Young artistes to the fore

The Directorate of Kannada and Culture conducted a state level festival called “Yuva Chetana” last week. Young and budding artistes from all over the state - from all the districts - performed music, dance, drama, stage music and folk. It was indeed a pleasure to see the cream of the talent of the talent of the youngsters of the state from far away places like Bidar, Koppal, Gadag, Shimoga, Kolar, Mangalore, Haveri, Hubli, Hassanm, Ilkal, Karwar, Virajpet, Surathkal, apart from Bangalore.

Deepa Hegde, who gave a Bharathanatya recital here, is from Sirsi, (Uthara Kannada district) and a student of second year PUC. She is studying dance at the Natyanjali Nritya Kala Kendra, has passed senior examination and has completed her "Ranga Pravesha" also in the year 2005.

Deepa opened the programme with a composition of Annamacharya in which she revealed a good grounding. The "Dashavathara" sparkled in the "Sreeman Narayana" and "Navarasa" in the "Jaganmohanane". The Kamach Daru revelled with some glowing Theermanas. She concluded her pleasant recital with a Astapadi of Jayadeva. The dancer was well supported from the wings by Guru Sahana Bhat (Natuvanga), Balasubramnaya Sharma (vocal), V R Chandra Sekhar (Mridanga), A P Sarvothama (flute) and Prasanna Kumar (Khanjari).

Earlier, Swetha Sastry (Illakal) sang few songs of theatre music. She chose a number of songs from popular plays like "Raktha Rathri." With her good voice she also rendered "Pandava Bhagya" [Tabala : Siddesh]. The days programme came to an end with a play "Kulam" by the students of Sahyadri College of Arts and Commerce, Shimoga. It was based on Karna, the most attractive character of Mahabharatha and directed by G R Lava. Supported by good background music the play impressed the audience well.

Striking voice

On Wednesday morning Kumar Maradur, stole the show with his striking voice and impactful presentation. Kumar, who hails from a famous musician's family of Dharwar, chose Sudda Sarang as the main stay of the recital, which was tidy and wholesome. He also sang a Vachana of Akka Mahadevi (Kaayada Kathaleya) with good feeling. He was accompanied on Tabala by Puttaraj Gonawar and on Harmonium by Shivanand.

Deepak BSR, who is studying Ayurvedic medicine at Shimoga, has learnt violin under T S Krishna Murthy and is continuing higher studying with Dr K Varada Rangan. Some attractive phraseology lent a dignified presence to Deepak's 'Jnanamo Sagarada' on Violin solo. The "Sarasa Samadane" was a quickie and the Swara enriched the impact of the composition "Gajavadana Beduve."

Sugam Sangeeth by the young trio - Anuradha Mannur, Rooparamanna Kotwal and Kannika P. Singar - were in refreshing contrast. They presented a number of patriotic songs and Kannada Bhavageethe. Elladaru iru Enthadaru iru, Hachevu Kannadada Deepa, Jogada Siri - were enjoyed by the audience, in a good measure. Satish Kolli (Harmonium), Chandru and Puttaraj (Tabala) - supported the young vocalists.

The Tirunarayana Trust held the annual Kartheekothsava last week, in collaboration with the Sri Rama Lalithakala Mandira. K Bhaskaran, who gave a flute recital here, is a student of B Saraswathi Ammall and has received guidance from Prof T R Subramanyam also. He has studied the "Music and Computer" in detail and has presented papers in several music conferences. The piece de resistance of his concert was Saveri Ragalapana and the dignified composition "Sri Rajagopala". The well woven swara enriched the compositions elegant coherence.

While Sudda Dhavyasi was evocative, the Astapadi was pleasing. Few Kannada Devaranamas like -Jagadoddarana and Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma - were enduring. The melodious flute sans gimmicks, left an indelible impression on the listeners. Senior instrumentalists S Seshagiri Rao and M T Rajakesari supported on Violin and Mridanga respectively.

Expectations betrayed

It was the turn of Shaila A Bhandarkar, this week to perform in the popular series " Every Friday cultural Evening Programme". A student of several seniors, she claims to have experience of several years also. But her current concert betrayed the expectation, which lacked the usual flourish. For instance her opening Gowda Sarang rag did not offer much by way of aesthetic fervour.

A distinct imagery failing to emerge. It was followed by a chain of Haridasa compositions. Elemana Murariyanu Kondadu, Huva Tharuvara Manege, Yadava Nee Ba etc. She could not rise above the pales of mediocrity, due to mechanical rendering. But the accompanists - Guru Murthy Vaidya (Tabala) and Sateesh Kolli (Harmonium) gave good support on their respective instruments.