As the day dawned past Sunday, the very thought of attending T.V.Gopalakrishnan’s (TVG) concert, organised on the occasion of the 19 anniversary of Tambaram Music Club, at Sita Devi Garodia Hindu Vidyalaya, Tambaram, infused some positive energy in my mind and body for such is his liveliness on and off stage.
My joy doubled up as messages flashed that TVG is the Sangita Kalanidhi designate for 2014, awarded annually by The Music Academy, Madras. Karikalan, chairman, Tambaram Municipality, spoke that music was the best tool to reach God and that he listens to classical music whenever possible as it is a very good stress buster. K. Narayana, secretary of the Vidyalaya, shared his view that a school should be lively even after working hours and it was with this in mind that he had allowed various socio-cultural activities in the premises. He added that the monthly concerts of the club for the past 19 years do fulfil the expectations of those in and around Tambaram, who otherwise will have to travel all the way into the city to listen to performances.
Laudable effortsBombay Sisters – C. Saroja and C. Lalitha, who had performed on the inaugural day of the club 19 years ago, were amazed at the young talents that performed and lauded the efforts of Bhashyam, secretary of the club and his wife in nurturing talents in and around Tambaram. Vidwan T.V. Gopalakrishnan echoed the views of the speakers and added that MGR used to collect raga specific recordings from him.
Within minutes after the meeting, TVG was ready with his accompanist S. Varadarajan (violin), his disciple, and Trivandrum Balaji (mridangam). He commenced with a brief Tilang raga alapana which also served as a warm up. Between 1976 when I first listened to him and now, his voice has not changed. The youthful spark and vibrancy are still intact. TVG completed Sivan’s kriti ‘Sri Ganesa’ with a rain of swaras. After Tyagaraja’s ‘Teratheeyagaraada’ (Gowlipantu-Adi) he took up Mukhari. The royal treatment of the raga giving its essence in just three minutes, only showcased the veteran’s experience. The concluding phrase ending on panchamam was even more soothing. Varadarajan strode his Guru’s path as a true disciple. A slow-paced Subbaraya Sastry’s ‘Yema Ninay Nee Mahima’ (Adi) added colour. The Purvikalyani delineation that followed saw him explore the raga in all the three octaves – Mandara, Madhya and Tara, negotiating its twist and turns carefully, leaving his accompanists and the audience amazed.
Encouraged constantly by his guru, Varadarajan’s was an inspired reply. With a youthful zest TVG experimented the swara segment Abheri, as the evening’s main, was a surprise but TVG was quick to clarify that it was the club secretary’s choice. Not satisfied with his brilliant exposition of the raga, TVG went on to repeat exactly the briga-oriented fast phrases that Varadarajan played. A captivating thani by Balaji was a mixture of simple and complicated nadais presented in duritha kalam. He changed rudder when TVG intervened telling him that there was enough time for him to take the next morning flight to U.S. - a humorous moment and thereafter he enthralled the rasikas with focus on deft touches. T.V. Gopalakrishnan rounded off the concert with a Kanakadasar devarnama in Misra Maund and a thillana, composed by him, in Ratipatipriya.
