MUSIC ACADEMY
Punctuated with soft phrases
GARIMELLA SUBRAMANIAM
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Master Balamuralikrishna lived up to his growing reputation but Swarna Rethas did not seem to put in feeling into his singing.
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Photos: V. Ganesan and K. V. Srinivasan.
WAY AHEAD: Master Balamuralikrishna.
Master Balamuralikrishna is quite obviously many notches ahead of most of the performers who have been on stage yet in the Music Academy's post-noon sessions. The youngster lived up to his growing reputation as a top-ranking artiste in the essay of Simhendramadhyamam and the Ragam Tanam Pallavi of Bhairavi.
But two other compositions which the vocalist sang, merit some attention to put some broader issues in perspective. These are Tyagaraja's `Muddumomu,' in Suryakantam, the 17th in the melakarta system, and Dikshitar's `Sriramam,' in Narayanagowla.
Balamuralikrishna sang the former in madhyama kalam and the latter in chowka kalam. But there are many who sing one of these songs in the tempo which Balamuralikrishna deployed to tackle the other kriti and vice versa.
Readers would be curious as to know which of the two versions is original. The lack of conclusive proof one way or the other should be obvious from innumerable musical lineages, i.e., different schools or styles that are named after places and personalities. Although each of them claims originality, together, all of them reinforce the view that rendition of kritis is ultimately a matter of interpretation.
As this scribe reflected on some of these questions, Balamuralikrishna's opening varnam in Hindolam, `Malmarugan Murugan,' was kept tucked away in some corner of the mind and soon the lilting ragamalika kriti, `Kannanidam Eduttu Solladi Kiliye,' took its place. Avaneeshwaram S.R.Vinu who was on the violin was truly masterful, as was Trivandrum R. Vaidyanathan who played the mridangam.
Swarna Rethas did not seem to put in much feeling into his singing. If he thinks that his good technique alone will carry the day, he is perhaps mistaken. He should know the place for plain notes.
Swarna Rethas.
In fact, the one question that troubled this scribe right through the young man's recital — for instance in `Karunimpa,' the varnam in Sahana — was how easy it was for someone to fail to make an impression despite being endowed with a rich voice. Rethas knows that his voice is his strength.
It was the same in `Satre Vilagiyirum Pillaay,' in Purvikalyani. Swarna Rethas's `Tyagaraja Yoga Vaibhavam,' in Anandabhairavi was sung like how one would read a long-winding sentence without punctuations. `Krupajoochutaku Velaraa Rama,' was an apt choice to effect variation in tempo from the previous song.
The main piece, Tyagaraja's `O Rangasayi' in Khambodi was too predictable despite a painstaking alapana, neraval and kalpanaswaram. `Iduvo Tillai Chidambara Kshetram,' highlighted another shortcoming. The very next line, `Eesan Iruppidamo,' was repeatedly broken up as `Eesaniru Pidamo.'
In his solo essays, violinist B. Ananthakrishnan showed glimpses of how different the afternoon's proceedings might have been. R. Sankaranarayanan on the mridangam has a competent hand that draws your attention to many a pleasant-sounding beat.
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