Delectable vocal recital - Music and dance reviews

Delectable vocal recital

The Seshadripuram Rama Seva Samithi organised another delightful music programme last week. Amritha Venkatesh, disciple of M T Selvanarayana, Charumathi Ramachandran and Rama Varma, is an ‘A-grade’ artiste of Akashavani. She is not only a vocalist but also a good veena player. She has performed in leading Sabhas and has also won several prizes including from the Music Academy, Chennai.

In the current concert, Amritha Venkatesh planned her selection judiciously to establish her grasp over the medium, which was very convincing even to seasoned connoisseurs. Kamatch was rendered well. Both raga (Bahudari) and nerval (Rama Nama Mane) for “Banturithi Kolu”, was brief, but pleasing. Bhadrachala Rama Das’s “Yemmaiah Rama’ was also well received by the listeners. Saveri was notable for the remarkable fluidity and melodic content in her voice.

One of the fine compositions of Saint Tyagaraja “Rama Baana” was heard after a long time. An ugabhoga “Baliya Manege Vaamana Bandanthe” was followed by a familiar devaranama “Rama Krishnaru Manege Bandaru,” which was rendered with lilting melody. B K Raghu, B C Manjunath and S N Narayana Murthy gave good support on violin, mridanga and ghata respectively. Looks like he has a promising career ahead.

Strained voices
Both the music programmes at the Sree Ramaseva Mandali, Chamarajpet, were vocal concerts. First, the Hyderabad Brothers – Seshachary and Raghavachari – treated audiences with some rare and majestic compositions of Saint Tyagaraja.

They opened the concert with the familiar varna “Vanajakshee.” “Chinnanaada” attracted with lilting melody of the krithi. Their alap for Simhendramadhyama stood out for its clarity, helping them to lend a well reasoned imagery to the raga.

Then, “Annapurne Vishalakshi”, the ever-green composition, followed. Saveri bristled in the familiar mode. But their singing appeared a bit strained. They also sang a few meaningful devaranamas like – Dharma Shravana, Antharangadali Hariya Kaanadava, Rama Rama Enniro. H K Venkataram on violin, D S R Murthy on mridanga and B R Ravi Kumar on ghata accompanied with good understanding.
 
Impressive concert
Pattabhirama Pandith gave an excellent musical concert at the Sree Rama Seva Mandali in Fort High School Grounds. A team of seasoned instrumentalists took on the stage with him. TKV Ramanujacharlu on violin, Patri Satish Kumar on mridanga and BR Ravi Kumar on ghata – enhanced the total effect of the concert by playing their respective instruments.

Pattabhiram Pandith is fast emerging as a seasoned vocalist which was substantiated as he opened with a crisp varna “Sarasuda.” Instead of a invocatory piece on Ganapathi, he chose “Rara Mayinti daga,” in which Tyagaraja pleads “Raghuvara! Do come and grace my dwelling by your presence …. How can you forget that I mentally merged myself in you. Are not you my treasure?”  Raga, ‘Varnamattu’ and the lyrics are very much complimentary to each other in this composition. “Dinamani Vamsha”, which was very common during yesteryears, was rendered without elaboration.
Pantuvarali is one of the most commonly heard ragas on the concert stage. Still, it attained a flavour on its own, when Pattabhiram Pandith presented it. His voice grew deeper and stronger while singing “Mamava Pattabhi Rama” in a majestic “vilamba kaala.” In contrast, “Nenaruncinanu” was in good “drutha kaala.”

Another memorable composition “Mohana Rama” was enriched by some sparkling swara prasthara. As it often happens, the vocalist chose a Pallavi almost at the fag end of the concert. The pallavi (Janakee Pathe) in Bhairavi was neatly executed negotiating Saveri, Kalyani and Shivaranjini. Though one felt the main raga of the pallavi was too brief, it was presented with a brisk swara. The accompanists extended excellent support to share the honours with the main artiste.