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Festive notes: Rajhesh Vaidya.

Yesudas’ two-and-a-half hour concert started with a varnam ‘Sarasijanabha’ in Mayamalavagaula. Known for his penchant for rare ragas, Yesudas presented Trilochanapriya, a raga having shades of Hamsadwani and Veenavadini. The kriti was ‘Vinayakam tham smarami,’ penned by Vaikkom Melshanthi Tharani Damodaran Nambudiri.

Sudha Ragunathan

The main piece of the evening was ‘Siva Siva Ena’ in Pantuvarali. The taniavarthanam was played by Tiruvarur Bhakthavalsam on the mridangam and Thripunithura Radhakrishnan on the ghatam. Mahadeva Sarma accompanied on the violin. ‘Enna punyam’ (Ritigaula) stood out for the rich sangatis. ‘Karunalaye nidhiye’ (Hindolam) and ‘Kannathantri’ (Devamanohari) brought to fore his expertise as an accomplished musician. He also rendered ‘Hrudayathin kadanathal,’ ‘Vilwamangalathinu,’ ‘Chembaikku nadam,’ ‘Harivarasanam,’ ‘Enthe kannanu’ and ‘Agrepasyami.’

Sudha Ragunathan, who bears the stamp of her guru M.L. Vasanthakumari, draws listeners with her mellifluous voice. She opened her concert with ‘Jalajakshi,’ a varnam in Hamsadwani. Next to follow was ‘Gajavadanam’ in Sreerenjini. After rendering ‘Brocheva’ in Khamas, she presented Tyagaraja’s evergreen composition ‘Ethavunara neelakadale’ in Kalyani set to Adi tala. It stood out for the bhava she imparted to the kriti.

The major item of the day was a ragam tanam pallavi in Madhyamavati that began in Tisra ada tala in second kalachowk and subsequently simplified to a single kalachowk. This tanam was followed by a garland of ragas leading to the pallavi ‘SreeKrishna ganam.’ The piece consisted of ‘Alaipayudhe,’ ‘Thaye Yasodhe,’ ‘Pavadivum mukham,’ ‘Asaithadi mayil,’ ‘Kuzhaloothi manam,’ ‘Aadadi asaithadi,’ and swaras. Palladan R. Ravi, Pakkala Ramdas and R.Raman accompanied on the mridangam, violin and morsing respectively.

Sudha Ragunathan also sang ‘Guruvayoorappane’ (Ritigaula) and ‘Paramapurusham’ (Lalithapanchamam). The thukkadas included ‘Venkitachala nilayam,’ ‘Vishamanakara’ and ‘Kripa samudram.’

Sanjay Subramaniam

The next concert was by Sanjay Subramaniam, a classicist to the core who adheres to the traditional values of Carnatic music. He began his vocal concert with a Navaraga varnam ‘Vallachi’ and continued with ‘Saminatha paripalaya’ in Natta. Euphonic strains of S.R.Binu’s violin added lustre to the rectial. Tyagaraja’s ‘Enthukku’ in Harikambhoji was followed by ‘Srilakshmi nama sthuthe’ in Sriragam. After a short ragavistaram, he rendered Swara raga sudha in ‘Sankarabharanam.’ The taniavarthanam was deftly performed by Neyveli Venkatesh on the mridangam and Uduppi Sridhar on the ghatom.

‘Nagumo’ in Abheri came in for much appreciation from the listeners. Sanjay also rendered ‘Karpooram’ in Khamas and concluded with a tillana.

Dr. Omanakutty was accompanied by her 13-year-old grandson, Harishankar, on the mridangam. The exchanges between Harishankar and Thripunithura Radhakrishnan were warmly appreciated by the rasikas.

K. Omanakutty

Dr. Omanakutty began her vocal concert with a Sriragam varnam and followed it with ‘Sree Maha Ganapathim’ in Gaula. ‘Abhimanam’ in Begada was preceded by an erudite delineation of the raga. The flawless rendition of ‘Ennalu Urakku’ (Subhapantuvarali), ‘Jaya Jaya Padmanabham’ (Manirang) and the thukkadas (‘Eppadi padi,’ ‘Karuna cheyvan,’ ‘Omanathinkal kidavo’) and a tillana in Hamsanandi were noted for the selection of ragas and proved her prowess as a music therapist.

She was ably supported by Avaneeswaram S.R.Binu on the violin and Payannur Govinda Prasad on the morsing. Vocal support was provided by Renjini Varma.

Rajhesh Vaidhya, disciple of veena maestro Chitti Babu, began his fusion music concert with M. Balamuralikrishna’s ‘Amma Anandadayini’ in Gambhiranatta. It was followed by ‘Gajananam’ in Chakravakam. Desh, set to Khandachappu tala, began initially with notes of the keyboard. Sounds of a gurgling brook and the fluttering of birds, produced by Subrahmanian on the special effects, heralded the morn, and Rajhesh Vaidhya took over on the veena. Gradually, the wind instruments gave way to the tavil (Karunamoorthy), the tabla (Chandrajit), the mridangam (Karaikurichi Mohan Raman) and the ghatam (Subramaniam).

K.J. Yesudas

Next to follow was ‘Kanakangi’ set to Adi tala. ‘Keeravani’ in Misrachappu tala began with a short alaap that was interspersed with filmy tunes. A small bit of Mozart’s G Minor added charm to the concert.

The main piece of the evening was in Pantuvarali set to Adi tala. After an elaborate ragavistaram, Rajhesh presented a garland of ragas comprising Pantuvarali, Basanth, Soorya, Charukesi and Sindhubhairavi. The pallavi was Arul Tharum Jagat Guru Chandrasekhara. The concert ended with a tillana in Dhansree.

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