On the occasion of the Panguni Uthiram Festival and inauguration of the Thanga Ratham (Golden Chariot) Sree Swaminatha Swami Sewa Samaj had organized a number of Carnatic music concerts at their Uttira Swamimalai Temple complex (popularly known as the ‘Malai Mandir’) at south Delhi. One such featured Chennai-based Ramakrishna Murthy.
In a well structured concert of about close to three hours, Murthy took up compositions of a wide range of composers, intertwined these with his creativity music and did adequate justice to the festival concert by including as many compositions on Lord Karthikeya as possible. Inclusion of a ragam taanam pallavi session added richness to the recital. Murthy executed the Pallavi “Vadivelanai Nitham Pottrumo Vaiyamellam Arulpurindhu Kakum” in the raga Sahana and set to Kanda jathi Triputa taal in a delightful manner. The alapana of the raga Sahana was scintillating. The taanam with a bonus in three more ragas (Bhairavi, Beghada and Kapi) was a melodious lot. The kalpanaswaras in the combination of Sahana-Bhairavi, Sahana-Beghada and Sahana-Kapi towards the end, though creative, was not quite a neat execution.
Murthy started his concert with an invocation song to Lord Ganesha, which was Tyagaraja’s “Sri Ganapathini” in the raga Sowrashtram. His singing to a riveting rhythm was delightful. Thoughtful selection of “Swaminatha Paripalayasumam” in the raga Natta added liveliness to his recital.
Justice to compositions
For his detailed renditions, Murthy took up Tamil compositions. He did adequate justice to these two compositions, namely, Papanasam Sivan’s “Sri Valli Devasenapathe” in the raga Natabhairavi (the 20th melakarta raga) and Gopalakrishna Bharati’s “Thiruvadi Saranam” in the raga Khamboji. In his detailed and unhurried exposition, Murthy brought out the nuances of these ragas to the fore in a nice manner. Besides, the neraval of the phrase “Aduttu Vanda Ennai Tallal Agadu Ara Hara Endru Shonnalum Podado” (for the latter composition) and the swaraprastharas for both the compositions flowed with rich creativity.
Music lovers of the capital seem to be yearning for songs in vivadi ragas. Murthy, paying heed to one such request of a rasika, sang in a scintillating manner Kotteswara Iyer’s “Ganaamudha Paanam” in the raga Jyotiswaroopini (the 68th melakarta raga and a vivadi raga with Shatsruti rishaba being the vivadi note). Before singing this song, he also sang a few verses from the Arunagirinathar’s Kandar Anubuti in the form of a virutam in an emotive manner.
Charumathi Raghuraman who provided the violin accompaniment was at her best both during the ragam taanam pallavi session and while exposition of the ragas Sahana, Nattabhairavi and Kambhoji. Besides, the delightful sound that she produces in the instrument and the matching takes during the swaraprastharas were also enjoyable. The Chennai-based young mridangam artiste N.C. Bharadwaj too provided an understanding support. His riveting taniavartanam in Adi taal too was an enjoyable affair. On the whole, the trio’s ‘team-spirited’ performance regaling the audience made it an enjoyable evening of Carnatic music concert.
