Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
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Thiruvananthapuram
Pleasing Hindolam, fine Mohanam
S. SIVAKUMAR
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Two concerts held recently were dedicated to Siva.
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Joyful: Thiruvarur Swaminathan.
Tiruchi Ganesan’s mighty beginning phrase for Hindolam (‘Samagana Lolane’-Sivan), which followed his well-controlled manodharma — alapana and swaras — for Devamanohari (‘Kaal Maari Adum’-Sivan) showed him to
be an artiste with a high-minded objective.
There was never a rush of brigas though his voice appeared to be predominantly briga-prone; his swara singing was a set of demanding yet pleasing exercises.
His other kritis — ‘Sivakamasundari’ (Jaganmohini - Gopalakrishna Bharati), ‘Eesan Kanakasabesan’ (Begada - Koteswara Iyer) and ‘Padhamae Thunai’ (Valaji - Sivan) — an all- Tamil selection, stuck to the theme.
His final song — on request — ‘Kumaran Thaal Panindhe’ (Yadukula Khambodi - Sivan) had sangatis, well modulated and aptly persuasive, to merge well with the lyrics. Papanasam Kumar (mridangam) and E.M. Subramaniam (ghatam) accompanied tastefully.
Thiruvarur Swaminathan’s flute recital featured a fine Mohanam alapana, and this flautist could mix and mutate between finger-related quick-fires and immensely curved zaarvais to convey the abundant joy the raga is associated with.
Intelligent pallavi
Earlier, Gajavadhana (Sri Ranjani-Sivan) saw an intelligent use of the pallavi’s notation (sa sa ni dha ma) where a score of three-set patterns were built to finally lead again to the pallavi.
His other two songs were ‘Sevikka Vendum’ (Andolika-Muthu Thandavar) and ‘Ananda Nadamaduvar’ (Purvikalyani - Neelakanta Sivan).
Gokul, the untiring and enthusiastic violin accompanist for both these concerts, had the tact to reshuffle him to adapt to the changed patterns of the artistes and thus projected himself as a great striver.
His Mohanam alapana had grace with gait, but still had a tinge of Mohana Kalyani. Musical virtuosity and grammatical requirements are not mutually exclusive concepts. K.R. Ganesh (mridangam) and Papanasam Sethuraman (ganjira) who provided laya support were seen to accompany in a dutiful and elegant manner.
The mike-men should do well to bear in mind that a minimal necessary amplification would be sufficient for a hall of this dimension. These two concerts were part of the Maha Sivaratri Musical Night, organised by Papanasam Kumar, and were held at the BVB Mini Hall.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
