INDIAN FINE ARTS SOCIETY
Need to hone their skills
G. SWAMINATHAN
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Both Visalakshi Nityanand and Aruna Ranganathan must exploit their `saareeram' to derive maximum advantage.
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Photos: K.N.Muralidharan.
UNUSUAL TIMBRE: Visalakshi Nityanand.
Singers like Shamshad Begum and Salma Agha charmed listeners with their husky voices that bordered on the masculine. In fact they became popular because of their unusual timbre and rendition.
Visalakshi Nityanand carries a similar tenor but only the sugary coat is missing. The result was a flat and lacklustre performance, although some good aspects surfaced.
The exposition of Lalitha came with a surfeit of Hindustani style brigas to camouflage the absence of Carnatic karvai.
`Hiranmayeem Lakshmim' (Lalitha) and `Swara Ragasudha' (Sankrabharanam) were her choices.
The neraval swara portion at `Mooladharaja Nada' also could not rise above mediocrity.
Kallidaikurichi Sivakumar (mridangam) and Nanganallur S. Swaminathan (ghatam) made the concert lively with their percussion.
Violin accompanist Bangalore Deepa K. Murthy was too soft to draw attention.
Aruna Ranganathan is an artist who should exploit her good sonorous voice and knowledge for better application. The string of kritis — of Tyagaraja and Dikshitar `Paragu Nee Kelara' (Kiranavali), `Tyagaraja Sam' (Salakabhairavi) and `Toli Ne Jesine' (Suddhabangala) — that followed the Kanada Adi tala varnam could not provide the impetus to the concert.
It was the agile `Mundu Venuga' in Darbar that cleared the cloud of dullness with several vivid sangatis.
Aruna Ranganathan.
Aruna's essay on Begada was neatly structured if one could overlook her noticeable indifference to connect the phrases either through smooth glides or linking strings. `Abhimana Men' of Patnam Subramanya Iyer came with `Anna Vastra Mula' for neraval and swaras.
`Ekambresa Nayakim' in Chamaram took centre stage and `Mooka Mukhya Vakprada' set for neraval swaras. Aruna could have employed smarter techniques to cash in on her brilliant efforts.
With good credentials like a clear voice, perfect diction, diligent training and experience, her expertise can create a better impact on the audience if she puts them all to optimum use. Nalina Mohan gave able support on the violin.
Ganapathyraman and Nerkunram S. Shankar sounded quite pleasing in their calculated beats and competent combined `mini tani avartanam.'
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