Creativity based on melody
SVK
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T. N. Krishnan, along with Sriram and Viji, presented an enchanting violin concert.
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EXQUISITE EXPOSITION: T. N. Krishnan with Viji and Sriram. Photo: S. Thanthoni.
T.N. Krishnan's violin play served to emphasise that the fusion of anubhava and a clear vision of the rakti content of music is what makes exposition exquisite. If in the enjoyment of sangita's beauty lies the secret of its appeal, Krishnan's Mukhari (`Entanine') provided it. Dulcet to the ear and pleasing to the mind, the alapana brought alive Mukhari's elegance and the mesmerising inherent melody. It was a delicious sound image expressed in sanchara frame.
With the Bhairavi varnam (`Viriboni') and the Sri Raga pancharatna (`Endaro-Mahaanubaavulu') Krishnan flung open the windows of a sensitive, refined and enchanting kutcheri. Before the four-raga Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi, he fathomed, strata by strata, the charms of Sankarabaranam. An instinct for melody was the decisive factor in his creative process — stately and delightful with tonal subtleties. One of the pleasurable aspects was the way Krishnan and Sri Ram, his son, and Viji Krishnan, his daughter, supported each other sharing ragas and swaras, particularly in the item `Siva-Siva-Siva Enaraadha' in Pantuvarali and ragam, tanam and pallavi. Guruvayoor Dorai (mridangam) with Vaikom Gopalakrishnan (ghatam) was quick to take advantage of the vigour of the three violinists during accompaniment and tani avartanam.
Ostentatious flaunting of vocal opulence with very little touch of sukham conveying a style bereft of melody was the driving force behind the performance of Hyderabad Brothers Seshachari and Raghavachari. Alapanas and swaraprastharas were reduced to quantitative terms and transformed themselves into pressure techniques.
Seshachari's alapanas of Suddha Dhanyasi (`Narayana') and Karaharapriya (`Rama-Nee-Samanam') were rambling without being graceful, erudite sans elegance, thrustful sans tranquility and dramatic with more of bounce than serenity. Music is more than sheer skilled voice manipulation. Seshachari's was obviously playing to the gallery . If he can keep his demonstrative tendencies in check, his presentation can gain a semblance of poise.
What contributed to the respectability of the concert was the selection of good Tyagaraja kirtanas — `Evarani' (Devamritavarshini) `Dasaratha-Nandana' (Asaveri) `Tulasamma' (Devagandhari). Listeners could identify the sahityas because they are familiar kirtanas; the articulation and clarity of songs did not seem to be of concern to the brothers.
The pace of the kirtanas was pressure-cooked with a liberal and spicy dash of sangatis thrown into them. Violinist Nagai Muralidharan's solo versions of the ragas were decorous and chaste though in the same pattern as Seshachari's. Clusters of enchanting flowing phrases laced the alapana's glow without sacrificing their aesthetics.
The tempting twists and turns of mridangam's rhythm, both during accompaniment for the songs and tani with A.S. Murali (ghatam) were very much visible in the play of Srimushnam Raja Rao.
It is a pleasure to hear a song well rendered because it helps in understanding its creative depths.
Such an occasion was provided by the Malladi Brothers when they interpreted `Soorya-Moorthe' (Sowrashtram) and `Dhyaname' (Dhanyasi). Their presentation was marked by consistency and evenness, particularly in the development of ragas Aarabhi (`O! Rajeevakksha') and Dhanyasi. The ragas and songs were well expressed within artistic limits. Their music had all the ingredients of classicism without a trace of gimmickry.
The violin accompaniment by Mysore Srikant reflected the inter-relationship in cutcheri objective with the Malladi Brothers. His solo versions of the ragas Aarabhi and Dhanyasi well preserved their essential features.
The mridangam rhythm from J. Vaidyanathan was tunefully vivifying and energetic — a gentle wave of percussive vigour.
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