|
Music Season
MUSIC ACADEMY
Steeped in tradition
KRIPA SUBRAMANIAM
|
Ranjani Hebbar maintained the tempo throughout. There was perfect coordination among the Carnatica Brothers.
|
Photo: V. Ganesan.
Captivating: Ranjani Hebbar
Ranjani Hebbar’s recital was featured in the first slot of the afternoon concert accompanied by Kaushik Sivaramakrishnan and Thanjavur R. Praveenkumar. The Kalyani ragam, Adi tala varnam, ‘Vanajakshi’ of Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar was followed by ‘Hariyuvathim’ in Hemavathi raga set to Tisra Ekam of Muthuswami Dikshitar.
Saveri, a rakti raga and the Tamil kriti of Periyasami Thooran in Misra Chapu, ‘Muruga Muruga’ set the classical mood for the kutcheri. All the salient prayogas came out gleaming. There were akara and nakara in the raga rendition alternatively and akara undoubtedly scored better. The entreaty to Lord Muruga, found in this kriti, captivated the hearts of the listeners and swaram was rightly avoided.
Ranjani has a fine and powerful voice. She sang Khambodi raga in all the three sthayis and her voice quality was consistent throughout. Manodharma was not lacking but with experience she can gain insight into this raga. Kaushik’s Khambodi was an impressive display. Normally, women sing at pitch 5-51/2. The violinists, who play, for a higher sruti have to switch to mantra sthayi, making the contrast stunning.
‘Evarimata’ in Khambodi set to Adi talam by Tyagaraja was the major piece. The niraval was done at ‘Shakti Gala Mahadevudu.’ Ranjani negotiated the niraval without hitches. Swaram was proficiently handled and the thani followed. ‘Hari Bhajana Mado’ in Bhimplas set to Adi talam, by Purandara Dasa preceded a tillana of Lalgudi Jayaraman.
The grandson of Thanjavur Upendran, mridangist Thanjavur R.Praveenkumar’s, laya complement enhanced the concert and his laya technique glowed in its interpretation while playing for kirtanas. The violin and mridangam formed a good team.
Ranjani Hebbar, student of Sri Chingleput Ranganathan, has her margam set in the traditional fashion and even though young, her vision of Carnatic idiom is significant.
Carnatica Brothers (Sashikiran and Ganesh), as they are popularly known, have matured into a fine duo with a predominant creative urge running consistently in their concert. They were accompanied on the violin by V. Sanjeev and Madipakkam Suresh on the mridangam.
The concert kicked off with a pleasant Ritigowla varnam set to Ata talam of veena Kuppier followed by the Karnataka Suddhasaveri kriti, ‘Ekambaresa Nayike’ (Muthuswami Dikshitar, Adi) The Tyagaraja kriti ‘Yenta Ninnae Yentanu Sabari’ in Mukhari raga, set to Rupaka talam, was moving. The Kuntalavarali piece, ‘Bhogeendra Sayinam’ of Swati Tirunal set to Khanda Chapu talam gave a contrasting effect. to the listeners.
Carnatica Brothers
The RTP was in Purvikalyani and the raga was sung by Sashikiran aesthetically and it had a classical interpretation.
Thanam was sung by Sashikiran and Ganesh and swarams at ‘Vaibhavam, Yoga Vaibhavam, Raja Yoga Vaibhavam’ were sung with perfect coordination and understanding. The Ragam, Tanam, Pallavi was in Khanta Jati Triputa talam. In the swarams the repartee of the violinist V. Sanjeev was interesting.
Later, a new technique was adopted. Sashikiran sang swarams in Hamir Kalyani, the violinist played the same in Kanada and Ganesh sung swarams in Behag. This novel approach gave the RTP a new flavour. The interchange reached a crescendo skilfully rounded off by Suresh.
‘Ini Enna Pechu,’ a Tamil padam by Vaitheeswaran Kovil Subbarama Iyer was followed by ‘Maname Kanamum Maravade’ by Sivan in Bhimplas set to Adi talam. In the end ‘Maithreem Bhajata’ was sung with fervour. One felt, at the end of the concert, that the Brothers could have sung a couple of kritis more instead of just four pieces for a two-hour concert.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Music Season
|
