Music & dance reviews

Artistic finesse

The Sri Rama Seva Mandali, Shankarapuram conducted the 31st year Ramothsava Festival at the Masti Ranga Mandira, with vocal (both Hindustani and Karnatic), instrumental music (veena, venu, violin), Yakshagana and discourses.

Sangeetha Katti Kulakarni, who gave a vocal recital here on Sunday, is well known in both Hindustani classical and light classical music. Her artistic finesse come to the fore in the opening Jog, which gave her concert a bright start. It was honed to the traditional format, spurring the listener’s interest.

It stood out for its musical perception and technical skill. It was followed by a number of devotionals like – Jaya Gajapathiya, Krishnaiah Baraiah, Onde Namavu Salade – which revealed her prowess and competence. Vyasa Murthy Katti, Udayaraja Karpur and Srinivasa Prasad supported her on harmonium, tabla and taala respectively.





Talented vocalist

In the western side of Bangalore Sri Vani Vidya Kendra, Basaveshwara Nagar, is attracting a large gathering every day for the Ramanavami concerts.

A variety of programmes like jugalbandi, saxophone, flute, solo violin, gamaka, dance, percussion ensemble and yakshagana apart from Vocal (both Hindustani and Karnatic) have been are organised, which will continue till April 13.

Saketha

Raman, a worthy student of Lalgudi Jayaraman, though not heard frequently, is not a stranger to the music lovers of the city. He was well supported by Mysore Srikanth on violin, B C Manjunath on mridanga and S N Narayana Murthy on the ghata. With his high pitched melodious voice, the range is vast and the selection and presentation is impactful.

For instance “Yetijanma” in the majestic “Vilamba Kaala”, attracted with deep “ragabhava” and streered the recital to a lively course. He sang “Nenendu Vethugudara” with brief swara and plunged to the main item of the evening. A detailed airing of “Kaligeyunte”, a masterpiece of Tyagaraja, was rendered with dignified grace. The tailenders – Rama Manthrava Japiso, Kande Na Govindana, Pibare Ramarasam – were also pleasing. Saketha Raman proved once again that he is going to blossom into a versatile artiste.

Rare classical gems

K S Gopalakrishnan, performed here last week. Though a most reputed flautist, he has not given a concert in the city, from last several years! So, naturally connoisseurs were eagerly waiting to hear his recital.

KSG seldom fails to stir emotions. The spacious swaraprasthara for “Kaliyugavarada” stood out for its musical perception and expertise. Raga and swara for “Tulasidala” was brief, but was with good feeling. A gem from the treasure chest of Tyagaraja ‘Sukhi evvaro” was embellished with lively phrases. “Yethavunara” revealed a touch of class in every ‘Sangathi’ and generated a happy atmosphere. B U Ganesh Prasad on violin, Trivandrum Balaji on mridanga and Udupi Sridhar on ghata accompanied.

Vintage flavour

Neyveli Santhanagopalan is a seasoned vocalist who is seen on the city’s music stage frequently. In the seshadripuram concert he had the good support of three experienced instrumentalists, to make it a memorable ‘Kucheri’ – H K Venkataram on violin, Thiruvarur Bhakthavatsala on mridanga and G S Ramanujam on ghata. The familiar Varna (Valachi) gave Neyveli a bright start.

He sang “Ganamurthe” stressing the melodic graces and “Sarasa Samadana” with vintage flavour.  But seasoned listeners felt that the ‘Raghuvara” could have made better impact with little slower tempo. With emotional appeal of the song “Ramakatha Sudha” went well with an expecting audience.