Vintage Ariyakkudi
GARIMELLA SUBRAMANIAM
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Making an impression on the audience, B. Rajam Iyer unleashed his guru 's favourites.
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PLEASURABLE: S. Sowmya(Below) and Rajan Iyer. PHOTOS: D. KRISHNAN AND S. R. RAGHUNATHAN
There was great character in veteran B. Rajam Iyer's vocal recital where he showcased vintage kirtanas popularised by his guru Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyangar. With vocal support by V. Subramanyam, he made a notable impression on the audience. The opening varnam in Ananda Bhairavi of Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar was just one of the many Ariyakkudi favourites. Iyer followed this up with two major kritis of Tyagaraja — "Sadhinchene" and "Sobillu Saptaswara."
Among the composers, Iyer featured Muthuswami Dikshitar in two major compositions. The first was "Srivaduganadha," on Lord Kalabhairavar. Hearing Iyer's crisp alapana, few would have had reason to doubt ragam Suddhasaveri. But then, the veteran says that this janya of Dheerasankarabharanam was in fact known as Devakriya during Dikshitar's time. He points out that in many of his kritis, Dikshitar had woven Devakriya (the name of the ragam) into the lyrics.
As regards Suddhasaveri in the 18th century, Iyer sees logic in the fact that the scale had a Suddharishabham, just as in ragam Saveri. In order to avoid confusion, the earlier Suddhasaveri is now being referred to as Karnatakasaveri. The history behind the change from Devakriya to Suddhasaveri and information about Devakriya as it is in vogue today would indeed be educative.
Iyer's second piece of Dikshitar in the recital was on the deity of Thiruchendur — ``Sri Subrahmanyaya Namaste" in ragam Kambodi. The Muthaiah Bhagavathar composition in ragam Mandari, "Ennallu Tiruguduno" was as melodic as the other kritis that followed.
Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam on the mridangam, Mahadeva Sarma on the violin and Thirupunitura Radhakrishnan on the ghatam did a splendid job as accompanists.
S. Sowmya breathed fresh air into the current season with her vocal recital where she featured compositions not heard a second-time, at least in the top-bracket concerts in the past fortnight. But even this fortuitous coincidence was hard-earned, one would say if you consider what appears to have been a deliberate choice of many unusual compositions.
From the varnam in Yedukulakhambhodi ("Kamalakshi Ninnekori") to the Tyagaraja kriti ("Vinave O Manasa") in Vivardhani, Sowmya's selection had something new. The composition of Veena Kuppaiyer is surely not the most common Ata tala varnam you hear in a kutcheri, although Yedukulakambodi has been a favourite ragam among composers, particularly in the genre of devotional kirtanas which are equally popular with current-day artistes.
Similarly, Vivardhani, the ragam with four notes in the ascent was one of the many ways that Tyagaraja broke new ground. It may appear to stretch our claim about the unique character of Sowmya's recital. But many in the audience would agree that Tyagaraja's "Eentabhagyamu" in ragam Saranga that she sang is less known than "Neevadanegana" if not rarer than "Ehi trijagadeesa." As for Dikshitar's ``Kshitijaramanam" in Devagandhari, you could say that the ragam is as uncommon as the kriti, with the exception of that masterpiece of Tyagaraja, "Kshirasagara" and a few minor compositions.
Our case about the concert can be made most forcefully with the Hanumatodi example. After Sowmya's alapana and essay on the violin, the pleasure of listening to "Srisubrahmanyo" would have easily outweighed the disappointment of not hearing a more familiar kriti.
The quality of accompaniments — Pakala Ramdas (violin) Neyveli Narayanan (mridangam) and Madippakkam Murali (ghatam) — seemed to suggest that they didn't necessarily disagree with the above assessment.
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