All about ragas
V. BALASUBRAMANIAN
|
Three volumes of Prof. SRJ were released at the Music Academy and the gathering was treated to a sparkling veena recital.
|
Photos: S.S. Kumar
SIGNIFICANT: N. Murali, President of the Music Academy, releases the book `Ragalakshanangal', authored by S.R. Janakiraman (second from left). N. Ramanathan receives it at a function held in Chennai on Sunday. Pappu Venugopala Rao, Seretary, the Music Academy, is also present.
‘R aga Lakshanangal' written in three volumes by Sangita Kala Acharya Prof. S.R. Janakiraman and published by The Music Academy, Chennai, was released on Friday last at a function held in Kasturi Srinivasan Hall. Presiding over the event and releasing the books N. Murali, president, The Music Academy, expressed his happiness about the Academy reviving its publication activities after a gap of 10 years.
Dr. N. Ramanathan said that it was an honour to receive books authored by his Guru. He added that the ragas have merely not been described but discussed in detail in the book. He cited examples for the audience benefit.
Prof SRJ, Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao, secretary of the Academy, described SRJ as a teacher, musician, musicologist, writer and a brilliant scholar. He paid compliments for his command over English and made special mention about the Professor's memory. In response, SRJ thanked the Academy for having given this opportunity to make a humble contribution. He also recalled his entry to the Academy in 1954 as a musician and also about his unbroken stint as a member of the Experts Committee since 1978.
Scintillating recital
E. Gayathri and accompanists.
This was followed by E. Gayathri's scintillating veena recital. Warming up with ‘Sri Mahaganpathy' (Gowla-Mishra Chapu-Dikshitar), Gayathri presented a not oft-heard Tyagaraja kriti, ‘Cheday Buddhi' (Atana-Adi) neatly. Impeccable sahitya meetu was the highlight of the concert. Elaborating Vakulabharanam (‘Inta Vada Nee'-Adi- Pallavi Seshaiyer) with refinement. The niraval and swarams all bore the stamp of Gayathri, who mesmerised the compact audience with her dancing fingers. A sedately approached Salaga Bhairavi (‘Samaganalola'-Adi-Veenai Kuppier) had both depth and beauty.
The two ragas, back to back, did make the atmosphere heavy. And as a relief came Tyagaraja's ‘Nee Chiththamu' (Vijayavasantham-Adi) eased it out a bit. Over the years Gayathri's raga essays have become sedate what with meditative silent pauses and long karvais. Mohanam that evening was a delight. It was not a mere combination of notes as is possible in penta tonic ragas but meaningful phrases with the raga swarupa in mind. A feast of delectable strokes during the tanam took the listener back to those years of Baby Gayathri when phrases would flow out of her veena in a cascade.
Adding to the gaiety was a spirited rendering of Tyagaraja's ‘Nannu Palimpa' seasoned with an array of kalpana swaras. Hamsanandi (Srinivasa-Adi-Sivan) was again a treat. Veterans Trichur C. Narendran (mridangam) and T.V. Vasan (ghatam) provided an apt foil with their unobtrusive approach lifting the concert to great heights.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
