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Music Season
MUSIC ACADEMY
Skilful swaras, facile voice
KRIPA SUBRAHMANIAM
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Swetha Keshav rendered Bhairavi with fervour; Srivalson Menon offered well structured prayogas.
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Photo: V. Ganesan
Commendable: Swetha Keshav.
Swetha Keshav opened the kutcheri with a Durbar varnam, ‘Chalamela’ set to Adi talam of Tiruvottriyur Tyagaraja. One found her to be a little nervous at the start, understandably, but she soon covered her ground. ‘Sri Mahaganapathim’ in Atana, set to Adi talam by Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, is a kriti rich in lyric and it was well handled. Bhushavali is a pulsating raga and the kriti, ‘Tanamidane’ set to Adi talam by Tyagaraja was w
ell presented. Bhairavi was elaborated in its entire gamut, all the sancharas were meaningful and had classical fervour.
The kriti was Muthuswami Dikshitar’s ‘Chintayama’ set to Rupaka talam. It is in praise of Prithvilingam at Kanchi and is one of the Panchalinga kritis. Only niraval was done at ‘Mangalakara Mandahasa Vadanam’. Swara singing was shifted to the lyrical point ‘Uttunga’ then to ‘Bhairavi Prasangam,’ later to ‘Guruguhantha Rangam’ with finesse.
Thodi, immediately after Bhairavi is indeed a bold attempt. The kriti was ‘Ne Morabettithe’ (Tyagaraja) set to misra chapu talam. The niraval and swaras were skilfully woven. The thani avartanam by the mridangist was a class apart. Swati Tirunal’s Brindavanasaranga bhajan, ‘Chaliye’ was the concluding piece.
Sreevalson Menon.
Jayanthi Keshav’s playing of Bhairavi was replete with bhava-rich sancharas. The mridangam support by A.V.Manikandan bolstered the concert and it showed how good rhythmic support can enhance the quality of the concert. Manikandan’s playing technique needs special mention and commendation.
Srivalson J. Menon, who is a popular artist from Kerala, began his concert with ‘Kalyani Vanajakshi,’ the Ata tala varnam of Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar followed by an Atana kriti, ‘Paramapavani’ (Annaswami Sastri) set to Adi talam. A sweet, short spell of Atana preceded the kriti. In this kriti, he sang ‘Sura Vara Kinnara’ instead of ‘Sura Nara Kinnara’. One observed the charanam in this kriti was fully packed with sahityam. Panthuvarali raga found good expression through Srivalsan Menon’s voice. The Tyagaraja kriti, ‘Saramegani’ set to Adi talam was dealt with. The lyric had a few mistakes and this needs to be corrected. Mel-kala niraval was sung at ‘Ramudaina’ followed by swaras. In the middle of a concert seeking to sing a madhyama sruti kriti was too daring an attempt. The kriti, ‘Mamava Pattabhirama’ was sedately sung invoking images of Pattabhishekam scene. The devotional quotient was high in this kriti.
A rakthi raga like Begada pushes the concert several notches high. The raga by itself is an exquisite one and Srivalson Menon acquitted himself with well structured prayogas. It would be ideal if Srivalson would stick to Akara rendition in a raga format. ‘Tyagarajaya Namasthe’ set to Rupakam of Muthuswami Dikshitar, an outstanding kirtana in Begada was sung with ardour. Later, Thodi was taken up and was sung in all the octaves with gripping prayogas and the kriti was the fourth day Navaratri kriti, ‘Bharati Mamava’ in Adi talam by Swati Tirunal. The fire, however, was missing. The chollu-kattu, niraval and swaras were sung at ‘Sharada Vidu Mandala’. He ended the concert with ‘Maneru Madappinnai’ in Khambodi raga, misra chapu talam of Sangam literature Kurunthogai. Srivalson Menon has a facile, easy flowing voice that obeys the dictates of his imagination implicitly. Brothers Shertalai R. Shivakumar and Shertalai R. Ananthakrishnan shared the honours while accompanying Srivalson Menon. The mridangam support was lively and nourished the concert.
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