BHARATIYA VIDYA BHAVAN
Triumph and mastery showcased
Radha Bhasker.
IT WAS sheer chance that siblings M. S. Lavanya and M. S. Subbalaxmi started learning the saxophone a decade ago. But their opening concert at the third annual music and dance festival of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and Kalapradharshini on November 25 was a demonstration of the triumph of stamina and mastery over the wind instrument. The sisters from Mangalore normally appear as a trio with their brother Sudheendra. But it was their father (the Mangalore All-India Radio artiste) who accompanied them on the mridangam that evening.
There was ample evidence from the beginning of their training under the renowned Kadiri Gopalnath. But the performance had a see-saw feel to it for much of the duration. They raced through ``Pranamamyaham" in Gowla. Needlessly stretched the slow tempo song ``Janani" (Reetigowla) and again galloped through ``Marukela Ra." And, when they took up ``Tavunara" after a charming alapana in Kalyani, they were in total control. Their moving exposition caused one to recall Tyagaraja's evocative lyrics portraying his anguish over the elusiveness of the omnipresent Rama. Fittingly, soon after, they played ``Brahmmamokkate" by Annamacharya. As she accompanied the saxophone sisters on the violin, Hema Malini would have needed a measure of confidence to perform this role. M. R. Sainath on the mridangam and Adambakkam Shankar on the ghatam have played with the sisters in the past and had little difficulty in presenting a brief percussion duo.
It is perhaps premature to speculate whether the sax is the 21st century's answer to the clarionet which one hardly hears nowadays. If this indeed turns out to be the case, then Lavanya and Subbalaxmi have almost assured themselves of a big role.
He could not have asked for better accompaniment than V. V. Ravi on the violin, Srimushnam Rajarao on the mridangam and Sundarkumar on the kanjira. But well-known vocalist Papanasam Ashok Ramani was on the whole not quite convincing that evening. He let himself down so badly when dwelling on phrases on the higher octave. Save this aspect, the varnam in Begada, ``Tatvamariya tarama," invoking Lord Ganapati, were all quite appealing.
The irony of the situation was not lost on the gathering when he sang neraval on the line ``Mooladara Nadamerugute" (to know the foundations of nadam). This is the Thyagaraja composition, ``Swararaga Sudharasa," in Sankarabharanam.
So why doesn't he sing in a lower pitch? This was the question one kept asking repeatedly. Remember the times when audiences as well as critics were unforgiving of the stage mannerisms of veteran musicians? Voice production is indeed a substantive matter where you don't expect a senior artiste to take chances.
Well-honed voice
Sikkil Gurucharan.
When the verse ``Sikkil Singaravela Muthukumara" tickled one's nerves early in the evening on November 26, Sikkil C Gurucharan, barely 21, was just warming up to an audience already impressed. The lilting varnam gave fresh expression to Reetigowla which one was hearing the third time in two successive days.
The grandmother, the famous flautist Sikkil Kunjumani, had spotted his innate talent when the boy of five was humming a popular film ditty. He was soon placed under Vaigal S Gnanaskandan. His exquisite delivery of ``Sidhivinayakam," the Muthaiah Bhagavathar kriti in Mohanakalyani and Thyagaraja's ``Orachoopu" were evidence of a voice and skill honed over years of training and practice. But his scholarship underscored a larger point.
Gurucharan dispelled the notion that some languages were more conducive than others to produce good music. Witness the kritis he rendered in Begada: ``Va Muruga vadivazhaga Shanmuga," penned by Spencer R Venugopal and the Periyasami Thooran song in Saveri.
But then, the obverse of this logic is also that sensitivity to language is fundamental to the quality of music. This is an area where youngsters such as Gurucharan could make a huge difference to the patronage classical music enjoys among the public. Listening to his expositions of Begada and Dharmavathi, one wondered why someone endowed with a rich and gifted voice should not explore the higher octave more than he did. Nagai Sriram on the violin and M. S. Varadan on the mridangam provided stimulating support to the vocalist right through the performance.
Powerful
Radha Bhasker's disposition to do a thing or two with her extremely powerful voice characterised her performance. Her frequent forays into the higher octave in the raga alapanas of Begada, Abhogi and Poorvikalyani was a beauty and took the fancy of listeners.
She showcased her considerable imagination in the delivery of Ramalingaswamigal's Thiruvarutpa in a ragamalika. As she enunciated the lines: ``Namassivayattai nan maraven," the air vibrated with devotion.
If some of Radha's other pieces were wanting in melody, it was perhaps because she packed too many sangatis while singing kritis. In particular, the Todi varnam and the invocation in Natta.
Radha's mridangam support was from none other than her husband Mudra Bhaskar who paired brilliantly with Pudukkottai Ramachandran on the ghatam. Khandadevi Vijayaraghavan on the violin was equally impressive.
The number of family connections that run through the artistes featured above is striking, if not surprising.
Is this a reassurance that the next generation is ready to step in? Or is it a point to ponder that the social base of the classical arts has not expanded widely enough?
GARIMELLA SUBRAMANIAM
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