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Music Season
MUSIC ACADEMY
Could do with better planning
V. SUBRAHMANYAM
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Thoughtful choice of ragas would have enhanced the recitals of Sowmya and Hyderabad Brothers.
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Photos: V. Ganesan
Styles in contrast: S. Sowmya
But for the mridangam (Neyveli R. Narayanan) it was an all-woman ensemble as Sowmya took the stage on Christmas Eve! Narmada was on the violin and Bhagayalakshmi Krishna on the morsing. Sowmya’s opening for the concert was th Saveri Adi tala varnam Sarasuda of Kothavasal Venkataramayya. The pallavi, anupallavi, and mukthayi swaram were presented in two speeds and the charanam onwards in a fast single speed as commonly done.
‘Nadidina,’ (Janaranjani, Misra Chapu) of Tyagaraja came with a brief alapana of the ragam. The phrasing ‘ri ga ma ri sa’ is indicative of Poornachandrika, a very close ragam. In Janaranjani this should be eschewed and instead ‘ga ma pa ma ree’ be used to avoid any identity crisis. The opening words of the charanam were taken up for niraval and kalpanaswaras. Being Somavara (Monday), the day’s vara kriti of Muthuswami Dikshitar, ‘Chandrambhaja Manasa,’ (Asaveri, Matthya talam was sung.
A Kalyani ragam, Adi talam kriti of Ghanam Krishniyer, ‘Paarengum Parthalum’ was rendered next. The texture of the piece was suggestive of a padam/javali and was rather a misfit in the earlier part of the concert. Sowmya could have it pushed to the post-pallavi part.
After an alapana of Kedaram, a Misra Chapu kriti, Ananda Natana Prakasam, the Akasalinga kriti of Muthuswami Dikshitar was presented with kalpanaswaras at. Kedareswaram. Again the ‘sasa riri ga’ jhanta prayogam seemed out of place.
Up to this point, the concert ambled at a sedate gait. Sowmya brought in tempo by presenting a pacy ‘Manasuloni Marmamu’ (Tyagaraja, Varamu, Adi). It did achieve the effect of making the audience sit up. The mood being achieved Sowmya took up Madhyamavati for alapana with ‘Palinsu Kamakshi’ of Syama Sastri in Adi talam. Thani avarthanam by Narayanan and Bhagyalaksmi was creditably done.
Sarasangi was the Ragam Tanam Pallavi choice of Sowmya. The words of the pallavi — ‘Sarasangikadhyutha Pathe Natana Pathe Sivakama Valli Pathe Sada Namasthe’ set in Khanda Jathi Ata talam. Rendered with all the due features, the pallavi had a ragamalika kalpanaswara embellishment. The ragams were Kanakangi, Latangi, Swarnangi, Rathnangi, and Shyamalangi. As a forerunner of ‘Krishna Nee Begane’ in Yamuna Kalyani, Misra Chapu talam a Kannada couplet was rendered in Sindu Bhairavi and Yamuna Kalyani.
The closing piece of the concert was ‘Chidambaram Pogamal Iruppeno’ in Chenchurutti. Narmada’s violin support in solo versions was well presented, enhancing the concert. The percussion support was neat.
Better planning would have taken the concert to great heights. A Nattakurinji Tamil varnam (Adi) of Papanasam Sivan with swara sahityam set Nithyasree Mahadevan’s concert in motion. The Mayamalava Gowla composition (Adi) of Tyagaraja was sung at the right pace with only kalpanaswaras in the first and second speeds at the charanam line ‘Kamala Gowri.’ The Sahana alapana emerged well, some repetitive sangatis notwithstanding. ‘Manamu Kavalenu Talli,’ the Rupaka tala composition of Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar, was on display after the alapana. The composer, a great enthusiast for swaraksharams has opened the song in the theme ‘Manamuka’ in the swaras ‘Maa Ni dha Paa’ even though this phrasing may not reflect the essence of Sahana. Kalpanaswaras laced the line ‘Abhimanamu.’
There is a variation of the ragam Hindolam with an anthara gandharam in the place of the sadharana gandharam. Known as Sallapam it is called Surya these days.
Aruna Sairam.
After a slokam of Aditya Hrudayam in this ragam Nithyasree presented a composition of her mother Lalitha Sivakumar on Surya set to Misra Chapu tala. ‘Meenakshi Me Mudam Dehi’ of Muthuswami Dikshitar in Adi tala was the kriti for the alapana done in Purvikalyani. In spite of the brigas, the alapana failed to capture the grandeur of the raga. Repetitive phrasings suggested Hamsanandi.
Throughout the concert, whenever the sweepy sangatis touched anthara gandhara in the tara sthayi, perfect alignment with that swara was absent as it was always a trifle less. Violinist Krishnaswami’s accompaniment was hurried, lacking in clarity of the swarasthanams. The tani avarthanam again was short. The haste was on account of RTP.
The ragam for the pallavi was Kapi. Much to the relief of a keen listener, for the first time, after almost two hours, the vocalist touched sadharana gandharam. Krishnaswami matched Nithyasree step for step as she built up the edifice.
The pallavi was Adi tala 2 kalais with atheetha eduppu. The swaraprasthara contained a chain of ragas.
Having been a concert artist for over ten years Nityasree should infuse gamakas with depth to her music to make it richer in gnana bhava.
The Adi Thala Pada varnam (Nattakurinji) of Srirangam Moolaveedi Rangaswamy Nattuvanar proved to be a good starter for the Hyderabad Brothers Raghavachari and Seshachari. The brothers avoided singing the swara sahityams of this piece. ‘Maapala Velasika (Asaveri,Adi) Tyagaraja was the intial kirtana to be presented. The listener guessed it right as after a few indicative sancharas in Sourashtram by Seshachari, the brothers came up with ‘Ranganathutai’ (Ponnaiah Pillai, Rupakam). A drifting voice prevented Seshacahri, presenting Nagaswaravali alapana, from landing accurately in the shadjam in the prayogas Pa-Ma-Ga-Sa and they were almost to an elevated level of Suddha Rishaba and this Rishaba is totally not in the structure (Lakshnam) of the raga.
In the prayogams Pa-Da-Sa-Da-Pa also, faint traces of Nishadam were present. The human voice is not a mechanical gadget and can play truant sometimes.
Sriram Parasuram’s solo essay, however, came clear revealing Nagaswaravali. ‘Ennadu Juthuna’ (Kalavathi-Adi-Tyagaraja) came next. Kalavathi is a janyam of Chakravaham and a Nishada Varjya raga having the same swarasthanams as Nagaswaravali in the prayogams.
The two coming one after another produces déjÀ vu. Thodi raga alapana was a shared effort, the kriti being ‘Dasarathi’ (Adi, Tyagaraja), the diction perfect. A well executed Thani by M.L.N.Raju and Vaikkom Gopalakrishnan followed. Lathangi was chosen for Pallavi.
After an alapana and Thana by the brothers and on the violin by Sriram Parasuram, the pallavi (Adi, tisra nadai) with necessary ornamentations and kalpana swarams was deftly handled. ‘Haridasudu’ (Yamuna Kalyani-Adi-Tyagaraja) after Lathangi, a prati-madhyama ragam failed to evoke interest. The duo concluded with ‘Gayati Vanamali’ of Sadashiva Brahmendral again in the same Yamuna Kalyani, only changed it to Madhyama Sruti.
Aruna Sairam, armed with a sheaf of papers, set the ball rolling with the Suddha Dhanyasi raga varnam of Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar. ‘Enneramum Unthan’ (Gopalakrishna Bahrati-Devagandhari-Adi) was the next. Kalyani alapana with the Tyagaraja kriti ‘Vasudevayani’ came sans niraval.
The virutham ‘Pachai Mamalai Pol Meni’ rendered in Brindavana Saranga was a prefix to ‘Rangapuravihara’ (Muthuswami Dikshitar). The nuances packed into the kriti and the earlier Devagandhari kriti could fully be brought out only by a mellifluous voice rather than a powerful one. A few sangatis were left out of ‘Kaddanuvariki’ (Thodi) The niraval and kalpanaswaras were for the line in the charanam ‘Niddura Nirakarinchi.’ Tani avarathanam by J. Vaidyanathan (mridangam) and S. Kartik (ghatam) was brilliant. Vaidyanathan’s musical sensitivity needs special mention and it is to Kartik’s credit that he reflected the mood in fine manner. The ragam for the Pallavi (RTP) was Ranjani. Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi bolstered the vocalist’s effort admirably.
The Pallavi was in Khanta jati Triputa talam with the lyric “Meenakshi Kamakshi Neelayadakshi – Neeye Gati.” The ragamalika swara ornamentation was in Bhairavi with the opening words of ‘Amba Kamakshi,’ Swarajati of Syama Sastri, Poorvikalyani with ‘Meenakshi Memudam’ (Dikshitar), Neelambari with Amba Neelayadakshi (Dikshitar) and Hindolam with the words ‘Mamavatu Sri Saraswathi.’
An Abhang ‘Theertha Vittalam’, a ragamalika ‘Namami Venkatesam’ and a virutham ‘Ezhumalai Tanil’ brought the concert to a close. Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi’s contribution to the melody quotient was of no mean measure. Aruna’s music will reach a large audience but what about the musically-sensitive rasika, one was left wondering.
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