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MUSIC ACADEMY

PHOTO: V.Ganesan

Well-presented: Gayathri Venkataraghavan.

Gayathri’s programming was thoughtful. The Kanada varnam with its winsome phrasings was no warm up exercise, nor were the kritis between main pieces mere fillers.

‘Pahimam Srirajarajeswari’ (Nattai) was a Syama Sastri treat deploying a madhyamakala more gripping in tisra nadai, with the surprise rhythms of his style.

Gayathri’s kalpanaswaras for ‘Saa-rasapadayugale’ danced on the triple beat, while Subbulakshmi’s repartees were as fresh as the jasmine in her hair. The percussion shimmered in without drowning words or music. Tyagaraja’s ‘Srijanaka Tanaye’ in the vivadi notes of Kalakanti, had the poise of assimilated music. With a concise Mukhari prelude initiated on high piercing notes, ‘Sivakamasundari’ struck a slower pace without slackening in vivacity, with a feel for Papanasam Sivan’s poignancy, especially in niraval (‘Kelayo’).

The major pieces were well chosen in janaka-janya ragas (Simhendramadhyamam, Khambodi, Anandabhairavi), with their clear swara contrasts, and different talas (Misra Chapu, Adi and Jhampa). In the earlier part of the concert the first was best realised.

Gayathri’s alapana was rooted in akaram, sailing on gamakas and brigas, the upper shadja reserved for long karvais and nuanced sangatis. The brief mandara rounding off was less easy.

The violin caressed the raga, its occasional straight notes enhancing the gamakas. Gayathri sang Vasudevachar’s ‘Ninne Nammiti Nayya’ with unsentimental bhava. The niraval and swara (‘Pannagendra Sayana’) showed her vocal strength, the sangatis vivified by an empathetic mridangam.

The long Khambodi was less satisfactory. The expansive build up had the right ingredients in technique and phrasing, but its piecemeal prayogas missed out on organic progression.

The formatting was neither well rounded nor smooth flowing from start to finish, though full-throated continuity in thought and expression in sangatis meshed around the upper shadja and gandhara created resonance by their sincerity. Here, as well as in the concert as a whole, a smattering of imprecise, less polished phrases detracted from the impact.

‘Evarimata’ was sung with the respect due to its aura of handling by past masters, its kalapramana pitched to a charged tension.

The slow bhava-immersed vowels ‘Bhakta.... Bhagavatulu Sevinchi’ were perfect for fine teamwork, the percussion differentiating inputs for niraval and swara by voice and violin.

The pallavi was squashed into running-out-time (‘Parvati Paramananda’ Bhairavi, Anandabhairavi, Chatusra Jhampa, Khanda nadai) with raga outline and mandatory tanam, hoping at best for sweetness, not grandeur. The pallavi’s possibilities could only be indicated, as in the swaras tagged by turns to the three initial words. The Kaapi finale ‘Jo Achytananda’ was a hummable conclusion.

With nadam at his finger tips and grasp of melody Ganapathyraman’s tani entry focused on aesthetics as much as technique. The step by step progression unrolled variations and intricacies so lucid as to be accessible to all. Guruprasad began modestly but came into his own in a burst of gumkaras and the rush of summer showers.

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