SRI KRISHNA GANA SABHA
Aesthetics takes the back seat
SVK
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Seshachari and Raghavachari preferred demonstrative display to dainty refinement.
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Photo: R. Shivaji Rao.
ACCENT WAS ON CRAFT: Seshachari and Raghavachari.
Gone are the days of pretension, the days of keeping papers under the electronic sruti box. During the concert of the Hyderabad Brothers, Seshachari actually raised the paper to eye level and sang. However, he did so as if the songs were well practised. Significantly, his programme contained the song, `Teliyaleru Rama Bhakti Margamu' in Dhenuka. The concert suggested a slight modification to the sahitya to convey `Teliyaleru Rama Sangita Margamu'.
Sangita has two faces, demonstrative display and dainty refinement. Seshachari and Raghavachari enunciated the former and violinist Varadarajan the latter.
Sankarabharanam was the main item for Ragam, Tanam and Pallavi. The duo kept the lyrical approach at arm's length. Craft more than aesthetics seemed to engage the attention of the vocalists. The characteristic shades of Asaveri (`Sri Kanchi Naayike') and Sahana (`Inkevarunnaaru,' both compositions of Annaswami Sastri) got erased in their alapana with the emphasis on assertiveness.
While broadly reflecting the drift of the vocalists, Varadarajan, in his solo, provided melodic modulation and perpetual mellowness in the bowing.
Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam (mridangam) in his tani chose to be flamboyant which went well with the kutcheri objective of the Hyderabad Brothers. B. Purushotaman (kanjira) joined the fray.
Maharajapuram Ramachandran lifted his performance by selecting good songs. His vocal strength enhanced his performance. He has a strong foundation of authentic patanthara and raga chaya in the alapanas. Still, proper voice modulation to emphasise the gana-naya facets, proper spacing between sancharas in the alapanas and softness in the enunciation of sahitya would have enhanced the appeal.
Maharajapuram Ramachandran (file photo).
"Sarame Gaani" (Pantuvarali), "Undedi Ramudu" (Harikhambodi) and "Enduko Nee Manasu" (Kalyani) were spirited renditions but a sense of calmness was missing. The sangatis in these songs accomplished the purpose he had in view.
Harikhambodi, Kalyani and later Kharaharapriya were elaborated stage by stage. There was passion in focussing the ragas' features on traditional lines.
The building blocks of sancharas of these ragas at the hands of violinist Nagai Muralidharan in his solo were almost an echo of Ramachandran's style. With excellent bowing control, his presentation was arresting.
In the tani avarthanam, Umayalpuram Sivaraman's mridangam was sensitive, subtle and refined. However, there were occasional bursts of high-flown phrases.
B. Sree Sunder Kumar's kanjira underlined his good understanding of Sivaraman's laya process.
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