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Music Season
MUSIC ACADEMY
Concert of weight and substance
GOWRI RAMNARAYAN
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Twin violins caressed the ragas producing the tranquillity of the pre-dawn hour.
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Photo: V. Ganesan.
SENSITIVE: V.V.Subramaniam and V.V.S. Murari.
Those who stayed back for the superb Behag at the violin recital of V.V.Subramaniam and V.V.S.Murari were lucky. The violins waltzed on misra waves, misting in javali romance. This was a real ‘tukkada,’ haunting minds long after. We know that such stuff can be realised only after a concert of weight and substance, as on that day.
Bilahari was the high point. The alapana had the tranquil luminescence of the pre-dawn hour, fresh, cool, though not a millimetre off tradition. Establishing raga identity with the first madhyama in the phrase, it forgot no familiar prayoga, but dovetailed them sensitively, and probingly, with those of the individual imagination. Superb modulation made the sangatis sparkle. The kriti (‘Paridanamichite’) changed the mood, still pleasing, in a contrastive emphasis on power, speed and virtuosity.
Khamas achieved beauty in brevity, with not a single prayoga out of sync with rakti, never shrill even in high sancharas, as softening the volume turned them into caresses. ‘Maate’ had its kalapramana pitched to raga-intact rhythm swirls. With Murari adding bass beats to VVS’s exchanges with the mridangam (Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam), the daru’s swara passages mounted excitements in anuswara and jaru links.
But such heightened moods had their preparation with ‘Teratiyagarada’ (Gowlipantu), ‘Angaraka’ (Surutti) and ‘Paratpara’ (Vachaspati). Despite Vaikkom Gopalakrishnan rushing in late with his ghatam, and intermittent tussles with sound levels, the songs flowed free, their sahitya handled with greater clarity than they are by some vocalists. Kannada Bangala (Renukadevi) was a lesson in the handling of straight notes.
Swarasthana suddham stood out from the first phrase and first madhyama in jaru-strung Lalita. Command of laya and control of technique steeled the brimming ragabhava in ‘Nannu brovu.’ Mridangam dynamics added buoyancy.
The main raga Kharaharapriya was structured with secure fingers switching into the instrumental style, racing into coils and twists possible only on strings.
This was raga-enthroned alapana followed by ‘Chakkani raja.’ The niraval was a feast in itself. The variations on shifting rhythms and the resonant timbre of aligned violins, not to forget percussion underpinnings, resounded in the hall. This was cleverness without gimmicks.
Often the concert became a dialogue between VVS and Bhaktavatsalam, to the exclusion of other partners. Murari’s violin literally played second fiddle. The thani was launched with a flamboyant display of ringing mridangam beats. Vaikkom Gopalakrishnan, who was trying to edge himself in through the recital, finally decided to show that he could match the mridangam in sound and speed in his applause-drawing first round.
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