MUSIC ACADEMY
Full of aesthetic inputs
P.S.KRISHNAMURTHI
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Melody reigned supreme in the recitals of Vasundhara Rajagopal and D. Balakrishna.
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Photos: N. Sridharan and R. Shivaji Rao.
FLAWLESS: Vasundhara Rajagopal.
Vasundhara Rajagopal commenced her recital with Reethigowlai varnam and Harikhambodi in pleasant, fulsome, vocal form. Warming up in 15 minutes, she settled into an elaborate delineation of Useni — a raga demanding care in handling, as it can fall prey to clichés in its choice of phrases, while threatening to allure an unwary singer into the channels of Mukhari, Bhairavi or even Anandabhairavi. That she could treat it with confidence and without flaw for over eight minutes speaks of her practice and perception.
The second challenge is not serious for an instrument. Akkarai Subbulakshmi's playing was characteristically deliberate, firm and explorative. The kriti `Eppadi Manam Tunindado Sami' emerged with easy feeling after such alapana. Melakkaveri Balaji (mridangam) and Adambakkam Shankar merged into the musical stream unobtrusively. In Mandari (`Paraloka Bhayamu') the sincerity in commitment to promoting aesthetics was evident.
Sancharas, vilamba and durita, were flawless, with never a screechy or squeaky or otherwise harsh note or facial expression. The reverence to kriti lakshana was seen, not only in musical purity, but also in the impeccable diction be it Tamil, Telugu or Sanskrit.
The two-minute interlude of Dikshitar's `Parantamavati Jayati' in Dharmavati helped her take up Todi.
In Todi, the sanchara `ga-ma-dha-ni-dha-ma' is both pleasant and popular, but Vasundhara's frequent stress on the `panchama' accentuated the lakshana of the raga. Akkarai Subbulakshmi's contribution was equally commendable; she can perhaps economise on the stereotype usage ga, ri-ri, nee, da-da, Ga, Ri-Ri.
D. Balakrishna.
Tyagaraja's `Koluva' was a welcome revival of a weighty composition. The song was projected with meticulous attention to all the aspects of its charm and was pleasant fare; niraval sanchara at the `charanam,' `tampura chekkuni' brought out Melakkaveri Balaji's mridangam and Adambakkam Shankar's ghatam into prominence. Their performance here was one that underscored the contribution the percussionist can make to a concert.
Devagandhari coming immediately upon this was not a judicious choice. It is common strategy to juxtapose a fast and slow item. Pitching on Devagandhari for tanam and pallavi was even more incongruous. Tanam needs a sanchara of three notes close on the scale at three different sthayis. This is not conveniently achievable in this raga. Though Vasundhara's selection could have been better, her rendering of RTP was beyond question, and most enjoyable.
D. Balakrishna (veena) was all melody. Starting with Khamas varnam, Balakrishna soon went on to Panthuvarali in Rupakam. Devamanohari after this was a neat package with choice sancharas in a brief alapana, tastefully developed through `Evarura' in misra chapu. Carefully edited sets of kalpanaswara added lustre.
Mohanam with an exquisite selection of notes and sancharas came as a fitting prelude to `Kapali' in Adi. It was in the 10-minute Todi alapana that the concert steered into a mood of profundity (may be something about the raga itself?). The raga glided across, backed by commendable sensitivity and matching skill. `Srikrishnam Bhaja Manasa' of Dikshitar slipped easily into the solemn ambience.
In his 12-minute Khambodi alapana, the artiste was again seen tuned close to the ethos of Carnatic music in its depth, complementing it with a ragamalika tanam, surveying the pancharatna ragas, culminating in the popular pallavi of yesteryear, `Unadu Padam Tunaiye, Swaminathane,' in Adi, immortalised by Madurai Mani Iyer. Ramakrishna (mridangam) and Pudukottai Ramachandra (ghatam) enhanced the concert with aesthetic inputs competently injected.
Their tani avartanam lasting for some eight-minutes, was both pleasant in delivery and intricate in design. There were occasions when Balakrisnan's manodharma was far ahead of his `sadhkam,' judging from the not infrequent accidents of the fingers tripping over the `mettu,' be it in `alapana,' `sahityam' or `swaraprastara.'
Throughout the concert, the sound system acted as an irritant with persistent acoustic feed back howling. It is hard to imagine why this avoidable distraction could not be avoided. It is to the credit of the artiste that he did not let himself get disconcerted.
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