UP Raju is one of the few mandolin artistes that Carnatic music can boast of at present. Raju’s concert in Thrissur was an exposition of his mastery over the instrument. He opened with the Gambheeranatta Ada tala varnam, Amme Ananda dayini, composed by Balamuralikrishna. A few chords he struck were interesting, but he was careful enough not to overdo this element of Western music.
Fast-paced recital
Speed was the hallmark of the concert in general. This could be imputed to the very nature of the instrument that has inherent limitations for sustaining a note for long. Vinayaka ninnu, a Hamsadhwani number in Adi, was an example of this.
Even as one could make out the raga, the composition got blurred because of the fast tempo. The three ragas that followed were not too familiar. While introduction of rare ragas in a concert is justifiable, when they are presented as contiguous ones, it spoils the aural pleasure of the concert.
However, Raju chose Tyagaraja’s Pariyachakama matha in Roopakam, the most popular kriti in Vanaspati raga, which contains only one charanam. He was careful to delineate it in a relatively slow tempo and prefix a short aalap to the number.
Maalavi is a janya of Harikamboji. Idi nyayama Shri Ramachnadra , a short composition of Patnam Subramania Iyer’s, is incidentally the delight of mandolin players. A janya of Kharaharapriya, its arohana and avarohana have a meandering path, which Raju negotiated with ease but in a racy manner.
The third in the series was Niroshta, a pentatonic raga. The janya raga eschews ‘ma’ and ‘pa’ since the literal meaning of its name is ‘without lips’. This is the reason why the two swaras are dropped in the Sankarabharanam scale. Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar is the creator of this scale and Raju chose Bhagavathar’s own composition Raja raja rahithe in Roopakam. The slow presentation was enjoyable.
The audience was delighted when the musician started essaying Kharaharapriya. Dexterity of his fingers in weaving together short and long phrases was laudable. An excessive dependence on ‘kanaku’ was discernible.
Percussionists Annur Ananthakrishna Sarma (mridangam) and Tripunithura Radhakrishnan (ghatam), along with Somasekhar Joyce (konnakol), had a field day. SR Anatha Mahadeva Sarma’s (violin) role in embellishing the recital was noteworthy.
Somasekhar presented konnakol in the right proportion throughout, particularly in the percussion tani.
The concert was part of ‘Chandrotsavam,’ organised by disciples and gurus of mridangam exponent Alappuzha Chandrasekharan Nair.
