Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam's performance for the Sri Thyagaraja Seva Samiti's Bahulapanchami ably brought out the unified excellence of sahitya and sangita by the way she rendered the saint's compositions with clarity. Her particular style and content in the raga alapana strictly adhered to text-book guidelines not inspired by aesthetic flashes. The raga portraits were quintessentially sedate, methodical step-by-step development. The violinist Akkarai Subhalakshmi's solo versions were focused on gripping sancharas well anchored in qualitative picturisation.
Vijayalakshmi revealed a sense of ease in her expository technique both in the madhyama and tara sthayi negotiations. Subtle music reflects the inter relationship between aesthetics and vision which is abundant in Sri Tyagaraja's kritis and mere rendering generates dignified appeal. Vijayalakshmi put her faith on this aspect for there were only two alapanas – Vachaspati and Saveri. In handling these ragas there was consistency and evenness of tonal modulation.
Authentic quality
In the violinist's approach there was a distinctly authentic quality. The raga sancharas of vachaspathi (‘Kanta Joodumi') and Saveri were meticulously chiselled. There were many clever turns of phrases dressing up the different facets particularly in the presentation of Saveri. Vijayalakshmi's objective was continuous progress in the alapana process underlined by strict conservatism. Between the vocalist and the violinist the musical culture built over the decades was well preserved.
The concert lacked liveliness because of the selection of songs – ‘Ra Ra Ma Inti Daka' (Asaveni), ‘Kanugonu Sowkhyamu' (Nayaki), ‘Evvare Ramaiah' (Kangeyabhooshani) and ‘Rama Bana' (Saveri) These ragas and songs were mainly soft-textured demanding extraordinary vocal depth to make them vibrant. The satisfaction to the rasikas arose from the lucidity with which the kritis were sung.
‘Evarani' (Devamritavarshini) and ‘Anupama Gunaambudhi' (Atana) were two brisk items.
Madirimangalam Swaminathan kept the percussive sector in good shape. His beats were firm and strong vividly supportive in the song session. The thani was impressively inlaid with fascinating korvais and mixed jatis.
