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Beyond the format

It is a good augury for Carnatic music that over the past decade many promising male vocalists have made their presence felt in the cutcheri arena. . M. Balamuralikrisna (Kunnakudi) is one of those promising vocalists who exhibits his leaning towar ds the deeper insights of music and does not seem to get swayed by mere concert craft.

A double compact disc album of his has been brought out by Srishti’s Carnatica (P) Ltd from a live concert held in November 2006 at Chennai. The CD opens with Thiruvotriyur Tyagaraya’s varnam ‘Chalamela’ in Durbar. The vocalist’s phrases at the beginning reveal the raga swaroopa without any ambiguity.

Obeisance to the remover of obstacles is through Mazhavai Chidambara Bharati’s ‘Pahi Pahi Balaganapathe’ (Hamsadhwani-Rupakam). The tunesmith of this composition, T.M.Thiagarajan, has waved his magic wand and given a fresh colour to the popular Hamsadwani. The chittaswaram is also his creation that speaks volumes of his musical acumen. Balamuralikrishna renders this composition well. His kalpanaswaras for ‘Pahi’ at samam and ‘Ganapathe’ at seven mathirais after samam are confident renderings. There is a bit of hesitation in violinst Usha Rajagopalan’s replies to the swaras at ‘Ganapathe.’

Patnam Subramania Iyer’s ‘Ninnujuchi’ in Sourashtram is a composition which can always can set the tone for a bright beginning of a concert. The fast paced sangatis by the singer come out with clarity.

Dharmavathi is the first raga chosen for alapana. Balamuralikrishna’s essay is mostly confined to madhyamakala sancharas. A judicious blend of chowka kala phrases and melkala brigas would always make a better impact. The popular ‘Bhajanaseya’ of Mysore Vasudevachar is vocalised fairly well with kalpanaswaras. The violinist offers a commendable Dharmavathi vinyasa.

Tyagaraja’s ‘Muripemu’ in Mukhari is a sensitive rendering accounting for the maximum listening pleasure in this album. The composer chides Lord Rama stating that His acquisitions have made Him proud. Balamuralikrishna does ample justice to this great composition.

The second disc opens with ‘Kanden Kanden’ (Vasantha - Arunachala Kavi) and is sung with appropriate tempo. Thodi is the main raga of this segment. The alapana is followed by Syama Sastri’s masterpiece, ‘Ninne Namminanu’ in misrachapu . The raga offering by the vocalist and violinist, the kriti rendering, niraval and swaras all conform to the current concert pattern. Percussion support by Trivandrum Vaidyanathan (mridangam) and B. Sundar Kumar (kanjira) is exemplary.

Balamuralikrishna winds up with the Behag javali of Tirupati Narayanaswamy (‘Vagaladi’). The javali is a soothing rendition. The vocalist has carved a niche for himself in the concert arena and it would be to his benefit to give more thought to the sahitya aspect of the compositions. In the Dharmavathi kriti, in the charanam, the lyric, ‘Sarasiruha Nethruni’ is sung as ‘Nayaniruha Nethruni,’ which needs to be corrected. Balamuralikrishna has great potential and correctness of the sahitya would further enhance the standard of his presentation.

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