It was a rare opportunity for the musically inclined Indian diaspora in Washington DC. Thus when T.M. Krishna came to perform, almost all the Carnatic music aficionados got ready for a treat and he did not disappoint them. The full-house audience included music teachers, who had brought their disciples to benefit from the experience. The parents — professionals of various disciplines — accompanied their wards. From traditional to folk, Krishna presented an eclectic mix in his concert, organised by Sankara Nethralaya, at the Bhakta Anjaneya temple in Maryland recently.
Beginning with a nuanced Begada to prepare for a song in Tamil, Krishna followed it up with a meditative Varali that led to the Pancharatna kriti ‘Kana Kana Ruchira.’ He did a niraval in the final stanza of the sahityam, after which came a smooth flow of kalpanaswaras.
Exploring the raga
Krishna plunged into a ragamalika phase, rendering in his resonant voice well-defined contours of Ananda Bhairavi, Devagandhari, Hamirkalyani, Salaga Bhairavi and Sindhubhairavi to sing a composition in Chennai Tamil by Kaber Vasuki and set to music by R.K. Shriramkumar. The song, titled Chennai Poromboke Paadal, was produced by environmental activist Nityanand Jayaraman, to draw people’s attention to the issue of poromboke areas being usurped.
Written with the Ennore creek as the focus, the song highlights the bane of concrete encroachment and drew attention recently. Listening to it live in a traditional concert was an unusual experience.
Then came an appealing Saraswati Manohari (Enda Veduko), which was followed by an Atana with arresting phrases in which Krishna sang a Tamil song exhorting people to avoid jathi, mada bedangal .
The vocalist was in a mood for a second set of ragamalika — Kapi, Dhanyasi, Surutti before developing Kharahapriya to Tyagaraja's ‘Janaki Pathe’.
Swati Tirunal’s Behag javali created a joyous mood that continued with ‘Krishna Nee Begane Baro’ in Yaman Kalyan.
Krishna concluded the rewarding concert with a note-like raga rendition in Sankarabaranam.
Accompanying on the violin was local lad Kamalakiran, who warmed the hearts of the audience as well as the acclaimed vocalist with his imaginative music.
Rajna Swaminathan is a young mridangist, born and brought up in Washington. She came up with an absorbing and well-defined thani.
After the concert, Sankara Nethralaya screened a documentary on its charitable activities in the area that was in tune with the purpose of the concert.
(The writer is a music and art critic based in Washington D.C.)
