BENGALURU: The 13th four-day annual music festival held under the auspices of the M.A. Nara simhachar Music Foundation began on Thursday at the Bangalore Gayana Samaja auditorium. The renowned Rudrapatnam brothers were conferred with the title of Gaana Vaaridhi. The inaugural concert was presented by the awardees.
An intricately crafted duet blossomed like a flower as Dr R N Tharanathan and R N Thyagarajan, well known as Rudraptnam Brothers, performed with the backing of a competent instrumental team comprising Nalina Mohan (violin), H S Sudheendra (mridanga) and Giridhar Udupa (ghata).
The concert was a natural blend of sweet harmonies that made listeners feel they are in a best-kept-secret musical house party.
Though the duration of the concert had to be cut down due to the delayed formal inauguration, the vocalists made their duet delightful. Full justice was done to the occasion and also to their art and skill.
Overwhelming would be an understatement, but the concert was a subtle one that matched the smoothness of their voices. Tharanathan (though with a couple of anxious moments) and Thyagarajan’s voices went perfectly together. They did justice to the integrity of the songs and made them feel fresh.
From a quality and artistic standpoint, the artistes collaborated comfortably to create pleasing versions of the songs and ragas that they had chosen.
The opening Shahana varna was demanding. The pallavi to the chittaiswara portion was sung in two kaalaas. Charana and ettukkadais were sung in a medium pace. Next came Tulasidala in Mayamalavagowla raga. The kriti was embellished by neraval at Sarasiruha and a short round of kalpanaswaras. Their singing calmed the mind and cleansed the soul. A beautiful and auspicious raga, Madhyamavathi was given a detailed treatment. The raga was sketched by Thyagarajan in all the registers. The Thyagaraja composition Nadupai balikeru was filled with emotions. Neraval at Payojaksha held curious attention. It was further enriched by scholarly swaras shared by the vocalists.
True to their trait of rendering out-of-ordinary kritis, they presented Shyama Sastry’s Devi brova in Chintamani raga. The unhurried singing drew instant appreciation. After a long time, one had the opportunity of listening to a refined Bilahari raga. Tharanathan’s alapana made way for Swati Tirunal’s gem kriti Smara sadaa Balagopalam. The sahitya and swara vistaras done at the line Kanakasuchela was once again a rarity. Before winding up, a rare Jagannathadasa pada, Roga harane, was sung in Desh raga. It was a lovely and serene end. Sudheendra and Giridhar Udupa, with their vibrant and lucid stroke play, added lustre to the concert.
Effortless singing
Veteran vocalist and scholar Dr R Vedavalli received the Sangeeta Surabhi award on the last day of the Nadasurabhi annual music series held on the St John’s Medical College campus last week.
A simple and elegant concert followed the award ceremony. She is one of the topmost old-generation vocalists. And hence she is unfazed by unwanted, superficially attractive and stylish current trends of music. It is a pleasant experience to hear her. She is an effortless singer with a cool temperament. She is exceptional, singing with a warm, fluid sound used to re-present traditional and classical music.
Sheer hard work and dedication has perfected her craft. As usual, the overall musical mood demonstrated that her style is anchored in the glorious Carnatic mainstream. It was noteworthy that the old world charm of the compositions was retained. It was nostalgia indeed!
With Sumitra Vasudev (vocal support), Nalina Mohan (violin), Anoor Anantha krishna Sharma (mridanga) and Sukanya Ramgopal (ghata) keeping her congenial company, the prima donna came up with something more original and catchy also. The accompanying musicians were all excellent with good solo opportunities. She chose highly classy ragas and compositions—some familiar and some obscure. The opening Kalyani varna laid a strong foundation for a classically weighty concert.
A consummate artiste, she proved that she is a singer who can be listened to over and over again and always with pleasure. There were distinguishing marks of excellent orthodox Carnatic singing. Thyagaraja’s quaint kriti Enduku nirdaya evarunnarura in Harikambhodhi was impressive.
A substantive alapana in Ramapriya was a surprise treat. The melakartha raga bloomed in the vocal treatment of the artiste. Patnam Subramanya Iyer’s Korina varamosagu was neatly sung and on ornamented with kalpanaswaras. Thyagaraja’s familiar kriti Manasuloni marmamulu was crisp.
Her musical boldness and creativity soared and aptly focused on lyrics associated with the compositions. She struck a dexterous balance between veneration and fresh interpretive imaginativeness.
Muthuswamy Dikshitar’s kriti Sri Vidyarajagopalam set to Jaganmohana raga (a derivative of the 38th melakartha raga) moved the audience. Sung in a measured rhythm and traversing different sthayis, the rendition filled the ears. The climax was reached in the elaborate interpretation of Kharaharapriya raga. The commonly heard raga was etched in the form of alapana, tana, neraval and swaras. Rama nee samaanamevaru was the kriti through which Lord Rama was eulogized musically. She sang an interesting Purandaradasa pada Daasara nindisa beda in Tillang raga and surprised the rasikas by singing a Basaveshwara vachana Naadapriya Shivanembuvaru (Hamsanandi raga).
Dr M SURYA PRASAD
drmsuryaprasad@gmail.com
Corrigendum: The Raga Tala column of 17 Nov had erroneously mentioned that it was a Kathak festival whereas it was a festival of other dance forms.