Mellifluous in an inspiring setting
V. BALASUBRAMANIAN
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The delineation of Todi without gimmicks was the highlight of Bhaskaran's flute recital.
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K. Bhaskaran's flute concert at Sri Venugopalaswamy Temple, Gopalapuram, under the auspices of Nandi Fine Arts was pregnant with bhava.
Starting off with a Kalyani varnam (Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar-Adi), Bhaskaran warmed up to present the ever-popular Hamsadhwani "Vinayaka Ninnu Vina" (Veenai Kuppaiyer-Adi) after a brief alapana. This promised a mellifluous fare for the evening.
The thin attendance improved as visitors to the temple, attracted by the concert, sat down to listen.
Bhaskaran's choice of songs centred round Lord Krishna. Besides the statue of the presiding deity, Lord Venugopala Swamy, bedecked with tulsi and jasmine in the sanctum, there was one large statue of Lord Krishna overlooking the stage. The setting thus was inspiring. How can a Krishna-collection be complete without a Purandaradasa kriti?
Bhaskaran presented a rare piece in Atana, "Sahala Graha Pala" ( Adi).
Kambodi was elaborated with elan. Bhaskaran rested quite often in the shadjam and pancham after a couple of sancharas which sent the audience into a meditative mood. Sruti alignment was his forte.
Tyagaraja's "Elaraa Sri Krishna" was the natural choice for a kirtana, rendered sincerely.
The Todi raga alapana was the highlight of the concert. The phrases came one after another, unhurriedly.
Beginning in the lower octave, the flautist carefully created a beautiful silhouette of the ragam without resorting to gimmicks. Bhaskaran's manobhavam steeped in deep classicism produced natural phrases.
FULL OF BHAVA: K. Bhaskaran. Photo: R. Shivaji Rao.
The way he developed the raga was like Sunil Gavaskar building his innings to reach the coveted three-figure mark. "Thaaye Yashodha" (Oothukkadu) was a clean presentation with a brief neraval in "Kaalinil Silambu."
The kalpanaswaras oozed with the essence of Todi and credit again must be given to Bhaskaran for not resorting to any acrobatic calculations. Suresh Babu on the violin played Kambodi and Todi with vigour in copybook style.
Thanjavur Ramdass who is very loud on his mridangam made up for his initial slack in the tempo with well-planned tani that had creative sollukattu in the tisra nadai portion.
Mention must be made of his encouragement to the main artiste throughout the concert.
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