Voila... it's the violin
G. SWAMINATHAN
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Vocal, Western, Carnatic... the concert by Ganesh and Kumaresh was all about variety.
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WOVE MAGIC WITH THEIR BOWS: Ganesh (left) and Kumaresh. Photo: R. Shivaji Rao.
Musicians of the younger generation leave no stone unturned in their effort to bring classical music to the common man. Ganesh and Kumaresh are no exception. Their violin concert was a variety show.
The programme sheet read as violin duet. But it had vocal, western violin and classical south Indian music, a full 30 minutes of tala-vadya kutcheri rolled into one.
The violin has an edge over other instruments. It can reach scales which human voice fails to touch. It seemed as though Ganesh and Kumaresh with their prodigious knowledge and experience could do anything with their bows and nimble fingers.
A gana ragamalika varnam composed by Kumaresh kickstarted the concert. "Yare Rengana" in Hindolam by Purandaradasa was the next. "Koluvaiyunnade" in Devagandhari and "Sobillu Saptaswara" in Jaganmohini by Tyagaraja are considered stuff for the connoisseur.
Here, the stray western touches were boldly consolidated into a full fledged orchestral symphony with a surfeit of fast flights, ascends and descends of notes and scale in raga Dharmavati set to misrachapu beats. They had only shades of Carnatic melody with western harmony dominating. Even the percussion padding by Eswaran and Palanivel sounded like drums. Then, it was time for vocal music. Ganesh sang "Devaki Nandana Nanda Mukunda' in ragamalika. Sankarabharanam in which the western notes could easily make inroads was chosen for major elaboration, followed by "Swararagasudharasa," the Tyagaraja masterpiece.
The kalpanaswaraprasthara at the pallavi was twisted into ragamalika trail. Vasantha, Bhimplas, Hamsanandi and Kalyanavasantham were fused.
What followed was no tani avartanam. It was a full-fledged percussion performance. Mannargudi Easwaran and Haridwaramangalam Palanivel exchanged endless patterns of rhythmic sallies leading to a thunderous climax. The concluding segment again had a mélange of vocal and violin items.
The recital was an extravagant medley, not just a humble Carnatic music concert.
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