Rare recital
IT IS only rarely that music lovers in Bangalore get to hear a nadaswara recital on the concert platform. The Vijaya Degree College, Basavangudi, provided one such opportunity to the young students of the college, as part of Sneha Milana, a farewell function in the honour of the final year degree students. The artistes featured was the veteran M. Kodandaram and Prabhavathi Palanivel (nagaswaras), Tirugnanam (dolu) and Ravi (tala).
M. Kodandaram is well known with impressive credentials in Carnatic music. Trained under greats such as Manmudiya Pillai, Anur S. Ramakrishna and others, he has established himself as a meritorious exponent of this difficult wind instrument. Currently, he is also engaged in training the younger generation in this instrumental art.
His style of playing was notable for the purity of notes and apt lyrical phrases, besides his technique of controlled blowing. His nagaswara-disciple Prabhavathi played a complementary role in song and alapana renderings with lot of originality shown in the kalpanaswaras.
The little more than 75-minutes recital opened with a moving "Vatapi Ganapathim bhaje" (Hamsadhwani).
Thyagaraja's "Saamaja varagamana" in Hindola with a brisk alapana was rounded off with a fine swarakalpana. It was the best offering of the recital.
The raga alapana was at once traditional and appealing. The warm rendering of "Nagumomu" (Abheri) and "Bhuvaneshwariya" (Mohanakalyani) highlighted the artiste's ability to interweave melody and rhythm imaginatively.
Sterling
Brilliantly accompanied by M.S. Govindaswamy (violin), S. Prashanth (mridanga) and G. Omkar (ghata), seasoned singer Dr. T.S. Sathyavathi gave a sterling performance at the Ananya auditorium during the 40th anniversary celebrations of Karnataka College of Percussion led by noted mridangist TAS Mani and his renowned vocalist-wife Ramamani. She sang in the most graceful manner as characterised by the chaste Carnatic idiom. Her voice never departs from its modulated texture. The rich content of her musical expression makes her such a sought after musician today. Opening with a Behag varna, she laid a firm foundation for her aesthetic and artistically elegant concert with "Raara maa yinti daaka" (Asaveri) and a neat and tidy alapana of Suruti for "Paradevi nee paadamule". It was adorned with articulate kalpanaswaras. I was fully satisfied with the delineation in Hameer Kalyani for "Venkata shaila vihaara Hari". She thrilled the rasikas by singing an attractive Wallajapet Venkataramana Bhagavatar krithi in Lalitha ("Chedipoge"). Sathyavathi's perpetual grace and unflinching laya marked the raga, tana and pallavi in Khamach, set to a tricky chaturashra jhampe tala. She probed into the raga well and conveyed the very essence of the melody. Her execution of the pallavi "Saarasadala nayana maam paahi" with all the traditional flourishes was absolutely slick, finished and well-cut.
M. SURYA PRASAD
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