Music reviews

Lush raga movement

The Sapthak presented a fine Hindustani concert on Sunday evening. The vocalist Kalpana Zokarkar from Indore is a daughter and disciple of Pandit Krishna Rao Mazumdar (Mama Saheb) and was also guided by Susheela Pohankar and Pandit Vasanth Rao Rajurkar.

She is a gold medalist in M A (Music) and ‘A-grade’ artiste of All India Radio. She has toured extensively and has performed in USA, UK and UAE.

Kalpana Zokarkar sang Kaushik Ranjini with abandon and involvement, establishing rapport with the audience, highlighting the lush movement of the raga. This less known raga was exhilarating and was a measure of the vocalist’s extensive repertoire. The Thappa in Kaffee was also delightful. The Natya Geeth and the concluding devotional – were also lively.

Pandit Ravindra Yavagal and Ravindra Katoti accompanied on Tabla and harmonium respectively, with good understanding. Kalpana Zokarkar sang with a rare finesse and originality in approach.

Gaana Varidhi
Vidwan M A Narasimhachar was a reputed a vocalist, teacher and a scholar. He was the recipient of several awards like ‘Ganakalabhushana’, Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Rajyotsava Award.

Ten years ago a Trust was formed in his memory, to conduct a festival every year, apart from the monthly music programmes. This year to commemorate the 10th anniversary of “M A Narasimhachar Music Foundation” a 10-day music festival was conducted last week. The “Gaana Varidhi” Award was presented to Mysore M Manjunath and scholarships were distributed to 10 talented music students.

Sanjay Subramanyam, who gave a vocal recital here on Wednesday, is one of our reputed vocalist and also a crowd puller. After opening his concert with a varna, he straightaway went to “Dinamani Vamsha”, followed by “Kanjadalayataksha”, the evocative kruthi. Raga Bhairavi, with measured and in depth sangathies was sung in detail, leaving an indelible impression on the connoisseurs.

But Manirangu was different and what a contrast. Conservatives may not agree with the choice of Manirangu for Pallavi. But the Pallavi in the raga Manirangu was sleek and sonorous and the impact was further enhanced by Swara Prasthara. In between he sang a Devaranama in an infrequent raga and the ‘Niravadi Sukhada’ was a sizzler. S Varadarajan impressed with his excellent violin support and the percussion duo – Neyveli Venkatesh and Guru Prasanna – combined effectively to add to the enjoyment.

Regaling performance
The other Sabha, which also conducted the annual music festival is R T Nagar Cultural Association, which also felicitated two veteran artistes. R K Srikantan and Bhadragiri Achutha Das, senior Harikatha exponent – were felicitated by Viswesha Theertha Swamiji of Pejawar Mutt.

Popular musician Vidyabhushana, regaled the audience after the felicitation function. He was accompanied by M S Govindaswamy on violin, N Vasudeva on mridanga and A S N Swamy on Khanjari. “Girija Ramana” proved a good opening gambit. With lyrical appeal “Neenupekshaya Maadi” was appealing.

He was in fine fettle as revealed in “Deva Deva Kalayamite” with raga and nerval. He also presented a number of Haridasa Padas and ugabhogas, with good feeling. The rendition of “Madhukara Vruthy Nannadu” and “Barayya Venkataramana” was pleasant, with the “Bhakthi Bhava” coming off in soft hues.