SRI PARTHASARATHY SWAMI SABHA
Appealing raga delineation
LAKSHMI VENKATRAMAN
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T.N.Seshagopalan proved his expertise in tala and the notes fell perfectly in place when Mysore Manjunath and Nagaraj played the violin.
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PHOTO: File photos
EFFECTIVE: T.N.Seshagopalan
There were not many raga essays by T.N. Seshagopalan except the major item Khambodi in the latter half of his concert. He began with Sri Raga varnam and the Gowla kriti `Sri Mahaganapathi.'
The Hamirkalyani alapana was turned into a Sanskrit sloka and then a couple of Tamil verses on Andal before he took up the `Thiruppavai' `Thoomani Maadathu,' the whole piece evoked the feeling of bhakti.
A rare piece in Kamas `Kaneere' and `Sri Rajagopala' in Saveri rendered in a slow tempo saw a warm rapport developing between the musician and the audience. The flavour of Shanmukhapriya was brought out effectively in the kalpanaswaras for `Marivere Dikku.' `Vanchethonu' in Karnaranjani was really appealing.
Mysore Nagaraj and Manjunath.
The Khambodi raga alapana, `O Rangasayi' and the kalpanaswaras took up nearly 90 minutes. The raga elaboration had weight and strength when sung in the lower octave in a slow tempo.
Later came a full-throated singing with brigas cascading down in quick succession.
Though Seshagopalan's virtuosity was stunning, there was no `sowkyam' in the music. While trying some exotic prayogams he went off `sruti.' This happens more often when he concluded a song or a line with straight notes.
V.V. Ravi (violin) was quite impressive in his alapanas. From the kriti `O Rangasayi' the vocalist seamlessly moved into swaras. Suits of four or five notes were manipulated cleverly. `ga ma pa ma ga ri ga sa ri ga' went on endlessly playing on the tala structure. Seshagopalan is known for his expertise in tala. Ravi faced the challenge effectively.
As always Vellore Ramabadran on the mridangam played a very supportive role along with Madippakkam Murali on the ghatam. They played a short thani before the concluding pieces, `Enna Hrudaya Talli' in Behag by Purandaradasa, a Bhajan in Kosalam (with a tinge of Hindustani music in it), tillana and Thiruppugazh.
Mysore Nagaraj and Manjunath playing the violin, lost nearly 45 minutes from their allotted time due to the earlier function making a foray into it. They began with a soothing `Ra Rama' in Asaveri. Nagaraj then took up the delineation of Bahudari and explored the raga's nuances very well.
`Brovabharama' had swaras for the pallavi, the patterns being suitable for instrumental music. The brothers displayed their amazing fingering technique never letting a single note miss its perfect placing. After `Enda Muddo' in Bindumalini, they took up the main raga Shanmukhapriya. Both of them delineated the raga and the tanam alternately, bringing out the majesty of it. Then came an apology of a pallavi set to Adi talam followed by racy kalpanaswaras.
Srimushnam Raja Rao (mridangam) and N. Govindarajan (ghatam) accompanied them for the tanam also and supported ably for the rest of the concert.
The thani played by them had pleasant tonal variations. The concert ended with `Enna Thavam' in Kapi and another light piece. It would be useful if the instrumentalists announce the items particularly when they play some songs which are not too common.
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