Just like the long awaited rains bring liveliness to the water starved plants, the long awaited music concerts that have now been revived after the summer months brought liveliness to the lives of the music lovers of the Capital. The overwhelming presence of music lovers to relish the recent concert of the Bengaluru-based Carnatic vocalist Sumitra Nitin last weekend at the India International Centre seemed to indicate this.
Sumitra’s concert was organised by the Ramakrishnapuram South Indian Society and the IIC Sumitra made good use of the allotted time to showcase her musical talent in a well-balanced (between the kalpita music and kalpana music) and structured concert of a little more than two hours. The initial stages of the concert, though, was lacklustre, Sumitra soon regained the lost ground and made it an overall delightful evening. She also made a judicious selection of songs.
Sumitra began her concert with the popular Ata taala varnam “Viriboni” in the raga Bhairavi. Her rendering this varnam in two speeds was not quite a smooth affair. The invocation song to Lord Ganesha was “Mooladhara Murthe Gaja Mukhane” (Papanasam Sivan’s composition in raga Hamsadhwani). The swaraprastharas that Sumitra appended to the subsequent Tyagaraja’s composition “Sogasuga Mridanga Talamu” (Sriranjani raga) brought out the creative talent of the artiste to the fore and it was from this stage that her rendering became more and more lively.
Sumitra then embarked to take a song for detailed rendition. Muthuswami Dikshitar’s composition on Goddess Meenakshi “Mamava Meenakshi” in the raga Varali was a well thought out selection. The scintillating alpana of the raga, emotive rendition of the composition and bringing alongside its lyrical values, creatively crafted neraval of the phrase “Shyme Sankari Digvijaya Pratapini” and swaraprastharas as well were noteworthy features. Tyararaja’s fast-paced “Centane Sada” in the raga Kuntalavarali provided further impetus to the concert.
Sumitra’s main item was again a Tyararaja’s composition, “Evari Mata” in the raga Kambhoji. In an unhurried delineation, Sumitra brought out the nuances of the raga to the fore in a delightful manner. Though she seemed to be hurrying up while rendering the composition, Sumitra took adequate time for the neraval of the phrase “Bhakta Paradhinudanucu Parama Bhagavatulu” as well as for the subsequent kalpanaswaras, both of which flowed with rich creativity. Sumitra concluded her concert in a fitting manner with a ragamalikka composition, “Ganamazhai Pozhigiral” (in Behag, Bowlai and Manirangu ragas).
Comprehending percussion
All the accompanying artistes were Delhi based. Young Raghavendra Prasath’s takes of the raga Varali and befitting swarakalpanas on violin were delightful. Kumbakonam N. Padmanabhan on the mridangam and N. Harinarayanan on ghatam provided understanding percussion support. The tani avartanam (percussion solo) of the duo in Adi taal was enjoyable.
Sumitra Nitin is also a Bharatanatyam dancer with a performing career spanning three decades in both Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam. She is the grand-daughter and disciple of the famous musician Ananthalakshmi Sadagopan. She is taking advance training from Guru Neela Ramgopal.
