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Extravaganza in Kolkata
TAPATI CHOUDHURIE
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Leading musicians regaled the audience at Kolkata with their renditions.
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Feast: (clockwise from top left) Hyderabad Brothers, Shashank, Sudha Raghunathan, Nithyashree Mahadevan (Photo: Sushanta Patronobish) and Kolkata Srividya.
The 15th anniversary celebration of Rasikhapriya in Kolkata that concluded recently was a connoisseur’s delight.
With the exception of flautist Shashank all the artists were vocalists.
Kolkata K. Srividya, Nityashree Mahadevan, Sudha Raghunathan and the Hyderabad brothers had one thing in common — a powerful and sonorous voice.
Srividya took up the challenge of presenting Sahana, which is both intricate and complicated, but Srividya sang kalpana swaras with a great deal of confidence and skill. She included a Lalgudi composition in Asaveri.
Special flair
Srividya has a special flair when it comes to singing alapanas which was evident in the kriti ‘Pankajalochana,’ a Swati Tirunal composition. Her Ragam, Tanam, Pallavi in Abheri was commendable.
Calcutta K. Mohan was an excellent accompanist with his mridangam. His taniavartan showed his sensitivity and power.
‘Rakshapettare,’ a Tyagaraja composition was Nityashree Mahadevan’s main piece. She did a good job with the raga elaboration.
Her Pallavi in Hindolam, (Adi) was remarkable because of the three kalai. She turned to tisra nadai in the kalpana swaras. Her Ragam, tanam, pallavi was meticulously presented to the delight of the listeners.
Her father I. Shivkumar, senior artist, supported her on the mridangam. Shertalai R. Sivakumar was on the violin for all the vocalists except the Hyderabad brothers. H. Sivaramakrishnan played the ghatam.
Sudha Raghunathan who sang on the last day chose ‘Yethavunara’ (Kalyani) of Tyagraja as her main piece. The raga elaboration was done with precision and skill. Being the last artist to sing for this festival, she chose to render her RTP in Madhyamavati raga and sang beautifully Sri Krishna Ganam, ‘Venuganam madhura ganam sabayore magizha vaikum.’
A part of this raga is usually played on the conclusion of a programme, but she chose to sing this as the main piece for the audience in Kolkata. She sang a tillana in Rakesri, a Lalgudi Jayaraman composition.
The Hyderabad brothers — Raghavachary and Seshachary — are both remarkable vocalists.
Starting with a navaragamalika varnam in Adi talam, they rendered Muthuswamy Dikshitar’s Thyagraja Yoga Vaibhavam. In this the raga alapana by Seshachary was memorable. The main raga Kokilapriya was sung resonantly. The sahitya was ‘Nannu brova rada sri Ramachandra’ was replete with the soulful singing of Niraval, Pallavi and kalpana swarams.
Flautist S. Shashank, who opened the festival with the sweet and melodious strains on his flute, started his recital with Khambodi Varnam in Ata talam. He asked his audience to choose the piece from a few options he gave. This certainly marks him out from the other artists.
His ‘Marivere’ (Patnam Subramania Iyer) in Latangi was emarkable. There was yet another surprise waiting for music lovers in Kolkata and that was the lec-dem on pallavi by veteran T.R.Subramaniam (TRS).
The festival ran to a packed house, justifying the efforts of S. Kannan, secretary, who started planning the festival months in advance. The stage decorated with multi-hued blossoms created the right atmosphere.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
