NARADA GANA SABHA
The sax shows little imagination
M.RAMESH
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If Kadri Gopalnath seemed to be going through the motions, Delhi Muthukumar's Neethimathi alapana was a revelation and B.Kannan handled the veena with consummate ease.
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Photo: S. R. Raghunathan
CONTRAST: Kadri Gopalnath
Though it gave the audience a nice time, there was nothing remarkable or memorable about Kadri Gopalnath's concert. Early on, Gopalnath took up `Vathapi Ganapathim.' This Hamsadhwani kriti has been so overused that it is about time it is given some rest from the concert halls. The kalpanaswara went on and on and were more a display of acrobatics than music. Violinist Kanyakumari seemed obliged to follow suit.
This was followed by an Arabhi alapana, which was pretty good, tailed by `Sadhinchane.' Season's concerts are, unfortunately, two-hour affairs and what is the point of using such lengthy `fillers,' where the accent is on rendition rather than imagination? It certainly gives rise to an impression that the artiste just wants to go through the motions.
A Hamsanandhi alapana followed, somewhat karvai-based, which sounded very good especially at the lower notes. Presently `Paavanaguru' appeared, with swaras at the charanam point. This piece was one of the better parts of the concert.
Then came Dwijavanthi, a surprise but welcome selection for a main piece. It was a nice alapana. Kanyakumari's follow-up was a shade better, perhaps because violin is better suited for Carnatic music than saxophone, but towards the end, her alapana, in an obvious bid to follow the main artiste, degenerated into a sputter of notes so jarring that it seemed to be a judgment that the bow snapped and the violinist had to use the spare for the rest of the concert.
There was no neraval in the concert — a big negative. Haridwaramangalam A.K.Palanivel's support was professional, but with Bangalore Amrit on the kanjira and Bangalore Rajasekhar on the morsing, the tani dragged a bit. The next piece, `Om Namo Narayana' of Ambujam Krishna in Karnaranjini, was soothing after the stormy tani.
On Sunday afternoon, the last word was said about whether or not the vivadi ragas offer scope for detailed handling.
B. Kannan.
The judgment on the subject came in the form of an authoritative Neethimathi alapana by Delhi Muthukumar, an up-and-coming artiste who was given one and half-hours time for his concert. In the short time given to him, Muthukumar proved his mettle. Muthukumar has perhaps imbibed a briga-based style from his mentor and guru, Seshagopalan.
His Panthuvarali apalana, which was delivered in a burst of brigas, inevitably contained the aroma of Sesha's style. Purandara Dasa's `Idu Bhagya' in Jampa tala was a surprise selection for the Dasar kriti is usually sung in Khambodi. Although Kannada is not Muthukumar's native tongue, the Dasar kriti came out with an emotive appeal. After a filler (Ambujam Krishna's Mohanam piece, `Kshemam Kuru Gopala'), Muthukumar showered Neethimathi on the audience. It was a splendid five-minute alapana, all the more creditable because there is little by way of reference material to develop the raga. There are only three known compositions, the more famous `Mohanakara Muthukumara' of Koteeswara Iyer, `Vachanagochara' of Tyagaraja and `Smaranam' of Balamuralikrishna.
The distinctive and defining `shatsruthi rishabham' is veritably difficult to handle in the lower octave, but Muthukumar sang it confidently. Mention must be made of the young violinist Parur M.S.Ananthakrishnan, who played the raga well in his follow-up. As expected `Mohanakara' followed.
The phrase `Neethimathi Tandarul' was picked up for neraval, but surprisingly Muthukumar abruptly ended the neraval without even going to the higher speed and ended the piece without any kalpanaswara. Apparently, this was done to make room for `Akshaya Linga Vibho,' hurriedly rendered without an alapana or neraval and only a few brief lines of swaras. This neither-here-nor-there approach spoilt the effect for both Neethimathi and Sankarabharanam. Mridangist A.V. Manikandan gave spirited support, but did not get to play a tani.
That the Narada Gana Sabha mini hall was less than full for
B.Kannan's veena concert is a reflection of the deplorable apathy of the rasikas for instrumental music. It is a pity that poor patronage hinders prime-time slots for artistes like Kannan.
Balakrishnan Kannan, a nephew of dancer Padma Subrahmanyan, has been performing for over a quarter century. The experience showed in the maturity of his performance which left the audience in no doubt that he was well on the way to claiming his place in the Hall of Fame of Carnatic music.
The main piece of the concert was the Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi in the 14th Melakartha raga, Vagulabharanam. Kannan played it with consummate ease, as though he was reciting multiplication tables of lower numbers. Only a couple of days ago, he played elsewhere in the city an RTP in Sucharitra, the 67th Melakartha (a sister of Nasika Bhushani).
The Vagulabharanam pallavi was his own. With percussion support from three instruments — mridangam (Poongulam Subramanian), ghatam (N.Guruprasad) and kanjira (B.S.Purushothaman), the RTP was stimulating.
Earlier, Kannan presented an imaginative Keeravani alapana followed by a composition on the Paramacharya.
T.V.Sankaranarayanan's recital gave one the feeling of deja vu. Sure, his concert was good. He sang his Arabhi (`Vighneswara Subhakaram' of Tulasivanam), Panthuvarali (`Siva Siva'), Khambodi (`Kandan Endra Paeril') and Behag (`Marajanaka') with ease, and they all sounded good. They did provide a pleasant evening to the audience. But there was nothing innovative in the concert. Sankaranarayanan's ardent fans have heard all these before. He could have at least prefixed and suffixed his Vijayashree (`Vara Narada') with a raga and some swaras — something he is certainly capable of.
A positive feature of the main piece (Khambodi) was the selection of lines that occupied two full tala cycles (Adi, rettai kalai). Nagai Sriram's support was just about adequate, but Srimushnam Raja Rao played admirably well, a reflection of his experience as an accompanist. Vyasa Vittala's kanjira support was good, though one would have expected more of `gummikis.'
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