chosen for exposition.
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The blossoming of M.K. Sankaran Namboothiri from a prodigy to a popular vocalist was surprisingly rapid. In the early eighties, as a 12-year-old, he had the fortune of being accompanied by veteran mridangam artistes like Velukutty Nair.
Sankaran used to be admired, even by fastidious music connoisseurs, for his ability to present compositions with a flawless diction. Later, he learned the technique of unravelling the mystic beauties of ragas chosen for exposition and aligning ‘Maathu’ (sahithyam) and ‘Dhaathu’ (swaram) during niraval and swara singing. His recent vocal recital was organised under the aegis of Kerala Fine Arts Society (Kochi) and Indian Council For Cultural Relations (Thiruvananthapuram).
Rare compositions
His innate flair for ferreting out compositions seldom sung, and to make it endearing, was manifest when he began the concert with ‘Ganapathe,’ by Diksithar. Then came Tyagaraja’s compositions such as ‘Manavinaala’ (Nalinakanthi), ‘Manasunilpa’ (Abhogi) and ‘Kripajuchutaku’ (Chayatharangini).
Hindolam followed through Mysore Vasudevachar’s ‘Chinthyaami’ in Jhampa and its complex rhythmic frame offered the singer an opportunity to exhibit his hold over the ‘laya’ section.
‘Dhyaaname’ by Tyagaraja in Dhanyasi had finely pruned reposeful passages so as to suit the brevity of that short composition.
The nucleus of the concert was the depiction of Arabhi, resplendent in melody, mood and momentum. Tyagaraja’s ‘Chaalakallalaadu’ was the kriti that went along with it and its characteristic majesty was revealed through niraval and swara.
Edappally Ajith (violin), Balakrishna Kamath (mridangam) and Sreejith (ghatom) added poise and punch to the concert.
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