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Showcase of ragas
G. SWAMINATHAN
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Finesse and dexterity marked the sketches.
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Photos: M. Vedhan
Aural pleasure: Sikkil C. Gurucharan.
At a point of time when the Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi is relegated to the backseat, Saraswathi conducted an RTP series. The first day of the three-day series featured Sikkil C. Gurucharan and T.V.Sundaravalli in two independent segments. Each artist got 9
0 minutes to showcase a raga of his choice. With the range and flexibility that his voice boasts, Gurucharan presented the essence of Dharmavathi. The slow and smooth gait, touchingly reposeful and the swirling brigas in right measure — it was all an aural pleasure.
Nagai R. Sriram’s deft fingers and strong bowing matched the vocalist phrase for phrase. He embellished the finely structured tanam with great finesse. The pallavi, ‘Sari samana mevaru bangaru Kamakshi gati nee dharmavathi nee’ was set in Tisra Ata chathusra nadai; the pallavi spanned trikalam changing the tune in four ragas, their names smartly integrated replacing Dharmavathi with Latangi, Neethimathi and Kalavathi. Gurucharan’s swara showers came as a welcome cloudburst. The tani avartanam and the perfect percussion play of Arun Prakash were crisp and clearly etched.
Sepia-toned
T.V.Sundaravalli.
T.V.Sundaravalli’s Keeravani Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi was simple and sepia-toned. Though she had a commendable range and her voice could reach finer regions in the upper octave she preferred to tread her path peripherally with more care. The alapana was presented in two parts and was followed by a brief tanam and the pallavi in Tisra Triputa Kanda nadai.
Muruga Thirumal Maruga Shanmuga Mana-Muruga Thiruppa-Thazhaga’ was the intricately worded pallavi. The trikalam exercise was appended with the mandatory niraval and a rather long chain of slightly desolate ragamalika swaras (Behag, Valaji, Kalyanavasantha, Atana, Ranjani, etc). Srilakshmi extended violin support and she too moved on the lines of the vocalist’s straightforward method. The quality of the programme was further elevated by Thiruvananthapuram R. Vaidyanathan on the mridangam and AS Krishnan on the morsing.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
