Of bharatanatya, Vachanas and Scholarly Recitations
The morning concert by popular vocalist S Shankar on Vijayadashami at Sri Avani Math, Basaveshwaranagar, proved delightful from start to finish for many reasons. The lyrics of the well-known songs in his recital hit several high notes, enthralling the audience. Precision and vibrancy were the highlights of the performance by Shankar and his son S Ramani. The duo sang Kedaragowla varna and Gajavadana (Hamsadhwani). Musicality and dramatic mood changes throughout the performance made it a pleasant performance.
Bhairavi Swarajathi by Shyama Sastry, in praise of Goddess Kamakshi, is both demanding and delightful. Set to misra chapu taala, an unhurried tempo, it has an interesting structure with eight charanas or sections. Each charana is rendered in swara-sahitya format. The pallavi begins in mandra shadja. The other seven charanas start with the next sequential swara of the scale of the raga in ascending order -- rishabha, gandhara and so on. The final and eighth charana starts with taara shadja. Shankar’s performance of this wonderful score was spellbinding.
Bilahari (Sri Chamundeshwari), Hindola and Dwijavanthi (the most frequently performed Akhilandeshwari) were rendered with energy. They delineated Shankarabharana (for Sarojadalanetri with gently-paced raga, sahitya and swara vinyasa) with classical zeal, precision and polish that characterised the rest of the performance. They understood the character of the compositions and demonstrated their musical aptitude through stylised interpretations. The ever-popular ragamalika epitome of Ramayana by Swati Tirunal Bhavayami Raghuramam was sung with composure and control. Shrungapuradheeshwari Sharade (Kalyani), shlokas and other compositions at the end of the recital were befitting to the occasion. Accompanists Mattur Srinidhi (violin), N Vasudev (mridanga) and Srishylan (ghata) demonstrated their musicianship.
Fruitful conference
Gamaka kale or kavya vaachana has its origin in epics like Ramayana. At the vaachanas, artistes sing poetic verses drawn from various Puranas and epics set to music. And the subject matter of the verses are elucidated with references and interpretations -- Vyaakhyaana. Karnataka boasts a hoary tradition of Gamaka and stalwart Gamaka artistes. It is sad note that this art form is becoming obsolete.
In this direction, Akhila Karnataka Gamaka Kala Parishath and its present president, an erudite Gamaka artiste, M R Sathyanarayana’s untiring efforts deserve to be lauded. The annual Gamaka Kalaa conferences have been a rendezvous for the artistes and scholars.
The 10th edition of the three-day conference was held at Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, South Regional Centre, Jnanabharathi, featuring adacemic sessions and Gamaka recitals. Veteran Gamaki Krishnagiri Ramachandra of Mysuru presided over the event.
Scholarly recitations
The second day (Sunday) morning Prof M R Keshavamurthy recited a few verses from Valmiki Ramayana in ragas like Arabhi, Kalyani, Mohana, Kaanada, Todi and so on. Dr Sanathkumara enriched his recitation with some scholarly commentaries too with verses from Vyasa Bharatha. His opening resonating with Prarthana shlokas, he dwelt upon the 26th Karna parva involving Karna, Arjuna and Lord Krishna.
Young dancer’s feat
Teenager Shilpa Shankar did credit to her Guru Prashanth Goapala Sastry with her sincere and devoted Bharatanatya performance at Seva Sadan, Malleswaram last week. Supported by her Guru Prashanth Gopala Sastry(nattuvanga), Vasudha Balakrishna (vocal), Madhusudan (violin), Narayanaswamy (mridanga) and Karthik Sathavalli (flute), she surprised dance lovers by rendering a krithi, Swaminatha (Nata), immediately after Pushpanjali and followed it up with a chaturashra alarippu. The Saraswathi jathiswara brought out eloquent and dynamic range in nritta.
A varied package of nritta, nrithya and abhinaya made the Nattakuranji varna an impressive presentation. Shilpa was able to negotiate the technique of Bharatanatya in a commendable manner. Through her interpretations and abhinaya, the dancer reflected the spirit of compositions like the Saveri krithi (on Devi, Shankari) and Vasudevacharya’s familiar krithi Brochevarevarura (Khamach). She captured the contrasting bhaavaas of the pieces in a stylistic and mature performance. Purandaradasa’s Dayamado Ranga (Kalyani), with Krishna as the main character, was a neat piece. She concluded the performance with a Brindavani tillana.
— drmsuryaprasad@gmail.com