Listeners of Carnatic music in Thrissur had the opportunity of listening to vocal concerts on two consecutive days by veterans Trichur V Ramachandran and his wife, Charumati Ramachandran.
One among the few surviving torch-bearers of the GNB bani, Ramachandran exhibited virtuosity throughout his two-hour-and-a-half concert. While his rich and resonant voice was a pleasure to listen to, his selections of pieces covered a cross-section of the pantheon of vaggeyakaras of Carnatic music. His opening Begada varnam Indachalamu as well as the very pattern of the concert proved that he was a stickler of tradition. Varavallabha, his Guru’s composition in Hamsadwani, Adi, was mesmerising.
Ramachandran’s schematic style of building up a raga seemed ingenious and it was audible in the three subsequent compositions. Paraloka sadhaname , Tyagaraja’s Poorvikalyani number in Adi was embellished with flamboyant swaras. Elaboration of Dhanyasi was a bit longer and the phrases revealed variant colours of the raga. Clarity of enunciation and care for sahithya were discernible in this portrayal of Krishna by Oothukkad Venkata Subba Iyer in Roopakam. Niraval at Neela mukil pol azhakan portrayed more illuminating features of the raga. Swati Thirunal’s Mamavadasa followed with an eloquent essay of the raga.
Soon he moved into Tayagaraja’s Sarasa sama dana bheda danda in Kapinarayani. The musician appeared to be floating in the swara prasthara for long which M.A. Sundaresan reproduced on the violin enchantingly.
Kamboji was the main raga of the concert and the composition was Neeye charan Shanmukha of Papanasam Sivan. Ramachandran painted a vibrant picture of the raga through a protracted alapana. Trivandrum Balasubramanian’s role in enhancing the aesthetics of the recital with his total involvement in playing tonal variations of the mridangam was praiseworthy. Tani by Balasubramanian and Anjal Krishna Iyer on the ghatam was in right proportion and devoid of noisy fireworks.
The post-main part of the concert was equally attractive. They included Muthiah Bhagavathar’s Himagirithanaye (Suddhadhanyasi), Bharathiyar’s Dikku theriyathe in ragamalika and Periyasaami Tooran’s Muraleedhara Gopala (Mandu). The concluding number was GNB’s Radha sametha krishna (Yamunakalyani).
Rasikapriya organised the concert and honoured Ramachandran with its first award instituted in memory of founder-president of the Sabha, T.A.R. Chandran.
Novel experience
It was a novel experience to listen to Charumati Ramachandran who presented a thematic concert on ‘Thyagaraja Rama’ as part of the 250th Tyagaraja Jayanthi celebrations.
Though the style of presentation resembled a sort of lecture-demonstration, she was successful in delineating the biographical sketch of the composer, his immortal contributions and also the simplicity of the sahithya, and a few ragas created by him by singing them in parts.
She opened with Sree Ganapathini in Sourashtram, Adi, the first song from Prahlada Bhakti Vjayam , one of the two musical dramas of the composer. Pointing out that Suddhaseemantini raga was dear to him, she sang Janakiramana . Two compositions in Atana were rendered: Balakanakamaya and Anupamagunaam , the latter in khanta chapu. Taking a pause in between, Charumati expatiated on innumerable qualities of Lord Rama that Tyagaraja had attempted though such compositions. Poornashadjam in which Tyagaraja composed Lavanya Rama is a janya of Kharaharapriya but, interestingly, the arohana – ‘sa ri ga ma ni ni sa’ entailed the janta prayoga (doubling the same note) of ni, which is its distinguishing feature. The composition was rendered in full to drive home this aspect.
Thereafter she selected Harikamboji composition Entuku nirdaya in Adi, which was prefixed with a remarkable alaap. It showcased the musician’s ability to highlight the mood of the raga with the first few phrases itself. Taking the first words for niraval, she rendered profuse swaras in bundles. Vayala Rajendran rose to the occasion by recreating them in full to the delight of the audience. A good tani was played by Jayakrishnan on the mridangam, Vellattanjur Sreejith on the ghatam and Kalamandalam Shyju on the morsing.
Charumati continued with Chandrajyoti, the raga created by Tyagaraja. The composition was Sasivadana , Adi. Chitraratnamaya (Harikamboji) and Vinatasuthavahana (Jayanthasena) followed before she took Mohanam as the main raga.
After a short Sita kalyana vaikuntame in Kurinji, she concluded with Pavamana in Sourashtram, pointing out that the conventional mangalam was from Nouka Charitam , the second musical ballet composed by Tyagaraja.
The concert was organised by Sree Thyagabrahma Sangeetha Sabha in connection with the Jayanthi celebrations of the saint composer.
