<p>The nonagenarian musician Dr R K Srikantan, was greeted by one and all on the eve of his 94th birthday, on the auspicious Sankranthi day. <br /><br /></p>.<p>It was part of the annual Sankranthi Music Festival and biography of the doyen was also released. Dr T K Murthy (Music), Dr Venkatesha Sharma Sastry (Advaita Siddantha), V V Sundaram (Organiser) and Prof M Balasubramaniam (Principal) – were felicitated.<br /><br />The inaugural concert was by Carnatika Brothers – N Shashikanth and Ganesh. They were well supported by C N Chandrasekhar on violin, Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma on mridanga and G Guru Prasanna on khanjari. “Vanajakshi,” gave Carnatica Brothers a steady start followed by “Chelanatina” of Saint Tyagaraja. “Angarakamashrayamam” – Suruti composition of Dikshitar was another fine selection. <br /><br />Though the nerval (Bhanuchandra Gurumitram Bhasamana Sukulatram) was rather too brief, the composition attracted with its meaningful lyrics and grand music. ‘Needumahima’ – was a quickie and chose raga Vagadheeswari for the Pallavi. Sharing themselves the brothers elaborated the Pallavi (Amogha Varsha Gana Sreekanta) neatly. Though they tried to bring a convincing imagery of the melody, the raga was not fully evocative. Carnatica Brothers concluded their concert with a thillana of Veena Seshanna.<br /><br />Shortcomings<br /><br />G Srikant, who gave a vocal recital last week is a post graduate in music and has been trained by both T M Tyagarajan and O S Tyagarajan. He is a known teacher and sings for several front ranking dancers.<br /><br />In the current concert (Sri Rama Lalitakala Mandira) Srikant was supported by Rahul Ravichandran on violin, Prof V Krishna on mridanga and G Guru Prasanna on khanjari. <br />He sang a number of familiar compositions like – Sri Chamundeswari and Orajupu. <br />The “Jananee Pahi Sada” in Sanskrit is usually rendered on the seventh day of Navaratri. Keeravani, the evocative raga was selected for the Pallavi. He also rendered a few devaranamas like “Samsaravemba”, “Hu Beke Parimalada” and a thillana of Rajkumar Bharathi. He sang sincerely. Yet it was by no means one of his best efforts, thus the concert was not free from shortcomings.</p>
<p>The nonagenarian musician Dr R K Srikantan, was greeted by one and all on the eve of his 94th birthday, on the auspicious Sankranthi day. <br /><br /></p>.<p>It was part of the annual Sankranthi Music Festival and biography of the doyen was also released. Dr T K Murthy (Music), Dr Venkatesha Sharma Sastry (Advaita Siddantha), V V Sundaram (Organiser) and Prof M Balasubramaniam (Principal) – were felicitated.<br /><br />The inaugural concert was by Carnatika Brothers – N Shashikanth and Ganesh. They were well supported by C N Chandrasekhar on violin, Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma on mridanga and G Guru Prasanna on khanjari. “Vanajakshi,” gave Carnatica Brothers a steady start followed by “Chelanatina” of Saint Tyagaraja. “Angarakamashrayamam” – Suruti composition of Dikshitar was another fine selection. <br /><br />Though the nerval (Bhanuchandra Gurumitram Bhasamana Sukulatram) was rather too brief, the composition attracted with its meaningful lyrics and grand music. ‘Needumahima’ – was a quickie and chose raga Vagadheeswari for the Pallavi. Sharing themselves the brothers elaborated the Pallavi (Amogha Varsha Gana Sreekanta) neatly. Though they tried to bring a convincing imagery of the melody, the raga was not fully evocative. Carnatica Brothers concluded their concert with a thillana of Veena Seshanna.<br /><br />Shortcomings<br /><br />G Srikant, who gave a vocal recital last week is a post graduate in music and has been trained by both T M Tyagarajan and O S Tyagarajan. He is a known teacher and sings for several front ranking dancers.<br /><br />In the current concert (Sri Rama Lalitakala Mandira) Srikant was supported by Rahul Ravichandran on violin, Prof V Krishna on mridanga and G Guru Prasanna on khanjari. <br />He sang a number of familiar compositions like – Sri Chamundeswari and Orajupu. <br />The “Jananee Pahi Sada” in Sanskrit is usually rendered on the seventh day of Navaratri. Keeravani, the evocative raga was selected for the Pallavi. He also rendered a few devaranamas like “Samsaravemba”, “Hu Beke Parimalada” and a thillana of Rajkumar Bharathi. He sang sincerely. Yet it was by no means one of his best efforts, thus the concert was not free from shortcomings.</p>
