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Mohan Santhanam

A concert that lasted for almost three hours, Mohan began traditionally with ‘Viribhoni,’ the classical Ata tala varnam in Bhairavi. This was followed by a crisp ‘Garudagamana’ of Patnam Subramanya Iyer in the raga Nagaswaravali with a few rounds of rapid fire swaras. Mohan then launched into an involved rendition of Tyagaraja’s ‘Dudukugala,’ where the composer dwelt upon the trials and tribulations experienced in the sadhana marga.

This was followed by Gopalakrishna Bharati’s ‘Kanaka sabhapatikku’ in Atana. The first raga rendition of the evening was Varali. Mohan meticulously drew a scholarly picture of the alapana, skilfully including many phrases that are often heard only on the nagaswaram. Tyagaraja’s less heard ‘Maragatha mani varna’ was given a convincing interpretation. The swaraprasthara was fluent and effortless with a lively kuraippu following Tyagaraja’s “Chentane sada” (Adi) in Kuntalavarali which had a sparkling chittaswaram as well. A rare sighting included Kotiswara Iyer’s ‘Singaara Kumaara’ in the raga Varunapriya, handled with due reverence.

The main raga of the evening was Sankarabharanam which held its own with Muthuswami Dikshitar’s masterpiece, ‘Akshayalinga vibho’ exploiting the scope afforded for higher aesthetics with an interestingly different line being chosen for an expansive niraval.

N.C.Madhav’s violin accompaniment rose to the occasion admirably in his alapanas of Varali and Sankarabharanam. His responses to the vocalist in the kalpanaswara passages of the Nagaswaravali and Kuntalavarali kritis were most noteworthy.

Polished and honed by experience, Koviladi Madhwa Prasad’s mridangam and Alathur Rajaganesh’s accompaniment on the kanjira provided synergic support throughout. Their enthusiastic tani avarthanam in Misra Chapu tala deserves special mention. Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Naan Oru Vilayaattu,’ ‘Sarangan Marugane,’ a ragamalika popularised by Maharajapuram Santhanam, and Lalgudi’s tillana in raga Brindavani effectively rounded off the sumptuous fare.

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