Speed mars the melody
Both music and dance programmes were held at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, as part of Soorya Festival which is being held across the country.
Last week there was a vocal duet by a couple – Krishnamurthy and Binny Krishnamurthy. Krishnamurthy, a postgraduate in music, has won several prizes, including one from All India Radio. Binny has earned a doctoral degree and is a recipient of the best singer award.
The “Balagopala… Muralee Gaana” lent a rollicking start to them. This varna of Dr Balamurali Krishna is composed in the evocative raga ‘Amrithavarshini’.
“Rakshamam Sharanagatham” of Meenakshisutha in the raga ‘Naata’, was again in ‘Drutha Kaala’. It appeared that the couple were tempted by the middle and fast tempo. The “Mahashaya Hridaya” of Uthakadu Venkata Kavi - was also a fine selection. At this stage, they sprang a surprise by choosing a lesser known raga. ‘Raga Rohini’ was tuned by Dr M Balamurali Krishna during a lunar eclipse and it is ‘Panchama Varjya’ with two madhyamas and they sang it with good feeling.
They took another attractive raga ‘Varali’ for elaboration, sharing by turns in both alapana and swara, tried to make it wholesome. ‘Nerval’ (Sundara Jitha Madanam Mukundam, Madhusudhanam) was also pleasing.
Traversing in both middle and upper octave with ease, with their resonant and rich voice, their professional approach was discernible in their willingness to entertain their listeners. But due to speed the sahitya and swara often appeared garbled by heavy vibration.
At that juncture ‘Thani’ by the percussion duo - H S Sudhindra and S N Narayana Murthy, combined effectively to add to the enjoyment. An ‘asthapadi’, ‘devaranama’ (Yadava nee ba), ‘abhang’ (Pandari cha) and ‘Thillana’ – were presented in the second half of the concert.
Charulatha Ramanujan on violin responded well throughout the concert.
Result of good training
Six young dancers of Chidambaram Dance Company performed on Thursday in Soorya Festival, under the direction of Padmashri Chithra Visweswaran.
In the opening ‘Anubhuthi’ (Ragamalike), they offered salutation to Thrimurthies, through the composition of Late R Visweswaran. An atmosphere of Vedic ritual enhanced by the raga ‘Hindola’ prevailed during the Ardhanareeswaran episode for ‘Samaganalole’ of G N B.
The dancers depicted the different aspects with crisp movements and expression. The highlight certainly was the varna of Lalgudi Jayaraman in Ragamalike depicting ‘navarasa’ through different episodes.
Footwork, synchronised movements, stances and the negotiation of the rhythm, especially in the multi-cycled Theermanas – were all executed with elan.
In ‘devaranama’ “Chikkavane Ivanu”, each charana was represented by different dancers, dramatising the ‘Baala Leela’ of child Krishna, in an attractive manner. N Srikanth, Aswathi Nair, Lakshmi Parthasarathi Atreya, Uma Nambudaripad Satyanarayana, Arupa Lahiry, Jai Quehae N Y Reddy’s precision, pleasing in both aesthetics and technique , but expression occasionally seemed to fluctuate. They concluded with a ‘Thillana’ of R Visweswaran, in the raga Rasikapriya, which was also delightful.
The dancers performed neatly with ease and confidence, which was the result of good training by Chithra Visweswaran.
Melodious vocal by B Umashankar enhanced the dance. Natuvanga by Sukanya Ravindran, mridanga by Venkata Subramanyam and flute by Atul Kumar – were also pleasing.
Enthralling mandolin
U Srinivas has become another name for the ‘Mandolin’, and from his younger days, he is known as the ‘boy wonder’!
In the current concert for Sri Venugopala Krishnaswamy Temple, Malleswaram, Srinivas once again attracted a large gathering. It was refreshing to hear raga ‘Simhavahini’, which we do not hear a detailed delimineation normally. He handled this raga and the Tyagaraja kruthi “Nenarunchira Napai” enchantingly.
When he played ‘Jananee Ninuvina’ connoisseurs felt as if the instrument is singing! After “Telisi Rama” in jet speed, yet another detailed aalapana of Shanmukhapriya was delineated, a rhapsody of flowing melody and “Marivere Dikkevaru” was played with much aplomb. Ragas were beautifully portrayed and his impeccable mastery and virtuosity in maintaining shruthi and laya made good impact on the listeners.
H K Venkatram maintained his musical composure and played with alacrity and tonal sobriety on the violin, while Madri Mangalam Swaminathan on mridanga was enjoyable and Ullur Giridhar Udupa played on ‘ghata’ spiritedly.
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