A beautiful setting, tasteful lighting, well-chosen compositions, appropriate lyrics and inspiring music accounted for an impressive Bharatanatya recital presented by an actress-dancer Kavitha at the Khimcha auditorium of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavana last Sunday. Slender and beautiful, Kavitha complemented her looks with her dance and made it a runaway success with her dedicated approach.
Commencing with a customary Pushpanjali and Ganesha Vandana (on the basis of a krithi in Athana raga by Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Sri Mahaganapthini with a shloka prelude) she opened with vivid imagery of the Lord. The well-planned production of the Charukeshi jathiswara was an adequate nritta visualisation and high energy dancing. The abstract composition benefitted from some brilliant rhythmic and adavu embellishments.
The high point of her recital was Tanjavur Quartet’s varna in Anandabhairavi raga.
Sakhiye inda velayil jalam sheyyade addressed to Lord Krishna was all about the nayika pleading with her sakhi to fetch her lord in whose absence everything has become unbearable. Kavitha rose up to its full potential; it was like an amalgamation of all shades of all rasas and nayikas. She drew pictures of Kaliya mardana, lifting of the Goverdhana mountain and many more with neat sancharis. They became not merely pictures but each an experience in itself. She proved that she is a highly skilled dancer, moving with confidence and showcased versatility in the nritta, nrithya and abhinaya aspects.
Spirited dancing
With an admirable orchestral support lent by seasoned artistes like Kavitha’s Guru Shama Krishna (nattuvanga), Narasimhamurthy (flute), Shubha Santosh (veena), Lingaraju (mridanga) and Prasannakumar (morsing and other instruments), Kavitha was at ease through her performance. It was good to see Depthi Srinath lending her voice to the recital. Tanjavur Shankaraiyer’s frequently heard Revathi krithi on Lord Shiva Mahadeva Shiva Shambho conveyed the sense of bhakthi with aesthetic yet vigourous movements. Lord Shiva consuming the poison, Ravana’s Rudraveena episode and the nritta connected with it showcased her spirited dancing.The complex jathis marked by graceful utplavanas, charis etc were vibrantly executed all through. The divine grace she exhibited made the audience respond with spontaneous applause. The rhythmic variations were well-combined and well-oriented with nritta and were handled well by the dancer. Bhava reigned supreme in the enactment of an Anthahapura Geethe (Bhairava veshadi, Malayamarutha raga) by the great Kannada poet DVG. Shilabaalike was sketched with ineffable grace. She delineated a line from the above verse Kaalade molaguva taala (meaning: rhythm resounding beneath the feet) with profundity. Kavitha demonstrated those charis and karanas which were referred to by the poet in the above line in a praiseworthy manner. If the performance was successful, it must have been the joining of Kavitha’s industrious approach and the fine training imparted by Guru Shama. The sublime qualities of abhinaya permeated the performance and the overall approach was both evocative and were intent on capturing the appropriate emotions. The dance recital ended with a passionate interpretation of a Kannada tillana.
Amalgamation of music
Sri Vani Center for Performing Arts held a day long Vaggeya Vaibhavam, a tribute to great Vaggeyakaras on February 23 at Kala Kuteera, Padmanabhanagara. Select few krithis by Puranadaradasa, Mysore Vasudevacharya, Bharathamuni’s shlokas and Muthuswamy Dikshitar were sung under the impactful conducting by Tirumale Srinivas, P Ramaa, Balasubramanya Sharma, flautist H S Venugopal and Neela Ramgopal respectively in groups comprising of leading musicians like Seetha Sathyanarayana, Harini Sridhar, S Ramani, Anur Dattatreya Sharma, Janardhanrao, Govindaswamy, S V Balakrishna, Vasudha Balakrishna, Giridhar, Vasuki, Mysore Dayakar and many others. It was a perfect amalgamation of music, poetic language, bhava and swara patterns giving scope for expressive explorations.
The group renditions began with Purandaradasa’s krithis. A rare composition by Purandaradasa Nanda Nandana was tuned in the form of a Daru varna by Srinivas filled with two kaalaas, swaras, jathis and sahitya. Summane dorakuvude was sung in Hameer Kalyani. Aada hogalu bedavo Rangayya in Sarasangi raga was moving. Vaidyana naa ariye (Sri raga) was a befitting finale. Veteran musicians Neela Ramgopal, M Vasudevarao, Mannargudi A Eshwaran and Sundandadevi were felicitated on the occasion.
Mysore Vasudevacharya’s krithis like Ramaa ramana Narayana(Nagaswaravali with chittaiswaras), Shankari ninne ika chaala (Kamavardhini) in vilamba kaala and a haunting Kharaharapriya for Raara eni pilachithe raavalemi were impressively sung led by seasoned singer P Ramaa, Chandrika, Harini Sridhar and others.
Evocative Shlokas
A couple of shlokas including the one which described the ashta rasas drawn from Bharathamuni’s Natyashastra were sung by Balasubramanya Sharma, Bharathi Venugopal and Karthik Hebbar in an evocative manner. The jathis, sahitya and the chittaiswaras annexed to the popular Khamach daru Maathe Malayadhwaja by Muthaiah Bhagavatar were artistic. The three segments of the Sanskrit shloka on Lord Krishna Kasturi tilakam were sung separately by Bharathi Venugopal, Sharma and Hebbar in Mohana, Hindola and Hamsanandi ragas winning an instant applause. The last line of Gopastree was sung in Brindavani raga, the raga in which the following tillana was rendered vibrantly. Venugopal’s preludes were an acoustic delight.
Veteran vocalist Neela Ramgopal’s senior disciples Dilip Simha and Jagadeesh were in their element in leading the group singing of Dikthitar’s Thyagarajaya namasthe(Begade), Sri Kamalambike(Ghanta) and Nanda Gopala (Yamunakalyani).
Earlier, the talented students of S V Balakrishna and M Vasudevarao held promise as potential proponents of laya in their group rendition. Bharatiya Saamagaana Sabha’s Manodharma Festival at Chowdiah Memorial Hall featured a special and rare vocal recital by the legendary vocalist Dr M Balamuralikrishna.
In his delightful vocal recital spanning about 105 minutes he brought back the memories of his prime years. Though the effect of age and perhaps physical indisposition crept in on a couple of occasions, the overflowing auditorium had a treat. His diction, swaras, laya control and the lyrical beauty of his own compositions stood out. All of the accompanists Mysore Nagaraj (violin), K V Prasad (mridanga) and Giridhar Udupa (ghata) were in great form and enriched the concert. Krishnakumar lent vocal support.
Unequalled vocalist
It is a well known fact that the legendary octogenarian vocalist Dr M Balamuralikrishna is a child prodigy who blossomed into a genius of music. He has carved a special niche for himself in the musical firmament. His perfect poise on stage, the supreme self-assurance, the brilliant and effortless execution of the intricacies of laya, astounding sound clarity have all made him an unequalled vocalist. All this was accomplished with marvellous fluency and articulation. His voice was powerful as always. The ornamentations were graceful and unostentatious. A fresh voice singing from unfamiliar repertoire — this in itself was a refreshing change from the “standard” cutcheri tenor. He sang with a remarkable facility, commendable assurance and verve, even panache, as well as evident enjoyment. And he had an extraordinary voice range. Even the ati taara or ati mandra sthayis replete with technical passages of scales, leaps and trills, which the tenor meets with pinpoint accuracy held no terrors for him.
He started with his own composition Omkaara Pranavasswaroopa in Shanmukhapriya. Underscoring the beauty and meaning of the lyrics of Thyagaraja’s Chittaranjani krithi, he rightly split the first line of the krithi as Naada thanum anisham. In an endearing manner, he sang another self-composed krithi Gaana sudhaarasa (Nata) with refined swaras. A brief alapana was followed by Purandaradasa’s Yaadava nee baa. The ragaalapana, neraval and swaraprastara for his own Nee saati neeve ranga brought out the best in him. As expected the Brindavani tillana composed by him provided a splendid end to his recital.