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Photos: S. S. Kumar

Well-balanced: Hyderabad Sisters.

In their recital for the Krishna Gana Sabha in the Gokulashtami series, the harmony between their musical understanding contributed much to the appeal of their style. In deliberately chosen idiom, both in manodharma and articulation of the songs, their approach drew considerable attention.

Their equipment had all the ingredients of classicism to place emphasis on the vital elements of raga development and rendering of kirtanas.

A good mix of the fast and slow paces, balance between the two, and good voice control in the higher octave, simple familiar phrases of their alapana of ragas were factors that marked their art.

A vein of fervour permeated the elaboration of the ragas Dhanyasi (‘Paradevata’), Shadvidamargini, (‘Samayam Ipudu’) and Charukesi (‘Kripaya Paalaya”). The treatment of Dhanyasi by Haripriya was replete with sharpness of sancharas. The discernible layout of the raga containing graphic phrasings sticks to the mind of rasikas. The first few movements were in the nature of a search for the full expression of its shades. The raga and song were well expressed within artistic limits.

The Shadvidamargini essay was more on the lines of vidwat display by Lalita. It was a rhetoric of deliberate intention to invoke an intellectual image. Nothing tangibly poetic found a place in the exposition. They appeared to be prompted by a desire to inform the listeners of the familiar kirtanas. The Shadvidamargini song, and earlier a kirtana in Lalita, ‘Chedi Poge O Manasa,’ a composition of Walajahpet Venkataramana Bhagavatar in Charukesi was shared by the sisters. It was outlined with an eye on the characteristic features.

In her violin support, Padma Shankar played with compelling technique and her good tutelage spread over her accompanying competence. Her alapana method was a continuous progression from the madhyama to the tara sthayi, integrating the essentials with expressiveness.

Thanjavur Kumar, on the mridangam, supported with his clear stream of percussive patterns. As in all cases, the upa pakka vadhyam artiste, Nerkundram Shankar (kanjira) was in the shadow.

Malladi Brothers.

The performance of Malladi Brothers Sriram Prasad and Ravikumar for the Krishna Gana Sabha and their expository technique, set the thought on what differentiates mere skill and a touch of delectable finesse. They seemed to prefer tonal fervour to vocal felicity. High flown sancharas formed the core of their alapana approach. There was a profuse mix of talent and thrust. They never asserted their attention from imparting musical intensity even at the cost of appearing to be laboured. Their resonant voices carry majesty and their interpretative style was wrapped in sampradaya cloak.

The unfamiliar Tyagaraja piece in Atana announced by them as one gathered from the Sowrashtra collection, unerringly set their main objective — not to relent the tempo. The sahitya was ‘Sita Lakshmana Sahitam.’ This atmosphere was continued in the next Sriranjani kirtana, ‘Parvatha Rajakumari’ (a Dikshitar composition).

The first major alapana was Kalyani by Ravikumar. It stuck to the raga form meticulously sans its gracefulness. The raga outline had more of mobility than rakti. Ravikumar explored the parameters of the raga with earnestness linked to robustness of expression. The kirtana was ‘Bajare Re Chittha.’ The rendering of the song with its niraval session was bright and articulate.

Treatment of Thodi by Sriram Prasad was passionate and disciplined delineation sent proper signals to the listeners. It was a convincing evidence of their musical upbringing.

With varied swift-sailing sancharas, the quality of exposition sought acceptance. The alapana was not flat, but richly ornamented. The kirtana was ‘Nee Dayaraavale,’ a Tyagaraja piece not very much in vogue. The depth of the song was well fathomed, arresting in form and fashion.

Set against the overall brisk environment crated by the vocalists, the violin accompaniment by V.V. Srinivasa Rao was comparatively meek. The percussion partners R. Ramesh (mridangam) and Madipakkam Murali (ghatam) filled the bill satisfactorily.

Lalgudi G.J.R.Krishnan and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi.

What values precision, sound training and patantara suddha can confer on music could be sensed in the violin duet recital of Lalgudi G.J.R. Krishnan and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi in the Gokulashtami series of Krishna Gana Sabha. Their solid skills found sophisticated expression in alapanas and kirtana rendering.

The discipline they had gone through ensured consistency and control. Between the brother and sister there was compulsive co-ordination to emphasise fitness and strength in maintaining the kutcheri’s progress.

Two distinctive features marked their technique — poruttam and weaving as many sancharas as possible around the nyasa swaras of the raga leading up to the tara sthayi in alapanas. The former was mainly predominant in swaraprastaras. In kirtanas when the sahitya ended at the laghu with a karvai, the drutam half had poruttam phrasings moving towards the eduppu. This was to be seen in the anupallavi of the kriti, ‘O Rajoo Puchu” (Kannadagowla) and in the charanam lines, ‘Kaalinil Silambu Konja’ and ‘Baalan Endru Thaavi Anaithen’ in the Thodi song, ‘Thaaye Yasoda’.

The latter found its place in the alapana of Begada (‘Tyagarajaya Namasthe’) by Vijayalaskhmi and more so in the development of Thodi by Krishnan. At the hands of both, the sense of competence arose from the compositional plan of the alapanas. In Krishnan’s Thodi overlapping sancharas competed for attention.

P. Satishkumar is a very powerful mridangam accompanist with a touch of deliberate display. His supportive role in playing for kritis was admirable, but the tirmanams at the conclusion of songs were blasts. In the thani, he let loose his fingering swiftness to effect and to inspire Vaikkom Gopalakrishnan on the ghatam.

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