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Music Season
CHENNAI FINE ARTS
As music spreads like fragrance
S. SIVAKUMAR
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Poor attendance did not deter Allam Durgaprasad and Nirmala Rajasekar from giving an exclusive performance.
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Photos: R. Shivaji Rao
Lesson in Bhava: Allam Durgaprasad.
Is there a required quorum for a Carnatic music concert? Even when the attendance was deplorably minimal, Allam Durgaprasad (gottuvadhyam) and Nirmala Rajasekar (veena) never were dispirited. For them, it was like playing in front of an exclusive audience, the utsavar and the moolavar of the temple and what filled the hall was the fragrance of the music that the artistes strove to present.
When ‘Raghuvara Nannu’ (Panthuvarali-Tyagaraja) was sung on the gottuvadhyam, did the raga alapana lead to the song or did the song emanate out of the alapana? It was like the flame from the lit match reaching the lamp — for a split second you cannot distinguish the giver from the receiver! ‘Dun Marga Chara’ (Ranjani) had an alapana with phrases that brought you much closer to the raga and the rendering itself was a lesson in bhava.
The spread of music continued with ‘Madhava Mamava’ (Nilambari-Narayana Tirtha), ‘Raja Raja Radithe’ (Niroshta-Muthiah Bhagavatar) and two Balamurali specials of Tyagaraja – ‘Nannu Kanna Thalli’ (Sindhu Kannada) and ‘Dhandamu Pettenu Ra’ (Palahamsa). The chittaswram in Niroshta was imaginatively played imparting it with all possible dimensional variations.
Pakkala Ramdas (violin) spelt Ranjani and Panthuvarali with some fine zaru phrases and accompanied with a degree of firm quietness. Thanjavur Subramaniam (mridangam) and Udipi Balakrishnan (ghatam) meshed their resources well with the main artiste and gave a thani that occupied the right duration.
Nirmala Rajasekar
Nirmala Rajasekar had an additional unprecedented hurdle to face. After her Nattakurinji (‘Bhudhamasrayami’-Dikshitar) the string (thandhi) gave way. She had come equipped — nose plier, chalk powder and spare-length thandhi — and it was a demonstration of sorts as she pressed the reset button and carried out the change with amazing alacrity. ‘Varanaradha’ (Vijayashri-Tyagaraja) beckons fast-paced swaras and these were played at a pace that was accepted and appropriate. The alapana for Bhairavi (‘Mugathai Kaati’-Papanasa Mudaliar) had some perfectly conceived phrases. It was indeed exemplary and gratifying to see the artiste follow the practice of rendering the lyrics for the niraval vocally (‘Saya Rakshayil Vandhu’) along with the instrument for it to properly register and occupy the minds of the listeners before its comprehensive launch. The Tiruppavai of the day (Margazhi - day 3), ‘Ongi Ulagalandha’ in Arabhi was her concluding song.
Thanjavur Vaidhyanathan (mridangam) maintained a soft ideal approach for the veena and Papanasam Sethuraman, (kanjira) who stood in for Shanker, gave a thani keeping the optimum size of the hall always in mind.
Nirmala stayed for the entire concert of Durgaprasad — a fine professional gesture. It is praiseworthy that Chennai Fine Arts never even contemplated of either postponement or cancellation in spite of the incessant rain. The concerts were held at the Gokhale Sastri Institute — K. N. Shanmugasundaram Hall.
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