An eclectic composition
P. S. KRISHNAMURTHI
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Erudition, skill and profundity came together as Visalakshi Nithyanand sang.
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VISALAKSHI NITYANAND Photo: K. V. Srinivasan.
The deep, rich, ravai-laden musical notes of Visalakshi Nithyanand pervaded the auditorium on Friday.
Though her earlier pieces in Bhoopalam and Begada — rendered briskly — sounded too hectic and loud , her tone changed when she switched over to an alapana in Lalita. It was melodious music free of percussive pressure. To the debate on whether the average music lover of south Indian classical music can enjoy its north Indian counterpart to the same extent, Visalakshi brings in a perception. She makes an eclectic composition of her programme, choosing from both styles, and boldly steps out of straitjacketed conventionalism. Ragas like Lalita and Desh are well embedded in the Carnatic genre, but an artiste is at liberty to choose her style of developing them. The patently "Hindustani" treatment that Visalakshi bestows on such ragas enhances her performance.
Dikshitar's "Hiranmayeem Lakshmeem" without neraval or swara, radiated the pristine glory of the deity. The essence of our music is bhakti, and Visalakshi time and again evoked it as if by magic, sometimes through a single concluding flourish of notes. There was a mark of individuality in her opting to limit the number of pieces. Her concert was loud in parts. However, the emphatic adherence to swara suddha and the sharp chiselled swaraprastharas underscored her melody. Her alapana in Nattaikurinji demonstrated how a raga can be presented in a fulfilling manner in just five minutes through mastery of tonal effect. Her tanam was less satisfying in that she did not move from `vilamba kalam' through the six minutes she devoted to it.
Her swaraprastharas in the ragamalika of Nattaikurinji, Des and Revati drew the other artistes on stage into enthusiastic participation and the audience into repeated applause; erudition, skill and profundity came into confluence time and again.
V. Suresh Babu has a rich bowing and he was quick to pick the gauntlet Visalakshi threw every time. H. R. J. Bhava Raghavan and Nanganallur Swaminathan (ghatam) made an excellent rhythmic combination.
Mahathi's concert was neatly devised — a brisk varnam (Durbar), a Tamil song or two, "Teliyaleru," two heavy items and a concluding abhang. There was purity of sruti, laya and nadam and the customary multi-avartana karuvais, followed by predictable audience acknowledgement
A young artiste of promise and blessed with a good voice, background, musical training and flair, Mahathi can rise in the classical field if she learns to shed her propensity to project her skill in brighas which, though eminently pleasant, tend to slip in swaraprastharas, which are intricate but of dubious aesthetic value, and if she cultures her voice, which for all its natural nadam, gets pushed beyond melody.
Akkarai Swarnalatha is shaping into a dependable violinist, but can be a little more assertive . M.S. Varadan's mridangam has the ring and discreteness of `sollus'.
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