An appealing blend of spontaneity and thoughtful touches made Pantula Rama’s concert a fitting tribute to the spirit of the late vidwan, Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna’s music. If, early on, the sombre air of the maestro’s composition ‘Omkara Karini’ in the 4-note raga Lavangi created by him, highlighted by fluid jarus and explorative kalpanaswara, spoke of his genius, the tail-ender javali ‘Marulu Konnane’(Senchurutti) was equally a homage.
‘Shankara Sri Giri’ (Hamsanandi, Swati Tirunal) announced a change of pace as it danced its way through the jati-sprinkled start of the charanam sahitya and the melkala kalpanaswaras scaling janta-patterned steps. Bhava was the glue that held together the Madhyamavati alapana. In the serene madhyama kala traverse to the madhyama and panchama terrain, karvais were complemented by the crisp economy of sancharas. The appropriateness of the alapana culminating at the tara sthayi shadja was borne out by the choice of kriti ‘Venkatesa Ninnu’ (Tyagaraja) wherein the pallavi commences in the upper register. Waves of raga bhava resonated in phrase and pause, cresting at the niraval at ‘Yogi Hridaya’ and the melkala kalpanaswara kuraippu alternating between the shadja and rishabha.
Post the filler ‘Naan Oru Vilayattu Bommaiya’(Navarasa Kannada, Papanasam Sivan), Rama displayed her penchant for the uncommon in her choice of tala for the RTP in Arabhi. Coined by the vocalist herself as the ‘Ananda’ tala, it was revealed to be an unusually structured Tisra Triputa in which the purvangam had the first beat set to misra nadai, the second beat in khanda and the third beat in tisra, with the arudhi and uttarangam beats being in chatusra nadai (7, 5, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4). The gopucha-yati motif sahitya ‘Paramaananda Aananda …..’ was constructed to reflect the catchy ‘Kamalakucha’ gait of the Sri Venkatesawara Stotram. The bracing air that fans devotees queuing up for Tirupati’s dawn darshans blew in with the evocative Arabhi alapana. Invigorating prayogas warmed the madhyama and dhaivata, while virtuosity came to the fore in the tara sthayi suite. Petal-soft tanam phrases were coloured with myriad anuswara tints. The expansive pallavi with ragamalika swaras scored high on the aesthetic scale.
Distilling melody and bhava, it was a potent infusion that Rama served up. Her supple voice displaying attractive facets in the mandra sthayi and an effortless reach in the tara sthayi made child’s play of octave-spanning moorchana glides and quicksilver brigas, sparingly used.
In violinist M.S.N. Murthy’s accompaniment, Rama found a seamless extension of voice. His phrases and passages of rich tonal quality glowed a burnished gold. Anantha R. Krishnan (mridangam) has both melody and math in his fingers. Notably, his percussive support was absolutely in sync with the inwardly demanding, yet outwardly effortless pallavi. His tani with Phanindra Bhaskara (ghatam) threw new light on familiar sollus.
