Wholesome in their form and spirit
GOWRI RAMNARAYAN
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Phrases were mature and sensitive as Mala Chandrasekhar delineated ragas.
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ALL SPRIGHTLY CHARM: Mala Chandrasekhar. Photo D. Krishnan.
Her familiarity with their form and spirit were obvious when Mala Chandrasekhar played Sahana and Keeravani on the flute. Sahana was marked by kachitam, it had proportion, balance and authenticity.
This was not dry technique, but one that brought out the cream of the raga. The alapana demanded a kriti of some weight and "Giripai," in which Tyagaraja mingles grandeur with pathos, fulfilled the expectation.
Keeravani had karvais of such length and power that one wondered if the mike was booming in sruti. The phrases were mature and sensitive. Mala bridged the two main ragas with a medium paced "Bhogindra Sayinam" (Kuntalavarali), all sprightly charm in swaraprastara. The way she touched the higher madhyama and developed her phrases around the keynotes was relishable.
Mala continued this mood in "Sadamadindalatu" (Gambhiravani). In fact her ability to instil a feeling of fullness into smaller, medium-paced kritis was evident from the start ("Gajananayutam" in Chakravakam, "Anupama Gunambudhim" in Atana).
In the former, she even brought off an admirable neraval — no easy task on any instrument, particularly wind. Her handling of the gamakas was notable for knowing thus far and no further. Varali in "Ka Va Va" came through just the right degree of oscillations to evoke the raga's identity and mood.
However, the volume was too high for the flute and for Mala's mature style. Besides, the accompanists of the day — Bombay S.V. Ramachandran (violin), Sumati Rammohan Rao (mridangam) and H. Sivaramakrishnan (ghatam) were stylistically incompatible with Mala's approach. This lacklustre blend reduced the impact of the recital.
T.M. Krishna's Atana had you focussed, with swaraprastara in two speeds, where phrases repeated with slight differences in pacing and modulation made you sit up. And what a lustrous kriti ("Mummurthulu")! But came Gowlai and you wondered whether it was necessary to indulge in so much ikaram, ukaram and ekaram when the voice was perfectly capable of rendering akaram? "Tyagaraja Palaya'' accommodated a fine swara edifice, with vibrancy in the lower sancharas.
The violin (Mysore Manjunath), rich in tone, was capable of much sweetness. But it often decided to be staccato instead, here and later. Madhyamavati lifted the concert to another level altogether. Searching, soulful, profound, and as rich as an alapana can be when the concentration is single-minded and the voice one with the sruti.
The listener longs for more dwelling on the manthara notes. Here the violin proved outstanding. No mannerisms, nothing out of place, and melting bhava. And what humility in touching the upper madhyama!
"Palinchu Kamakshi'' was the obvious song to follow an alapana of such magnitude. Voice and string bonded spontaneously in the self-forgetful neraval. The volume was turned down and manodharma flowed. Swaras followed the same principle, ending without any complex arudi. The vallinam mellinam effect was enough to make it dramatic. Vellore Ramabhadran was ever discreet.
The ragam tanam pallavi in Bilahari (Chatusra triputa) was compressed disproportionately due to lack of right time allotment. It pleased in parts. But the grave padam made up for this haste. However, it was one thing to launch it after a quiet tani, but another to bear the load. Krishna did justice to "Kuvalayakshiro's" (Gaulipantu) demands for breath control, patient modulation and slow unfolding of bhava.
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