MUSIC ACADEMY
The format posed its problems
V. SUBRAHMANIAM
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Maharajapuram Srinivasan should have chosen his songs more judiciously.
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Photo: Shaju John.
BREEZY: Maharajapuram S. Srinivasan. Photo: Shaju John.
Accompanied by Pakkala Ramadas on the violin, R. Ramesh on the mridangam and Srirangam Kannan on the morsing, Maharajapuram Srinivasan started his concert with the Ata tala varnam of Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar in Kanada.
Then followed `Mahaganapatim' in Nattai of Muthuswami Dikshitar and the `Paralokabhaya' kriti in Mandari of Tyagaraja with niraval for the second song and niraval and kalpanaswara for both. Srinivasan took up Suddha Dhanyasi for alapana. The kirtana that he took up was `Narayana' in Khanda Chapu tala of Purandaradasa. This kriti being light in nature would fit in better as a piece after Ragam Tanam Pallavi. Perhaps, a Tyagaraja or Dikshitar kriti would have been a better choice. `Pranowmi Satatam,' in Jaganmohini, Misra Chapu tala, a composition of V.V. Srivatsa figured next.
Varali alapana was taken up as a prelude to Syama Sastri's `Bangaru Kamakshi' (Misra Chapu tala), which was rendered with the usual frills of niraval and kalpanaswaras. A Khanda Chapu and two Misra Chapu tala pieces in a row could upset the `melakattu' of the kutcheri and this could have been avoided. After Varali, a Nasamani raga kriti of Dikshitar was presented. Again two Pratimadhyama raga kritis, one after the other, also could have been avoided for better concert effect. Suddhamadhyama in continuous tow does not have this draw back. `Ksheenamai Tiruga' (Mukhari,) masterpiece of his grand father Viswanatha Iyer and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, was handled next. It will not be easy to impress rasikas with this rendition as long as the stalwarts' singing is fresh in their minds.
The Ragam Tanam Pallavi was in Kalyani, set in Khanda Triputa tala (two kalai) with `eduppu' six `aksharas' from Samam. This was elaborately treated embellished with ragamalika kalpanaswara. The ragas displayed were Revathi, Mohanam and Shanmukhapriya. The tani avartanam of Ramesh (mridangam) and Srirangam Kannan (morsing) was well presented.
`Shanmukhapriya Nayaka,' a ragamalika (Adi) featuring some of the ragas sung earlier created a sense of monotony. The Yamuna Kalyani Javali, `Athineepai' came next, another Prathimadhyama. The concert concluded with `Sambho Siva Sambho' (Revathi) of Swami Dayananda Saraswathi. Srinivasan has taken up the style of singing from his father, Santhanam. But the son appeared more breezy in his renditions. Most of the handlings were with only plain notes, gamakas and anuswaras, the backbone of Carnatic music, being rare except in Varali which cannot be rendered otherwise.
The accompanying violinist and the percussionists matched the vocalist's efforts.
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