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Music Season
MUSIC ACADEMY
Needs more refinement
V. SUBRAHMANIAM
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Bombay Jayashree deviated from the schedule. And Sanjay Subramaniam fell short of expectations.
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Photos: V. Ganesan
Tepid: (From top) Bombay Jayashree, Sanjay Subramaniam and T.V.Ramprasad.
Bombay Jayashree has been a vocal artiste of the front rank for quite some time. The minute she opened the concert at the Music Academy at 4.15 p.m. on December 28, it was evident that she was deviating from the schedule of songs given by her. No varnam. Jayashree commenced with the Adi tala Bhairavi raga composition of Tyagaraja without any preliminaries and finished off the song with a few second speed swaras for the pallavi.
Arabhi raga alapana next led to Narasimha Mamava of Swati Tirunal in Khanda chapu. There was a prayogam in the Arabhi, ‘Da da da da Pa ma da’ which is suited for Devagandhari and not Arabhi. The opening phrase of the beginning of the song sounded different from the original tuning. The sahityam in the song was also not correctly adhered to. The anupallavi opening word is ‘Hara’ not ‘Hari’. ‘Hara Virincha Vasava Nutha’ means worshipped by Siva, Brahma and the devas. Hari is the name of Vishnu and He does not worship himself.
Ritigowla raga alapana was next, followed by ‘Bale Balendubhooshani’ in Adi talam by Tyagaraja. Niraval was done in the last two lines of the third charanam, ‘Rama Sodarivai Velasina Sri Shyamale Dharmasamvardhani’ but the kalpanaswaras were shifted to the opening of the pallavi. Muthuswami Dikshitar’s Yamunakalyani Panchalinga kriti on Appu Lingam (water) of Tiruvanaikanaval in the Tisra jaati Eka talam came as the next song in the concert.
Thodi raga alapana was next in sequence. The kriti she took up was ‘Kaddanu Variki’ of Tyagaraja in Adi talam. The raga portrayal was well done. The niraval was at the charanam line, ‘Niddura Nirakarinchi,’ meaning getting rid of sleep. The splitting of the words into ‘Niddurani Rakarinchi’ should be avoided. After the kalpanaswara, the expected thani avartanam by Pooongulam Subramaniam and Kartik was good.
After the kriti, ‘Nadaloludai’ in Kalyanavasantham, Rupaka talam of Tyagaraja, Jayashree launched her Pallavi raga alapana, Nalinakanti. In this, Jayashree deviated from her usual style. Her voice was open and more free-flowing, and pleasant with the raga alapana and tanam coming out with a fresh fragrance. A viruttam in Anandabhairavi led to the Ambujam Krishna kriti, ‘Devakitan’ a ragamalika in Anandabhairavi, Vasantha, Bheemplas, Paras, and Neelambari. This piece appeared to be a recreation by Jayashree as it was off the original structure in many places. It should be mentioned that Jayashree did not touch even one piece from the list of songs given by her. More attention by Jayashree to correct sahityam and better enunciation would make her music more refined. The accompanying artistes Embar Kannan on the violin, Poongulam Subramaniam on the mridangam and S. Karthick on the ghatam lent their might in boosting the concert.
One of the concerts which the rasikas look forward to in this sabha during December is that of Sanjay Subramaniam. In this year’s programme, he was teamed up with Nagai Muralidharan (violin), Srimushnam Raja Rao (mridangam) and Neyveli B. Venkatesh (kanjira). Sanjay started off with the Swati Tirunal kriti, ‘Parvathi Nayaka’ in Bowli, Adi talam. Subramaniya Bharati’s composition in Kedara raga, Adi talam, ‘Vande Mataram,’ came second with a dose of kalpanaswarams.
‘Rama Nee Ve,’ a Tyagaraja kriti in ragam Narayani, Adi talam, was very much in the concert circuit in the 1940s and 50s in the last century but it totally faded out later. Sanjay’s choice fell on the composition as the third piece of the concert was a welcome surprise. Sanjay attempted an alapana for Narayani ragam and the desired effect was lacking. But violinist Murali’s effort had better shades of Narayani. The kriti was rendered without any kalpanaswarams.
Kalyani raga alapana which Sanjay took up had too many adventurous sangatis in the tarasthayi which robbed the ragam of its bhava-rich sancharas. Again it went to the credit of Nagai Murali for having achieved quite a good Kalyani. ‘Nija Dasa Vara’ of Patnam Subramania Iyer, Adi talam was the kriti in this ragam. The niraval was in the anupallavi with the words ‘Bhujagadhipa Sayana’ with a sumptuous kalpanaswara prasthara in the first, thisram and second speeds. Sanjay’s showmanship in rendering fast tempo swaras was counter productive and this made the exercise devoid of the Kalyani raga bhava. By then the atmosphere was ready for thani. Srimushnam Raja Rao and B.Venkatesh handled this well.
An Atana raga kriti, ‘Ra Ra Raghu Veera,’ in Adi tala of Tyagaraja is not heard very much in concerts. Sanjay sang this before going on to the ragam and tanam in the pallavi session. The ragam opted was Abheri.
The alapana did not fully evoke the raga’s flavour. The real spirit of Abheri can be extracted from major kritis such as ‘Nagumomu’ of Tyagaraja to create the right effect. Violin scored in his version which sounded better. A viruttam in Behag ragam prefixed a composition ‘Innamum Oru Thalam,’ in the same ragam. ‘Engum Niraindhirukkum’ in Chenchurutti ragam Adi talam was the concluding piece of the concert. This concert of Sanjay did not provide wholesome satisfaction to the rasikas as it normally does.
The concert of T.V.Ramprasad opened with the Karnataka Kapi Raga Pada Varnam Sumasayaka in Rupaka Talam of Swati Tirunal followed by another Rupaka Talam piece ‘Ardhanareeswaram’ in Kumudakriya Ragam of Muthuswami Dikshitar. Kumudakriya is a sensitive Ragam. Taking liberties while handling this ragam is not a wise exercise. Ramprasad indulged in kalpanaswara attachment to the kriti. Some phrases can counter the lakshana of the ragam.
The Devamanohari raga alapana led to the kriti ‘Evarikai’ in Misrachapu Talam of and Ramanujacharyulu’s exposition of this raga had a better Devamanohari flavour. The Thodi alapana next with the Adi tala kriti, Gajavadana of Kumara Ettendra was a marathon session. Inclusive of the Tani by the percussion duo, the time consumed was an hour and a half.
In the Pallavi line of the kriti “Sammodita Veera” the words Veera is Ri Ga Pa Ma Ga Ma, the Ri being Suddha on Swarasthana of the Todi Raga Ri. The artist elevated this Ri to Chatusruti Rishaba level every time he crossed the area.
In Thodi ragam, careful handling of such a phrasing is important to avoid the Ri elevation giving it the Punnagavarali shade. As time ran out, the scheduled Pallavi in a Dwi Raga Amruthavarshini and Anandabhairavi had to be skipped. ‘Haatakambari,’ a Koteeswara Iyer composition in that Ragam, ‘Palukke Bangara Mayama’ in Anandabhairavi of Bhadrachalam Ramadas, Orupozhudum a Tiruppugazh in Mohanam and with a Poorvikalyani Tillana, the concert came to a close.
Avoiding the use of vowels such as “oo oi”or “ra ri” in raga delineation, will raise the level of Ramprasadh’s concert. This makes his powerful voice sound artificial. It would also be good for him to have a better sense of proportion in concert planning.
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