Somanahalli Brothers' feeble voice masks good style

Disciples of B N S Murali, these young software engineers prefer to be identified as ‘Somanahalli Brothers’. They were accompanied by Veena Suresh(Violin), P Natara j(Mridanga) and S Manjunath (ghata).

Their singing displayed their deep interest and enthusiasm in giving their best to the listeners.

The concert revealed good style, manodharma and intelligence in producing swara combinations.

However, their feeble voice was a disadvantage and did not contribute much for the success of the concert.

The Daru in Khamach was brisk and attractive. A short alapana by Phanish kumar in Kambodhi led to ‘Lambodharamavalambe’, a beautiful composition of Mysore Vasudevacharya. It was further embellished with a frill of kalpana swaras. 

A fine kruthi of Maharaja of Mysore ‘Kamalambike mamavasada’ in nata set to Khanda jhampe was neatly presented. Phanish kumar has a good manodharma and sense of shruthi.

This was evident in his alapa of Hindola. The raga delineation was impressive in spite of the  lack of strength in his voice.

He reached higher octave effortlessly. The composition of their guru’s guru R K Padmanabha ‘Samaganapriye Sharade’ was presented with an emphasis on the meaning.

They sang the evergreen ‘Ranganayakam’ (nayaki-Adi-Muthuswam Dixitar)for the pleasure of the listeners.

After a fast composition of Muthayya Bhagavathar ‘Ramaaramana Narayana’, Pavankumar took up Kalyani for elaboration.

He needed to be more aware of the shruthi alignment. There were many unpleasant hiccups  which could have been avoided. Veena Suresh’s alapana was comforting.
‘Neeve gathiyani’ of Mysore Vasudevacharya again was well presented with dashing kalpana swaras. The concert ended with another composition of R K Padmanabha in Hamirkalyani.

Speed mars jugalbandhi
The Ragavaibhava sponsored a jugalbandhi of Vishwamohan Bhat (Mohana Veena) and Mysore M Manjunath(Violin) on September 18 at the Vasudevacharya Bhavana.
They were accompanied by Ramkumar Mishra(Tabla) and K U Jayachandra Rao(Mridanga).
Both the artistes are acclaimed instrumentalists of our country.

Vishwamohan Bhat has modified Hawaiian Guitar to suit Indian ( Hindustani) classical music.

This Hindustani and Karnatak jugalbandhi had naturally created curiosity among music lovers. They both have played together many a times.

Hindustani yaman and Karnatak Kalyani was the raga chosen by them as the opener. The sustaining nada of the Mohan Veena did capture the audience in the alap.

Manjunath pleased his fans with a typical Karnatak style of Kalyani, filled with gamakas.
The Jod added to the musical experience from both the artistes.

When they started playing the notes for Teen tal, and moved on to  Dhruth, they were carried away by the speed. It was difficult to distinguish who was playing. The percussionists contributed immensely to this medley of sound.

The next raga was charukeshi. Both Vishwamohan Bhat and Manjunath developed the raga with emotional impact.

Rupak Tal was opted for the rhythmic expansion of raga. The gliding and straight notes of Mohan Veena and the raga embellished with appropriate gamakas by Manjunath pleased the music lovers.

If only they could win over the penchant for speed, it could have been an unforgettable experience.