A good guru is a great blessing; Bharat Kumar, son and student of Suguna Varadachari is said to be honing his skills with Sanjay Subramaniam. So one could see the tradition-bound confidence in Bharat Kumar’s presentations. The initial trepidation in the Nalinakanti varnam and ‘Lambodaram’ in Khambodi got stabilised in his well defined alapana of Ritigowla (‘Mama Hrudaye Viraha’). In the ‘Thematic Performances by Talented Young Musicians,’ he sang Mysore Vasudevachar’s compositions. The main course was Poorvikalyani. ‘Marachithivemo Maravakuna’ with niraval and swaras at ‘Sarasija Lochana Sathathamu Nammidi’ was promising and showed that this young man has potential. His timbre and diction are his other favourable qualities. A little control on tempo will help him improve further. K. Rahul (violin) could respond well to the demands of the singer and Uzhavoor K. Babu on the percussion was adequate.
One could easily find Bombay Jayasri’s soft sophisticated manner of singing in Chaitrra Sairam ’s deliberations. Chaitrra presented songs dedicated to Lord Rama. ‘Cheraravathe Mira’ in Ritigowla gave a glowing start with several rounds of swaras. Kanada raga was neatly delineated in the succulent voice of Chaitrra. Open- throated articulation that doesn’t resort to artificiality is Chaitrra’s plus point. ‘Sukhi Evvaro Rama’ was a valuable selection and the niraval and swaras at the pallavi were rich in nuances. Chaitrra was ably supported by M. Rajeev on the violin whose raga essays were prominent, and so was Kumbokonam Swaminathan’s percussion on the mridangam. A rare composition of Muthuswami Dikshitar in the raga Jyothi and a Tulsidas bhajan were Chaitrra Sriram’s other items.
Rahul Narayanan ’s majestic voice is his fortune. A little impetus to the opening ‘Ninne Bhajana’ in Nattai and a few more rounds of swaras at ‘Pannaga Sayaka’ would have provided a perfect kick-start to his concert. ‘Manasa Edulo’ in Malayamarutham and Rahul’s valiant venture to expound Harikhambodi showed his musical acumen. The delicate inflections he employs in framing the sangatis knowing the beauteous aspects of the raga is another important facet of this young vocalist. Though precise, his raga alapana and the rare ‘Sani Todi Theve’ were marked by meticulous handling. Poorvikalyani was royally treated with seasoned phrases in the alapana for the kriti ‘Pari Poorna Kama.’ The niraval at ‘Saketha Dipaneemuka’ was engaging but the swaras somehow turned out to be too brief and the conclusion was slightly suppressed. Sudha R.S. Iyer provided a friendly response to Rahul’s delineations and swaras and Thirucheri Kaushik Rajagopal on the mridangam provided soft but winning support. You should have guessed it; Rahul’s theme was Tyagaraja.
