CHENNAI: An elaborate ragam-tanam-pallavi in the sweet-sounding Shanmukhapriya formed the centrepiece of Madurai T N Seshagopalan’s concert, marking a grand conclusion of the five-day Global GNB Birth Centenary Celebrations here on Sunday night.
The 61-year-old Carnatic vocalist, supported by violinist M Chandrasekaran, took up the lyrics Suguna Balasubrahmaiaya and followed it up with swara passages that lined up ragas like Purvi Kalyani, Hindolam and Behag. It was succeeded by a taniyavartanam with Guruvayur Dorai on the mridangam and K V Gopalakrishnan on the Kanjhira.
Ahead of his concert, Seshagopalan described G N Balasubramaniam as the architect of modern Carnatic music and an emperor of extemporisation. “The handsome master’s kacheris were a treat not just for the ears, but the eyes too. His rhythmic beats on the lap were so majestic that one felt that was an upa-pakkavadyam (subsidiary percussion instrument),” he reminisced.
Earlier, art patron and singer Ranjit Singhji, the Gaekwad of Baroda, hailed GNB (1910-65) as “those kind of musicians who would happen only once in a thousand years”. They don’t live for long “because they leave us after completing their mission”, he added.
A symposium on GNB led by scholarvocalist Prof T R Subramanyam dwelled deep into the eminence and contribution of the legendary vocalist to south Indian classical music. The concluding part of an onsale DVD movie on GNB ‘Isai Vaseekaran’ was screened.