Ramotsava music concerts captivating

Padmashri Dr Kadri Gopalanath gave a saxophone recital on the auspicious Ramanavami day, at the Sri Ramaseva Mandali, Chamarajpet, which was sponsored by Deccan Herald and Prajavani. Kadri lived upto his reputation. The invocatory piece on Ganesha with ‘swara’ provided a good idea of the feast that was to follow. He gave a dignified picture of the ‘Keerthana’ in the rendition of the ‘Pancharathna Krithi'  ‘Endaromahanubhavulu’. A rollicking tempo was maintained in the popular ‘keerthane’ ‘Manavyalara’. ‘Mohana’ also was rich in its tonal flourishes and proof of his craftsmanship. Vittala Ramamurthy, Harikumar, N Amrith and B Rajasekhar supported with their violin, mridanga, khanjari and morching, respectively.

Enlivening vocal

In the same venue, well-known vocalist R K Padmanabha was in fine fettle on Wednesday as he started the ‘varna’ in raga ‘Purvikalyani’ (own composition). The stately krithi ‘Panchashath Peeta Rupini’ in Devagandhara raga, was enlivening. ‘Teliya leru Rama’ of Thyagaraja was another fine selection. The ‘Sri Viswanatham Bhajeham’ of Dikshitar is a ‘Chaturdasha Ragamalike’. It bristled with an enduring quality in 14 ragas, that too in a majestic ‘Vilamba Kaala’. The ‘Alap’ of ‘Yadukula Kambodi’ was well-proportioned, the ‘Keertana’ ‘Hecharikaga Rara’ acquiring a delightful presence. Meanwhile RKP sprang a surprise by presenting a new raga composed by him - ‘Ramasudha’ and a new composition ‘Jayajaya Rama’ of Sudha R Rao. The ‘Sarasijanabha Sodari’ redolent with nostalgic overtones. The grand old krithi ‘Meru Samana’ was sung with emotional fervour. M A Krishnaswamy on violin, H S Sudhindra on mridanga and Sukanya Ramgopal on ‘ghata’ supported well with their respective instruments.

Vyalikaval Rama Mandira

Curtain came down on the Ramotsava celebrations of this year with the ‘Hanumanthotsava’ last Tuesday at the Vyalikaval Extension Association. Flute, jugalbandi, apart from vocal concerts were held along with rituals like ‘Parayana’, ‘Seethakalyana’ and ‘Rathotsava’ (car festival). Hemmige S Prashanth, who gave a vocal concert here on last Sunday, belongs to the younger generation and is fast emerging as a good vocalist. He sang ‘Sakethanagaranatha’ with vintage flavour. The ‘nerval’ and ‘swara’ were brief but good. ‘Sukhi Evaro’ is one of the best composition in raga ‘Kannada’. But neither the ‘Alapana’ nor the kriti itself could sustain. He is certainly capable of rising higher to meet aesthetic elegance. But the composition ‘Ninnenammithi’ assumed a stately presence, the ‘Alapana’ and ‘Swara’ enriching its impact. Seasoned instrumentalists B Raghuram (violin) and K U Jayachandra (mridanga) _ gave commendable support.

Seshadripuram Ranaseva Samithi

The Seshadripuram Ramaseva Samithi has organised a month-long music festival on the occasion of its diamond jubilee which has vocals, nadaswara, solo violin, veena, jugalbandi, sitar, flute, saxophone and chitraveena. The festival is going to be held till May 13  to entertain the connoisseurs of music. T V Shankaranarayanan’s concert here was a proportioned presentation of choice melodies. After the invocatory piece on Ganapathi, TVS Sang ‘Baraiah Venkataramana’ evocatively. The ‘Makelara’ is a favourite of old timers and he gave a majestic portrayal of Ravichandrike. There was customary abandon in the rendering of ‘Enduku Dayuradu’. Kalyani acquired a delight in the good voice of Shankaramahadev, Shankaranarayan’s son. He also shared the ‘nerval’ and ‘swara’  (‘ethavunara’), which revealed his talent. In total ‘Shankaranarayan’ gave a convincing concert, accompanied by Mysore Nagaraj on violin, M T Rajakesari on mridanga and M A Krishnamurthy on Ghatam.

Pleasant violin solo

Dr Jyothsna Srikanth, who is originally from Bangalore and now settled in London, is an exceptionally talented person. She is a post-graduate in clinical pathology and well-versed in both Indian and Western classical violin. She has performed in many prestigious organisations, including Queen Elizabeth Hall (UK), Cleveland Music Festival (USA), The Music Academy (Chennai), Hampi Music Festival (Karnataka).

As an accompanist, she has accompanied on violin leading artists of India like Dr R K Srikantan, Dr M Balamuralikirshna, Dr Sudha Raghunathan, etc. She has played violin for nearly 200 films and has scored music for several serials also.

Against these background, one expected a good gathering for her solo violin (Ananya) concert last week. But only a small audience was present.

She was accompanied on mridanga by K U Jayachandra and on Khanjari by N Amrith. The ‘Gamganapathe’ of Muthaiah Bhagawathar gave her a brilliant start. ‘Gopalaka Pahimam’ and ‘Maanasa Sancharare’ both with lilting melody, are all time favourites. ‘Dinamanivamsha’ in ‘Harikambodi’ bristled with bright phrases. Another masterpiece, Tyagaraja's ‘Kantajudumi’, put the concert in a solid mould. With very good command over the instrument and fine bow technique, it offered a pleasant listening.