MUSIC ACADEMY
With the stamp of dedication
P.S. KRISHNAMURTHI
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The Priya Sisters and their team made a mark on the minds of the audience.
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PHOTO: V. GANESAN
PERFECTLY TUNED: The Priya Sisters.
A number of points about the Priya Sisters' concert hit one from the very start — the perfect tuning of their voices to the sruti, the purity of the notes delivered the fine brigas from Raghavendra Rao 's violin, the pealing notes from Skandasubramanian's mridangam and S.V.Ramani's ghatam, the slight hoarseness in the voices and the control over laya.
Varnam in Suddhadhanyasi (in 2 kalams) and Hamsadhwani were over at a brisk tempo within 15 minutes. Panthuvarali was portrayed with her customary depth by Haripriya and followed by Dikshitar's `Ramanatham Bhajeham'.
The team made a mark on the minds of the audience through kalpanaswara at `Kumara Guru Guham Anisam'.
Thodi came for an elaborate 11-minute treatment with the 5-minute sketch of Sama through `Tillai Sthalam Enru' in Adi acting as a buffer.
Haripriya provided exquisite fare with dedicated elaboration, beginning at madhya-sthayi. Her repeated gamaka-ridden stressing of the dhaivata lent the raga a deserved accentuation.
Raghavendra Rao also maintained a traditional style, with his alapana excursions ranging from the lower nishada and proceeding steadily through the panchama region before moving to the higher part of the octave.
Tyagaraja's `Dasarathe' in Adi talam, a song that can sail on its own grace, was presented, again with the stamp of dedication which characterises the sisters' nature. Niraval and kalpanaswara expectedly took their time, with tani avartanam coming at the end, over some 10 minutes — a trifle early, with over an hour left. For Tanam and Pallavi, the sisters chose Mohanam.
An aspect which struck one was the propensity in Haripriya's rendition of the alapana, to touch pratimadhyama in briga sancharas from Pa through Ga and Ri — a point which Raghavendra Rao appeared to take special care of, during his alapana.
In Tanam, the violin excelled with delightful bow work, and lifted this part of the concert from the tameness into which it was threatening to fall.
The pallavi, in a double Adi talam, with `khanda nadai matras,' a flashback to yesteryear practice, was simple and challenging (`Haram, Subhakaram, Mohana karam, Bhajeham, Adi Devam Paribhushanam,' take-off at arai-idam).
The concert was wholesome; Raghavendra Rao Skandasubramanian and Ramani were very effective in accompaniment, raising its value.
As a whole, however, it was not satiating, perhaps as a result of the low enthusiasm of the singers.
Shanmukhapriya's was palpably failing, accounting for Haripriya taking over all alapanas, while herself grappling at higher octave karvais.
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