Master of infinite improvisations
JAYARAMAN V
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Kadri Gopalnath’s recital had some unsurpassed musical passages from the Navaragamaalika varnam.
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Unsurpassed: Kadri Gopalnath has dexterously adapted the Western saxophone to play Carnatic compositions.
During the late Seventies, a young man from South Karnataka made his appearance at Kalikotta Palace, Thripunithura, to present a Carnatic music concert on the saxophone.
The fastidious among the music lovers were sceptical as to the feasibility of playing classical music on a Western instrument.
Masterly blowing techniques that are used to play the nagaswaram such as ‘Thuthukaaram’ (by using the tongue), ‘Hukaaram’ (by using the throat) and ‘Thannakaaram’ (alternating between throat and tongue) coupled with expert fingering (Viraladi) for swaras brought in plaudits.
An enigma
Kadri Gopalnath, son of Thaniappa, a nagaswaram artiste, remains an enigma to music lovers, because of his innate flair for infinite improvisations, within the bounds of pure classicism.
His concert in connection with Maruti Sangeetha Sandhya, under the aegis of Sree Poornathrayeesa Sangeetha Sabha, Thripunithura, had some unsurpassed musical passages, from the Navaragamaalika varnam (‘Valachi Vacchi’) by Pattanam Subrahamania Iyer, with which he began the recital. The ragas Kedaaram, Sankarabharanam, Kalyani, Begada, Kambhoji, Yadukula Kambhoji, Bilahari and Mohanamand Sree were deliciously aligned to one another, as if in a superb vocal concert.
The Naatta Pancharathnam (‘Jagadaaananda Kaaraka’) by Tyagaraja served in changing the momentum due to the ‘ghana’ aspect inherent in it. Hamsavinodini of the Sankarabharanam family was essayed by emphasising its characteristic succulence and once again the ‘gaayaki’ style made it enchanting when intermixed with cut notes and glides. A pristine ‘Sharanam Bhava’ was followed by ‘Om Namo Narayana’ in Karna Ranjini. Kadri Gopalnath was in good form when he took up Revathi for ragam-thanam-pallavi and its beauty was augmented through a garland of swaras made up of Kaappi, Subha Panthuvarali, Varali and Bageswari.
Lavish sweeps
Kanyakumari, playing the violin on a telepathic level with the maestro, mesmerised the listeners with her lavish sweeps with the bow and delicate fingering.
Vijayanagaram P. Sathishkumar on the the mridangam, enchanted rhythm lovers with his ‘mohras’ and ‘theerumaanams.’
Thripunithura Radhakrishnan (ghatom) and Bangalore Rajasekharan (muhkarsanghu) kept them good company.
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