Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
When melody meets routine
B.R.C. IYENGAR
|
The beatific, the mundane and the sedate.
|
Since it was a concert of just over two hours an impression of haste was visible
Striking a chord (Left above) Priya sisters, (right above) Trichur Ramachandran and (right below)T. V. Sankaranarayanan.
The music of Priya Sisters, Shanmukapriya and Haripriya is so flaunting and common, that it seldom makes a bang; it falls short of appealing to the emotions of the connoisseur. Their voices blend well, but each by itself is rather poor in depth. Rhyt
hm too, is noticeably too simple; this will be destroyed if certain basic commandments are disregarded. All these rhythms become monotonous and tiring, no matter how immeasurably difficult they may be in the first place to the performer, or how simple they are to provide. Unless a work of art speaks to us it is not art.
Surati varnam made way for varanamukha va in hamsadwani, with a string of swarakalpana. Bhuvindasudani in Sriranjani was a quick exposition. Karunajudavamma of Shyama Sastry set to misra chapu in Varali had an emotional impact, but the alapana preceding it was a customary picture. Entamuddo enta sogasu in Bindumalini was appealing. The raga, Shiva Shakti, was needlessly prolonged; It is a raga that has little of inbuilt melody but intricate in its strand the krithi chosen was Sri Chakra Rajeswai, a composition of GNB. The best facet was the item Sri Ranganayakam in Nayaki. The structure and grammar, the intricate lyric and the design, the kalapramanam and the dignity of the song was put on show. It was richly professional.
When Ramani plays his flute, he endeavours in the first instance to enunciate the words in such a manner that their sense is intelligible. Ramani has that bustling confidence, or, it may rather be said, that animated ambition, which one might have supposed would have urged him to. Take for instance the much-too-common an item like Vathapi ganapathim bhaje; there is an arresting vista, identified by distinct clarity, precision, melody and rhythm that downpours in Ramani’s playing. The concert started with Sri Raga Varnam and after vathapi in hamsadwani, the raga sahana was enchanting. The song Ee vasudha added great spiritualism.
With Trichur Ramachandran, virtue lies not in the ‘idea’ as such but in his power to turn this idea so completely into music. He achieves a particular kind of definiteness of expression; He is resolute by a meticulous desire; a glance at his renderings reveals his extraordinary ability to make matters simpler. The concert was throughout a madhyamakala format which gives a feeling of hurriedness; when it comes to playing the swaras in the faster tempo, it echoes super fast and certainly not in good taste. The selection was in the mould of his guru, GNB and the tempo, a facsimile. The opening item was a varnam of GNB in Hindola followed by vathapi in Hamsadwani. Pabanathama in nattai was a rare item and the cong yannaganu ramabhajana, was a casual rendering. Yet another composition of GNB ranjani niranjani was enjoyed by the audience. T.V Sankarnarayan (TVS) has been singing for decades now; it is exceedingly familiar, and yet much desired. He achieves a particular kind of definiteness of expression. Since it was a concert of just over two hours an impression of haste was visible. In every event, then presentation was in madhyamakala and the entire performance was rather in haste. The alapana of charukesi was widely covered and the audience enjoyed; so also was the raga mohana kalyani, which included, thamasam. Nagai Muralidharan played the violin; Malakaveri Balaji was on the mridangam Nemani Somayajulu on the ghatam and A Srinivasa Gopalan on the morsing.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
